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Quiet move Puzzles: Challenging Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 1822 · solved 114,941,007 times

Difficulty 1600–1999

These are quiet move puzzles rated 1600–1999, the Challenging level on this site. They come from real rated games: 58,114 puzzles, median rating 1822, solved 114,941,007 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 quiet move puzzles Print a worksheet

By the numbers

quiet move puzzles at challenging level: the numbers

There are 58,114 quiet move puzzles at challenging level, solved 114,941,007 times in total. The median rating is 1822.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 45,674Pawn endgame tactics · 12,660Middlegame tactics · 11,898Advanced pawn · 8,240Defensive move · 7,654Rook endgame tactics · 5,835Zugzwang · 4,428Promotion · 3,207

Which openings produce them?

Sicilian Defence · 626Queen's Pawn Game · 269French Defence · 249Italian Game · 230Scandinavian Defense · 173Caro–Kann Defence · 170Ruy Lopez · 142Queen's Gambit Declined · 138

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical quiet move solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 quiet move puzzles at challenging level (3.4% of all 58,114).

31.2% need 2 solver moves, 44.4% need 3 solver moves, 15.9% need 4 solver moves, 8.6% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 1826 for the shortest solutions, 1811 for the longest.

34.4% open with a pawn move. The first move captures in 18% and gives check in 10%; 2.2% end in checkmate, 11.2% involve a sacrifice, 51.8% have White to move.

18%first move captures
10%first move gives check
2.2%end in checkmate
11.2%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

2 solver moves
31.2% · median rating 1826
3 solver moves
44.4% · median rating 1816
4 solver moves
15.9% · median rating 1834
5+ solver moves
8.6% · median rating 1811

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a pawn
34.4%
Key move by a rook
28%
Key move by a queen
11.4%
Key move by a bishop
10.2%
Key move by a knight
9.3%
Key move by the king
6.8%

What does the solver win?

Captures nothing along the line
30.9%
Most valuable capture: queen
23.4%
Most valuable capture: rook
18.1%
Most valuable capture: pawn
16.7%
Most valuable capture: bishop
7.2%
Most valuable capture: knight
3.8%

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)
43%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
16.4%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
18.2%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
16%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
6.6%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
1.2%
21–27 pieces
14.2%
13–20 pieces
40%
12 pieces or fewer
44.6%

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: h5 (5.1%), g5 (4.2%), h4 (3.9%), g4 (3.7%), f4 (3.1%).

1.111.98
11.17
1.51.11.42.31.71.36
32.92.42.32.72.94.25.15
2.82.421.92.53.13.73.94
1.11.61.51.31.41.62.33
1.42
1.511.51.81.51.21.521
abcdefgh

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

Study positions

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

♟♚
♙♟♙♟
♙♔
White to move · rating 1600 · solved 1,818 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: axb4

Solution: a5 → h3 → a6 → h2 → Kg2 → h1=Q+ → Kxh1

♞
♙♟♘♚
♟♙♔♟♙
White to move · rating 1609 · solved 2,349 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: a4

Solution: Nxd7 → a3 → Nxc5 → a2 → Nb3 → a1=Q → Nxa1

♜
♟♟♚
♟
♟♟
♘
♙♟♙♙♙
♖♔
Black to move · rating 1616 · solved 1,793 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nf3

Solution: Rd8 → Kf1 → Rd1+ → Ke2 → Rxc1

♟♟♔♟
♙
♙♙
♚
Black to move · rating 1618 · solved 1,467 times · 5 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kg7

Solution: Kxb4 → h5 → a5 → h6 → a4 → Kxh7 → a3 → Kg8 → a2

♟
♟♟♟
♙
♙♜♔♚
♙♙
White to move · rating 1628 · solved 1,760 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxc3+

Solution: Kxc3 → f5 → a4 → Kxf2 → b5

♟
♔
♗♙
♚
♞
White to move · rating 1633 · solved 1,482 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Na2

Solution: f5 → Kd4 → f6

♟
♟♟
♙
♙♔♚
♙
White to move · rating 1641 · solved 2,488 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kg3

Solution: b4 → h5 → c5 → h4 → c6 → h3 → c7

♚♟♔
♟
♙♟
♙
♙
Black to move · rating 1642 · solved 3,547 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: c5

Solution: d5 → Ke6 → e4

♝
♙
♟♔♚
♗♟
♙♙
♟
Black to move · rating 1646 · solved 1,606 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: a4

Solution: Ke5 → Bf2 → d4 → Ka7 → d3

♔
♟
♟
♙
♕♚
Black to move · rating 1666 · solved 1,477 times · 6 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxf1+

Solution: Kxf1 → Ke7 → a5 → Ke6 → b4 → axb4 → axb4 → Kd5 → b3 → Kc4 → b2

♚
♟♟
♟♟♔♟
♙♙♙♙
White to move · rating 1721 · solved 1,431 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: c5

Solution: d5 → Kg7 → Ke6 → f5 → Kxf5 → Kf7 → Kg5

♟♟♟
♟
♟♟♙
♙
♙♙♔♚
♙
White to move · rating 1739 · solved 1,579 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kxg3

Solution: f5 → Kg4 → e6 → fxe6 → fxe6 → Kf5 → e7

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

Quiet move puzzles by difficulty

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