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Pawn endgame tactics Puzzles: Developing Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 1408 · solved 96,019,738 times

Difficulty 1200–1599

These are pawn endgame tactics puzzles rated 1200–1599, the Developing level on this site. They come from real rated games: 41,200 puzzles, median rating 1408, solved 96,019,738 times. The twelve below are among the most-solved of them; try each on the board, then read the numbers further down to see how solutions at this level are built.

All pawn endgame tactics puzzles Print a worksheet

By the numbers

pawn endgame tactics puzzles at developing level: the numbers

There are 41,200 pawn endgame tactics puzzles at developing level, solved 96,019,738 times in total. The median rating is 1408.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 41,200Quiet move · 8,967Advanced pawn · 8,219Zugzwang · 8,153Defensive move · 7,370Promotion · 3,761Exposed king · 382

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical pawn endgame tactics solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 pawn endgame tactics puzzles at developing level (4.9% of all 41,200).

37.4% need 2 solver moves, 39.2% need 3 solver moves, 16% need 4 solver moves, 7.3% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 1382 for the shortest solutions, 1419 for the longest.

50.8% open with a pawn move. The first move captures in 25.6% and gives check in 6.1%; 0.8% end in checkmate, 0.1% involve a sacrifice, 51.4% have White to move.

25.6%first move captures
6.1%first move gives check
0.8%end in checkmate
0.1%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

2 solver moves
37.4% · median rating 1382
3 solver moves
39.2% · median rating 1415
4 solver moves
16% · median rating 1400
5+ solver moves
7.3% · median rating 1419

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a pawn
50.8%
Key move by the king
49.2%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: pawn
60%
Captures nothing along the line
35.1%
Most valuable capture: queen
3.4%
Most valuable capture: rook
1.2%

Material balance along the whole line, counting every capture by both sides (pawn 1, minor piece 3, rook 5, queen 9):

No material gained (mating or positional)
53.6%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
41.4%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
0.6%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
1.5%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
2.9%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0%
13–20 pieces
11.4%
12 pieces or fewer
88.6%

How it is counted: every puzzle in the sample is replayed move by move with a chess rules engine. A sacrifice means a piece that is captured on the very next ply and was worth more than what it captured itself (pawn 1, minor piece 3, rook 5, queen 9). Sample of 2,000 puzzles. Percentages are shares of the sample.

Where it happens

Where the key move lands

Where the solver’s first move ends, drawn from their own side (rank 1 is their back rank). Busiest squares: f5 (6.3%), f4 (6.2%), g5 (5.5%), g4 (5.1%), h5 (4.9%).

8
7
1.72.31.51.11.81.922.46
3.33.94.74.14.86.35.54.95
2.43.33.94.33.36.25.12.84
1.31.522.11.33
2
1
abcdefgh

Counted from the same 2,000-puzzle sample. Squares under 1% are left blank.

Study positions

The most-solved pawn endgame tactics puzzles, from each difficulty level. Play each one on the board, then open the answer for the full line.

♟♟
♔♚
♙
♙
White to move · rating 1265 · solved 4,646 times · 6 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf4

Solution: Kxd5 → Kg3 → c4 → Kxh3 → c5 → g4 → c6 → g3 → c7 → Kh2 → c8=Q

♚
♟
♟♙
♙♟♔♙
Black to move · rating 1271 · solved 3,979 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd5

Solution: Kd7 → Kc4 → Ke6

♟
♚♟
♟♟♟
♙♙♔
♙♙♙
White to move · rating 1279 · solved 3,309 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: f5+

Solution: Kh5 → a4 → bxa4

♟♔♟
♟♟
♙♙♙
♚
White to move · rating 1318 · solved 3,700 times · 5 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kxg3

Solution: Kxb6 → Kxh4 → c5 → g5 → c6 → g4 → c7 → g3 → c8=Q

♟
♟
♙♙
♚♔
Black to move · rating 1408 · solved 3,179 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h4

Solution: b4+ → Kc2 → Ka2 → g5 → b3+

♟
♟
♚
♙♟
♙♔♙
White to move · rating 1414 · solved 4,629 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h4

Solution: e4+ → Ke6 → Kg4 → f6 → Kxh4

♟♟
♟♟♙
♙
♙♔♚♙
White to move · rating 1468 · solved 3,285 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kg3

Solution: g5 → Kf4 → f6 → gxf6 → gxf6

♟
♙
♚♔
Black to move · rating 1492 · solved 3,381 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: g4

Solution: e4+ → Kf2 → Kd2 → g5 → e3+

♟
♙
♟
♙♚
♔
♟
White to move · rating 1504 · solved 3,270 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: c2

Solution: Kd2 → Kb3 → Kc1 → h5 → f7

♟
♚
♟
♙♙
♔
Black to move · rating 1520 · solved 3,615 times · 5 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h3

Solution: Ke4 → Kb3 → Kf3 → g4 → Kg3 → Kxb4 → Kxh3 → Kc3 → Kxg4

♚
♟♟
♔♙♙
Black to move · rating 1526 · solved 5,237 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h5

Solution: gxh5 → g6 → h4 → g7 → Kf7 → g8=R → Kxg8

♟
♙♟
♙
♚♔
Black to move · rating 1595 · solved 5,910 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: b5

Solution: g4+ → Kh2 → Kf2 → a5 → g3+ → Kh3 → g2

Positions and move sequences come from real rated games (CC0 data). Engine evaluations, where shown, are stored evaluations of the position (CC0).

Same theme, other levels

Pawn endgame tactics puzzles by difficulty

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