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Queen and rook tactics Puzzles: Developing Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 1371 · solved 24,740,576 times

Difficulty 1200–1599

These are queen and rook tactics puzzles rated 1200–1599, the Developing level on this site. They come from real rated games: 8,267 puzzles, median rating 1371, solved 24,740,576 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 queen and rook tactics puzzles Print a worksheet

By the numbers

queen and rook tactics puzzles at developing level: the numbers

There are 8,267 queen and rook tactics puzzles at developing level, solved 24,740,576 times in total. The median rating is 1371.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 8,267Checkmate · 3,095Mate in 2 · 1,407Fork · 1,314Mate in 1 · 1,237Advanced pawn · 1,000Skewer · 797Pin · 699

Which openings produce them?

Nimzo-Indian Defence · 1Danish Gambit · 1Four Knights Game · 1Ruy Lopez · 1

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical queen and rook tactics solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 queen and rook tactics puzzles at developing level (24.2% of all 8,267).

14.8% need 1 solver move, 50.6% need 2 solver moves, 29.2% need 3 solver moves, 4.4% need 4 solver moves, 1% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 1349 for the shortest solutions, 1315 for the longest.

55.6% open with a rook move. The first move captures in 16.1% and gives check in 84.2%; 38% end in checkmate, 15.8% involve a sacrifice, 49.8% have White to move.

16.1%first move captures
84.2%first move gives check
38%end in checkmate
15.8%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

1 solver move
14.8% · median rating 1349
2 solver moves
50.6% · median rating 1361
3 solver moves
29.2% · median rating 1387
4 solver moves
4.4% · median rating 1405
5+ solver moves
1% · median rating 1315

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a rook
55.6%
Key move by a queen
30.3%
Key move by a pawn
11.9%
Key move by the king
2.2%

What does the solver win?

Captures nothing along the line
36.5%
Most valuable capture: queen
31.1%
Most valuable capture: rook
24.2%
Most valuable capture: pawn
8.2%

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)
42.1%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
10.1%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
12.8%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
21.2%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
13.8%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0.2%
13–20 pieces
40.2%
12 pieces or fewer
59.6%

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: h8 (4.5%), d8 (4.4%), e8 (3.9%), f8 (3.8%), g4 (3.3%).

2.83.23.24.43.93.82.74.58
1.31.72.12.332.63.17
1.621.62.82.42.26
11.31.91.22.71.85
1.122.23.32.44
11.61.81.63
1.11.12
1.11
abcdefgh

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

Study positions

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

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White to move · rating 1211 · solved 2,910 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kc3

Solution: Qf6+ → Kc2 → Qxg7

♙♖♟
♟♚
♟
♙
♟♛♙
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♖
Black to move · rating 1251 · solved 2,877 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: a7

Solution: Qe4+ → Kg3 → Qxb7

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♟♟
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♙♛♟
♙♙
♔♙
Black to move · rating 1259 · solved 3,478 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxb7

Solution: h3+ → Kf2 → Qd4+

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♔
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♛
White to move · rating 1272 · solved 3,344 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: b1=Q

Solution: Ra7#

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♟♟♟♟
♟♟
♙♕♙
♙
♙♙♙
♜♜♙♔
White to move · rating 1279 · solved 3,094 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf8

Solution: Qh8#

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♟
♟
♙
♙♟
♙♙♕♖♙♔
♖
Black to move · rating 1303 · solved 3,613 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kxh2

Solution: hxg2+ → Kg1 → Rh1#

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♟
♜♙
♙♔
Black to move · rating 1314 · solved 3,431 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxf7

Solution: g3+ → Kg1 → Rc1#

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White to move · rating 1329 · solved 3,167 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd8

Solution: g7 → Qxh7 → Rf8+ → Kc7 → g8=Q

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♟♙♜
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Black to move · rating 1371 · solved 5,188 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxc5

Solution: Rd1+ → Kc2 → R8d2+ → Kc3 → Rc1+ → Kxd2 → Rxc5

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♟♟♚
♛
♙♖
♙♔
♙
Black to move · rating 1399 · solved 2,932 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: R1f4

Solution: Qh1+ → Kg4 → Qh5#

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♟♚
♖♟
♙♙
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♛♙
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♔
Black to move · rating 1409 · solved 3,112 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rb8

Solution: Qa1+ → Kh2 → Qxe5+ → g3 → Qxb8

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♜♟♚
♟
♟
♜♖♙
♙♔
♛
White to move · rating 1464 · solved 3,355 times · Mate in 3.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxd3

Solution: R3g6+ → Kh5 → g4+ → Kh4 → Rh6#

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

Queen and rook tactics puzzles by difficulty

Foundation level