Real positions. Quiet practice.

Promotion Puzzles: Developing Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 1394 · solved 124,583,182 times

Difficulty 1200–1599

These are promotion puzzles rated 1200–1599, the Developing level on this site. They come from real rated games: 35,714 puzzles, median rating 1394, solved 124,583,182 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 promotion puzzles Print a worksheet

By the numbers

promotion puzzles at developing level: the numbers

There are 35,714 promotion puzzles at developing level, solved 124,583,182 times in total. The median rating is 1394.

Often combined with

Advanced pawn · 35,711 Endgame tactics · 32,955 Rook endgame tactics · 6,777 Checkmate · 5,545 Deflection · 3,913 Pawn endgame tactics · 3,761 Mate in 2 · 3,462 Quiet move · 3,383

Which openings produce them?

Sicilian Defence · 84 French Defence · 29 Italian Game · 28 Englund Gambit · 21 Queen's Pawn Game · 20 Scotch Game · 18 King's Gambit · 17 Queen's Gambit Declined · 15

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical promotion solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 promotion puzzles at developing level (5.6% of all 35,714).

4.2% need 1 solver move, 34.6% need 2 solver moves, 39.4% need 3 solver moves, 14.2% need 4 solver moves, 7.6% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 1334 for the shortest solutions, 1390 for the longest.

47.3% open with a pawn move. The first move captures in 27.4% and gives check in 40.8%; 16.2% end in checkmate, 32.4% involve a sacrifice, 50% have White to move.

27.4%first move captures

40.8%first move gives check

16.2%end in checkmate

32.4%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

1 solver move

4.2% · median rating 1334

2 solver moves

34.6% · median rating 1373

3 solver moves

39.4% · median rating 1409

4 solver moves

14.2% · median rating 1406

5+ solver moves

7.6% · median rating 1390

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a pawn

47.3%

Key move by a rook

26.8%

Key move by a queen

11.3%

Key move by the king

6.8%

Key move by a knight

4.3%

Key move by a bishop

3.6%

What does the solver win?

Captures nothing along the line

41.8%

Most valuable capture: rook

30.6%

Most valuable capture: queen

10.4%

Most valuable capture: pawn

8.4%

Most valuable capture: bishop

5.4%

Most valuable capture: knight

3.5%

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)

84%

Up to 2 pawns’ worth

4.7%

3–4 points (about a minor piece)

4.2%

5–8 points (a rook or more)

5.8%

9 or more points (a queen’s worth)

1.4%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board

0.1%

21–27 pieces

3.1%

13–20 pieces

31.3%

12 pieces or fewer

65.5%

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: g8 (4.5%), e8 (4.5%), f8 (4.4%), d8 (3.9%), b7 (3.8%).

2.7	2.5	3.1	3.9	4.5	4.4	4.5	2.5	8
2.5	3.8	3.5	3	3.3	3.2	3.7	3.1	7
2.6	2.7	2.6	2.7	2.5	2	2.2	2.3	6
1.4	1.8	1.7	1.5	1.8	1	1.1	1.5	5
		1.3	1		1			4
				1				3
								2
								1
a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

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

Study positions

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

	♖

				♙
		♔
♚		♙
			♜
	♟

Black to move · rating 1243 · solved 5,874 times · 3 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rb8

Solution: Rb3 → Rxb3 → Kxb3 → Kg6 → b1=Q+




	♟		♟
	♔	♚
				♙
♙

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 1291 · solved 4,246 times · 2 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: a7

Solution: d2 → g7 → d1=Q


♟				♚

	♟
	♗		♖
♙		♜	♙		♙
♔	♖					♟
						♜

Black to move · rating 1322 · solved 5,014 times · 3 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxe4

Solution: Ra1+ → Kxa1 → h1=Q+ → Ka2 → Qxe4


		♚		♟	♟

		♔
	♖		♙
		♙
♜	♟			♙

Black to move · rating 1350 · solved 5,241 times · 3 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: f4

Solution: Ra5+ → Kd4 → Ra4 → Rxa4 → b1=Q

			♜	♚
		♝		♙	♟

						♛
	♟		♟
	♙		♙			♙
♗
				♖	♔

White to move · rating 1394 · solved 4,838 times · 3 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf8

Solution: Ba3+ → Re7 → Bxe7+ → Kxe7 → f8=Q+

					♚
♟	♟	♟	♔
				♙
			♟			♙
				♝
		♙		♙
♙	♙				♜

White to move · rating 1397 · solved 4,356 times · 3 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf8

Solution: e7+ → Kg7 → e8=Q → Rf7+ → Ke6

♜	♕
		♙		♟	♟	♚
			♟


					♗
♟				♙	♔	♙
		♛

White to move · rating 1442 · solved 4,262 times · 3 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kh7

Solution: Qxa8 → a1=Q → Qxa1 → Qxa1 → c8=Q

			♖

♙	♚
		♝

			♟	♟

			♔

Black to move · rating 1459 · solved 4,486 times · 3 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Re8

Solution: f2+ → Ke2 → Bc4+ → Kxe3 → f1=Q

♜						♚
	♖				♟	♟
♜				♟			♟
				♘
			♙		♙
♟	♕	♞		♙
						♙	♙
						♔

Black to move · rating 1481 · solved 5,031 times · 3 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qb3

Solution: a2 → Qxc3 → a1=Q+ → Qxa1 → Rxa1+


		♚	♟	♟
♙	♝	♟
♗	♟

			♙
	♔	♙		♙

White to move · rating 1484 · solved 5,588 times · 2 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Be6

Solution: d7 → Bxd5 → d8=Q



				♙	♟
	♚		♔		♞
♟		♘

White to move · rating 1520 · solved 4,277 times · 4 solver moves to find.

Reveal line

Opponent's last move: b4

Solution: Ne6+ → Nxe6 → Kxe6 → b3 → f7 → b2 → f8=Q+

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

Promotion puzzles by difficulty

Advanced level Foundation level Challenging level

2.7	2.5	3.1	3.9	4.5	4.4	4.5	2.5	8
2.5	3.8	3.5	3	3.3	3.2	3.7	3.1	7
2.6	2.7	2.6	2.7	2.5	2	2.2	2.3	6
1.4	1.8	1.7	1.5	1.8	1	1.1	1.5	5
		1.3	1		1			4
				1				3
								2
								1
a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

2.7	2.5	3.1	3.9	4.5	4.4	4.5	2.5	8
2.5	3.8	3.5	3	3.3	3.2	3.7	3.1	7
2.6	2.7	2.6	2.7	2.5	2	2.2	2.3	6
1.4	1.8	1.7	1.5	1.8	1	1.1	1.5	5
		1.3	1		1			4
				1				3
								2
								1
a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

2.7	2.5	3.1	3.9	4.5	4.4	4.5	2.5	8
2.5	3.8	3.5	3	3.3	3.2	3.7	3.1	7
2.6	2.7	2.6	2.7	2.5	2	2.2	2.3	6
1.4	1.8	1.7	1.5	1.8	1	1.1	1.5	5
		1.3	1		1			4
				1				3
								2
								1
a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h