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Pawn endgame tactics Puzzles: Foundation Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 975 · solved 28,223,238 times

Difficulty 600–1199

These are pawn endgame tactics puzzles rated 600–1199, the Foundation level on this site. They come from real rated games: 45,515 puzzles, median rating 975, solved 28,223,238 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 foundation level: the numbers

There are 45,515 pawn endgame tactics puzzles at foundation level, solved 28,223,238 times in total. The median rating is 975.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 45,515Advanced pawn · 18,295Promotion · 11,958Quiet move · 10,978Zugzwang · 5,622Defensive move · 4,151Checkmate · 580

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 foundation level (4.4% of all 45,515).

41.3% need 2 solver moves, 37.6% need 3 solver moves, 15.7% need 4 solver moves, 5.2% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 999 for the shortest solutions, 1027 for the longest.

55% open with a pawn move. The first move captures in 21.2% and gives check in 3.7%; 1.2% end in checkmate, 0% involve a sacrifice, 48.6% have White to move.

21.2%first move captures
3.7%first move gives check
1.2%end in checkmate
0%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

2 solver moves
41.3% · median rating 999
3 solver moves
37.6% · median rating 973
4 solver moves
15.7% · median rating 914
5+ solver moves
5.2% · median rating 1027

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a pawn
55%
Key move by the king
45%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: pawn
50.1%
Captures nothing along the line
46.8%
Most valuable capture: queen
2.1%
Most valuable capture: rook
0.8%

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)
60.2%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
36.5%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
0.4%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
0.8%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
2.1%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0%
13–20 pieces
6.4%
12 pieces or fewer
93.6%

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%), h5 (6%), g5 (5.8%), c5 (4.6%), a5 (4.5%).

8
11.27
33.14.11.91.83.53.73.16
4.53.74.63.44.365.865
1.92.22.93.23.94.42.82.74
11.11.51.53
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 624 · solved 15,788 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: f3

Solution: b7 → f2 → b8=Q+

♟
♚♙♟
♙♟
♔♙
Black to move · rating 751 · solved 2,426 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd3

Solution: Kf4 → Kc4 → Kg3 → Kd5 → Kxh3

♟
♟♚♟
♟♟
♙♔♙♙♟
♙♙
White to move · rating 1015 · solved 2,457 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: g5

Solution: fxg5 → fxg5 → Kf5 → Kd5 → Kxg5

♙
♟
♟
♙
♚♔
Black to move · rating 1068 · solved 3,487 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kh2

Solution: h4 → gxh4 → g3+ → Kh3 → g2

♟
♚
♙
♙♔♟
Black to move · rating 1090 · solved 6,674 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke3

Solution: Kxc4 → a4 → Kb4 → a5 → Kxa5

♔♟
♚♙
White to move · rating 1129 · solved 3,406 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kg4

Solution: h5 → Kf4 → Kxh6 → Kf5 → Kg7

♟
♔
♙♚
Black to move · rating 1175 · solved 2,303 times · 5 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd4

Solution: g5 → e4 → g4 → e5 → g3 → Kd5 → g2 → e6 → g1=Q

♟♔
♙♚
Black to move · rating 1177 · solved 3,353 times · 5 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kxb7

Solution: a5 → Ka6 → a4 → Ka5 → a3 → Kb4 → Kxa2 → Kc3 → Kb1

♚
♔♟♟
♙♙
Black to move · rating 1183 · solved 7,835 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke5

Solution: Kg5 → f4+ → Kg4 → Kf6 → Kxg3

♟
♟♟
♙
♔♙
♙
♚
Black to move · rating 1183 · solved 2,550 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf3

Solution: Ke1 → Ke3 → Kf1

♟
♙♚♟
♟
♟♟♔♙♙
♙
White to move · rating 1186 · solved 2,304 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: b3

Solution: cxb3 → Kd6 → Kd3 → c2 → Kxc2

♟♟
♟
♙♔♙
♚♙
White to move · rating 1192 · solved 3,829 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd3

Solution: e5 → fxe5+ → Kxe5 → g5 → hxg5

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

Advanced levelChallenging levelDeveloping level