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Rook endgame tactics Puzzles: Advanced Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 2284 · solved 68,755,387 times

Difficulty 2000+

These are rook endgame tactics puzzles rated 2000+, the Advanced level on this site. They come from real rated games: 67,633 puzzles, median rating 2284, solved 68,755,387 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 rook endgame tactics puzzles Print a worksheet

By the numbers

rook endgame tactics puzzles at advanced level: the numbers

There are 67,633 rook endgame tactics puzzles at advanced level, solved 68,755,387 times in total. The median rating is 2284.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 67,633Defensive move · 21,923Advanced pawn · 17,537Quiet move · 13,882Promotion · 5,321Exposed king · 4,432Deflection · 2,849Zugzwang · 2,099

Which openings produce them?

Sicilian Defence · 1

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical rook endgame tactics solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 rook endgame tactics puzzles at advanced level (3% of all 67,633).

30.6% need 2 solver moves, 40.6% need 3 solver moves, 18% need 4 solver moves, 10.8% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 2228 for the shortest solutions, 2464 for the longest.

54.7% open with a rook move. The first move captures in 28.6% and gives check in 29.6%; 1.4% end in checkmate, 6.2% involve a sacrifice, 48.6% have White to move.

28.6%first move captures
29.6%first move gives check
1.4%end in checkmate
6.2%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

2 solver moves
30.6% · median rating 2228
3 solver moves
40.6% · median rating 2291
4 solver moves
18% · median rating 2341
5+ solver moves
10.8% · median rating 2464

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a rook
54.7%
Key move by a pawn
25.4%
Key move by the king
19.8%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: rook
38.8%
Captures nothing along the line
34.9%
Most valuable capture: pawn
24.3%
Most valuable capture: queen
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)
58%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
25.6%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
6.2%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
8.4%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
1.8%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0%
13–20 pieces
20.2%
12 pieces or fewer
79.8%

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: c6 (3.5%), f6 (3.5%), f7 (3.3%), g6 (3.2%), g5 (3.1%).

1.41.41.211.11.21.28
2.32.72.92.62.23.32.81.37
2.22.13.52.63.13.53.22.46
1.11.61.82.62.533.11.95
1.41.51.71.52.52.51.34
1.11.41.31.71.33
2
1
abcdefgh

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

Study positions

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

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♟♙
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♖♙
Black to move · rating 2021 · solved 900 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke3

Solution: Re7+ → Kf3 → Rxe2 → Kxe2 → c3

♟♚♟
♟♙♙
♙
♖♔
♜
Black to move · rating 2026 · solved 755 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: g5

Solution: Rg3+ → Kb4 → Rxa3 → Kxa3 → Kg6 → Kb4 → Kh5

♟♚
♟♟
♙♔♖♜♙
White to move · rating 2026 · solved 571 times · 8 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rg4

Solution: Rxg4 → hxg4 → h5 → g3 → Ke3 → g2 → Kf2 → a5 → h6 → g1=Q+ → Kxg1 → axb4 → h7 → b3 → h8=Q

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♙
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♖♔
Black to move · rating 2046 · solved 626 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: f5

Solution: g2 → e4 → Rh8 → Re3+ → Kxe3

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♙♟
♙♔♙♙
♖♙
♜
Black to move · rating 2062 · solved 1,168 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rd3+

Solution: Rxd3 → fxe5+ → Kxe5 → Kxd3 → Kf5 → a5 → Kg4

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♟♙♖
♟
♟♔♚
♙♙
♙♟
Black to move · rating 2090 · solved 1,181 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke5

Solution: h2 → Rh7 → Rxe7+

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♟
♟
♟♚♟
♙♖♜♙♟
♙♙♙♙
♖♔
Black to move · rating 2104 · solved 682 times · 5 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: b4

Solution: Rxc4 → dxc4 → Rxd2+ → Kxd2 → Kd4 → bxc5 → bxc5 → Kc2 → Kxc4

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♖
♚♟
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♜
Black to move · rating 2158 · solved 693 times · 5 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxg5

Solution: Kf3 → Kf5 → Rxg5+ → Kxg5 → Kg3 → Kf5 → Kxh3 → Kf4 → Kg2

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♟♟
♟
♚
♙♟♙♙
♔♙
♖
Black to move · rating 2179 · solved 604 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf2

Solution: d2 → Rxc5 → d1=Q

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♙
♚
♟♜
♔
White to move · rating 2220 · solved 649 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kh5

Solution: Rg8 → Kxh6 → Rh8+ → Kg5 → Rxh2

♟♟
♙♔♟♚♟
♖
♙
♜
White to move · rating 2258 · solved 963 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf6

Solution: c7 → Rxc7 → Kxc7

♙♙♔
♜♚♙
White to move · rating 2499 · solved 621 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke4

Solution: f6 → Kd5 → f7 → Rf4 → g6

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

Rook endgame tactics puzzles by difficulty

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