ChessPuzzlePrint Free chess puzzles, tools and printables

Real positions. Quiet practice.

Rook endgame tactics Puzzles: Foundation Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 927 · solved 84,935,592 times

Difficulty 600–1199

These are rook endgame tactics puzzles rated 600–1199, the Foundation level on this site. They come from real rated games: 129,920 puzzles, median rating 927, solved 84,935,592 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 foundation level: the numbers

There are 129,920 rook endgame tactics puzzles at foundation level, solved 84,935,592 times in total. The median rating is 927.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 129,920Checkmate · 64,521Mate in 2 · 34,611Mate in 1 · 27,263Skewer · 19,893Back-rank mate · 14,920Advanced pawn · 12,833Deflection · 7,690

Which openings produce them?

Sicilian Defence · 13Scandinavian Defense · 11Scotch Game · 10Ruy Lopez · 9Four Knights Game · 8Queen's Gambit Declined · 7Italian Game · 5French Defence · 5

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 foundation level (1.5% of all 129,920).

22.4% need 1 solver move, 62.4% need 2 solver moves, 13% need 3 solver moves, 1.2% need 4 solver moves, 0.9% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 811 for the shortest solutions, 1096 for the longest.

82.8% open with a rook move. The first move captures in 15.1% and gives check in 87.6%; 51.9% end in checkmate, 6.2% involve a sacrifice, 49.6% have White to move.

15.1%first move captures
87.6%first move gives check
51.9%end in checkmate
6.2%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

1 solver move
22.4% · median rating 811
2 solver moves
62.4% · median rating 912
3 solver moves
13% · median rating 1027
4 solver moves
1.2% · median rating 1080
5+ solver moves
0.9% · median rating 1096

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a rook
82.8%
Key move by a pawn
15.4%
Key move by the king
1.8%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: rook
60%
Captures nothing along the line
31.4%
Most valuable capture: pawn
7.7%
Most valuable capture: queen
0.9%

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)
42.2%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
9.8%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
3.4%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
42.2%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
2.4%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0.1%
13–20 pieces
31.4%
12 pieces or fewer
68.4%

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: c8 (6.4%), d8 (5.9%), a8 (5.8%), b8 (5.3%), e8 (4.9%).

5.85.36.45.94.92.82.44.68
11.21.71.31.813.17
1.61.41.31.61.52.42.56
11.21.11.91.72.41.55
1.111.22.13.32.14
11.213
1.22
1.51
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.

♟
♟♟
♚
♙
♔♙
♜♟
♖
White to move · rating 866 · solved 7,777 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kh5

Solution: Rh1#

♖
♙♚
♟♟
♙
♜♙♔
Black to move · rating 918 · solved 3,064 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: a7

Solution: g3+ → Kg1 → Ra1#

♟♜
♚♙♟
♟♙♔♙
♙♖
Black to move · rating 1010 · solved 7,288 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rf3

Solution: Rxf3 → Kxf3 → Kc4 → Ke4 → Kb3

♜
♙
♖
♟♚
♙
♜♙
♔♙
♖
Black to move · rating 1058 · solved 3,308 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke2

Solution: Rb2+ → Kd1 → Ra1#

♟
♚♙
♟♜♟♙
♖♔♙
Black to move · rating 1061 · solved 15,860 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd2

Solution: Rc2+ → Rxc2 → bxc2

♟
♟
♟♜♚
♖
♙♙
♔
White to move · rating 1103 · solved 4,708 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kg5

Solution: f4+ → Kf6 → fxe5+

♜
♖♔
♚
Black to move · rating 1121 · solved 16,684 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kh3

Solution: Rh6+ → Kg4 → Rg6+ → Kf5 → Rxg3

♜♟♟
♟♟
♔♙♚♙
♙♙
♙
♖
Black to move · rating 1141 · solved 7,720 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kxa4

Solution: Rxc4+ → Rxc4+ → Kxc4

♜
♖♙
♟♚♙
♜♟
♔
♙
White to move · rating 1167 · solved 13,494 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ra5

Solution: g7 → Rxf7+ → Rxf7

♟♜♚
♟
♔
♙
♖
White to move · rating 1177 · solved 3,248 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rf5

Solution: Rxf5+ → Kxf5 → Kc4 → Ke4 → Kxc5

♔♚
♟
♖
♟
Black to move · rating 1183 · solved 3,734 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd6

Solution: h2 → Rb1 → g4 → Rh1 → g3

♖
♙♟
♟♙
♙♚♟♙
♜
♔
Black to move · rating 1191 · solved 4,115 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: b6

Solution: Rh1#

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 levelChallenging levelDeveloping level