ChessPuzzlePrint Free chess puzzles, tools and printables

Real positions. Quiet practice.

Pillsbury's mate Puzzles: Foundation Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 759 · solved 26,847,541 times

Difficulty 600–1199

These are pillsbury's mate puzzles rated 600–1199, the Foundation level on this site. They come from real rated games: 47,684 puzzles, median rating 759, solved 26,847,541 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 pillsbury's mate puzzles Print a worksheet

By the numbers

pillsbury's mate puzzles at foundation level: the numbers

There are 47,684 pillsbury's mate puzzles at foundation level, solved 26,847,541 times in total. The median rating is 759.

Often combined with

Checkmate · 47,683Endgame tactics · 29,919Mate in 2 · 25,590Mate in 1 · 19,275Middlegame tactics · 17,463Kingside attack · 7,706Sacrifice · 5,230Mate in 3 · 2,730Hanging piece · 1,970Discovered check · 1,162

Which openings produce them?

Sicilian Defence · 571French Defence · 392Italian Game · 276Caro–Kann Defence · 249Scandinavian Defense · 236Ruy Lopez · 218Scotch Game · 212Queen's Pawn Game · 189

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical pillsbury's mate solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 pillsbury's mate puzzles at foundation level (4.2% of all 47,684).

40.2% need 1 solver move, 54.2% need 2 solver moves, 5.4% need 3 solver moves. Median rating: 746 for the shortest solutions, 993 for the longest.

77.4% open with a rook move. The first move captures in 29.6% and gives check in 99.8%; 100% end in checkmate, 21% involve a sacrifice, 51.2% have White to move.

29.6%first move captures
99.8%first move gives check
100%end in checkmate
21%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

1 solver move
40.2% · median rating 746
2 solver moves
54.2% · median rating 742
3 solver moves
5.4% · median rating 993

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a rook
77.4%
Key move by a queen
12.6%
Key move by a bishop
6.4%
Key move by a knight
2.4%
Key move by a pawn
1.2%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: rook
45.6%
Captures nothing along the line
30.6%
Most valuable capture: queen
7.8%
Most valuable capture: bishop
6.7%
Most valuable capture: pawn
4.6%
Most valuable capture: knight
4.6%

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)
46.3%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
6.6%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
10.5%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
29.5%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
7.2%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0.6%
21–27 pieces
19.6%
13–20 pieces
71.4%
12 pieces or fewer
8.4%

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: e8 (20.1%), d8 (17.7%), c8 (9.1%), f8 (8.6%), b8 (5.6%).

4.95.69.117.720.18.61.12.78
1.437
1.21.62.92.46
1.11.45
1.54
1.43
2
2.11
abcdefgh

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

Study positions

The most-solved pillsbury's mate puzzles, from each difficulty level. Play each one on the board, then open the answer for the full line.

♚
♟♕♟♟
♟
♟♝♜♛
♙
♘♖♙
♙♙♙
♖♔
Black to move · rating 699 · solved 2,696 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxd3

Solution: Rxf1#

♚♜♜
♟♟♝♟♟
♕♙♞
♙♘
♝
♗
♙♙♘♙♙
♔
Black to move · rating 795 · solved 2,548 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: c6

Solution: Rd1#

♚
♟
♟♔
♘♜
♙♙
♙
♖♝
Black to move · rating 854 · solved 13,089 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kh6

Solution: Rh5#

♜♚
♖♟
♜♕♟
♝♟
♙
♗♙
♙♙♙
♖♔
Black to move · rating 855 · solved 2,489 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxe6

Solution: Rd1+ → Rxd1 → Rxd1#

♟♜♟
♚♟
♟♘♗
♖♙♔♙
♙♝
♜
White to move · rating 877 · solved 4,139 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: cxd5

Solution: Ra6+ → Rc6 → Rxc6#

♚
♟
♝♟♜♟
♝♟♙
♙♙♗
♗
♜♖♙
♖♘♔
Black to move · rating 945 · solved 2,998 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rexc2

Solution: Rf1#

♜
♟♟♟♚
♟♕♟
♟
♝♙♜♝
♘♙
♙♙♙♙
♖♖♔
Black to move · rating 951 · solved 2,479 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxg6

Solution: Bxf2+ → Kh2 → Rh4#

♚
♖♙♟
♝♟
♘♜♙♙
♙♔
Black to move · rating 977 · solved 2,800 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nxa3

Solution: Bxg3+ → Kg1 → Rd1#

♚♜♜
♙♝
♞
♟♟
♕♙♙
♙♔
♖♗
Black to move · rating 1102 · solved 2,518 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Bg1

Solution: Ng4+ → hxg4 → hxg4#

♜
♟♟♟♚
♟
♙♕♝
♙♙♞
♙♝
♗♗♙♔
♖♖
Black to move · rating 1161 · solved 4,563 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kxh2

Solution: Rh8+ → Bh5 → Rxh5#

♝♟
♗♚♜
♙♟
♙
♖♔
Black to move · rating 1177 · solved 2,907 times · Mate in 3.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: axb4

Solution: Rh5+ → Kg1 → d3+ → Kf1 → Rh1#

♟♖
♚♙♝
♟♟♙
♟♟♙♟♔
♙♙♜
♙♖
Black to move · rating 1195 · solved 2,819 times · Mate in 3.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf4

Solution: Rf3+ → Kg4 → Bf5+ → Kh5 → Rh3#

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

Pillsbury's mate puzzles by difficulty

Challenging levelDeveloping level