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Rook endgame tactics Puzzles: Developing Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 1388 · solved 206,885,682 times

Difficulty 1200–1599

These are rook endgame tactics puzzles rated 1200–1599, the Developing level on this site. They come from real rated games: 72,025 puzzles, median rating 1388, solved 206,885,682 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 developing level: the numbers

There are 72,025 rook endgame tactics puzzles at developing level, solved 206,885,682 times in total. The median rating is 1388.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 72,025Advanced pawn · 14,821Checkmate · 13,514Deflection · 7,235Promotion · 6,777Defensive move · 6,631Mate in 2 · 5,967

Which openings produce them?

Sicilian Defence · 5Scotch Game · 4Queen's Pawn Game · 3Scandinavian Defense · 3Queen's Gambit Declined · 2French Defence · 2King's Pawn Game · 1Tarrasch Defense · 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 developing level (2.8% of all 72,025).

7.6% need 1 solver move, 50.8% need 2 solver moves, 34.2% need 3 solver moves, 5.7% need 4 solver moves, 1.6% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 1342 for the shortest solutions, 1402 for the longest.

70.2% open with a rook move. The first move captures in 30% and gives check in 60.7%; 18.4% end in checkmate, 12.6% involve a sacrifice, 47.2% have White to move.

30%first move captures
60.7%first move gives check
18.4%end in checkmate
12.6%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

1 solver move
7.6% · median rating 1342
2 solver moves
50.8% · median rating 1381
3 solver moves
34.2% · median rating 1411
4 solver moves
5.7% · median rating 1446
5+ solver moves
1.6% · median rating 1402

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a rook
70.2%
Key move by a pawn
21.2%
Key move by the king
8.6%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: rook
61.5%
Captures nothing along the line
27.6%
Most valuable capture: pawn
8.6%
Most valuable capture: queen
2.3%

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)
48.9%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
17.9%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
8.1%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
22.5%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
2.6%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0%
13–20 pieces
25.3%
12 pieces or fewer
74.7%

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: g6 (4.3%), f5 (3.1%), c6 (2.9%), e6 (2.9%), b6 (2.9%).

2.61.51.91.21.41.11.21.78
1.62.11.82.32.72.62.11.87
1.92.92.92.52.92.74.31.96
1.921.62.62.13.12.32.55
1.61.91.422.42.41.64
1.61.63
12
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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White to move · rating 1223 · solved 4,386 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: e4

Solution: Rc8#

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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+

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♜
White to move · rating 1243 · solved 4,708 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ka7

Solution: b6+ → Kb8 → Rd8#

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♜
White to move · rating 1282 · solved 5,495 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: f5

Solution: h6 → Kf4 → h7

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Black to move · rating 1297 · solved 5,375 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rg8

Solution: Ra1+ → Kh2 → Rh1#

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♙
Black to move · rating 1309 · solved 4,116 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke4

Solution: f5+ → Ke5 → Rxh6

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Black to move · rating 1339 · solved 4,462 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h5

Solution: c2 → Rc7 → Rxa4+ → Kf5 → Rc4

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White to move · rating 1341 · solved 4,196 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke6

Solution: d5+ → Rxd5 → Rxc4

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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

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♜
Black to move · rating 1386 · solved 4,569 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxg4

Solution: Rb4+ → Kf3 → Rxg4 → Kxg4 → a5

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♟
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♙♙
White to move · rating 1408 · solved 6,638 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Re4+

Solution: Rxe4 → fxe4 → Kg4 → Kf6 → Kf4

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♜
White to move · rating 1487 · solved 5,201 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h3

Solution: Rd8+ → Ke4 → Re8+ → Kf3 → Rxe1

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

Advanced levelFoundation levelChallenging level