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Discovered attack Puzzles from the Sicilian Defence

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 1418 · solved 41,441,571 times

Opening: Sicilian Defence

These discovered attack puzzles were set in games that began as the Sicilian Defence: 14,309 puzzles, median rating 1418, solved 41,441,571 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 the solutions are built.

All discovered attack puzzles Print a worksheet About the Sicilian Defence

By the numbers

discovered attack puzzles from Sicilian Defence games: the numbers

There are 14,309 discovered attack puzzles from Sicilian Defence games, solved 41,441,571 times in total. The median rating is 1418.

How hard are they?

Foundation
4,420 · 30.9%
Developing
4,618 · 32.3%
Challenging
3,127 · 21.9%
Advanced
2,144 · 15%

Often combined with

Middlegame tactics · 11,222Kingside attack · 3,576Opening tactics · 2,997Discovered check · 2,164Sacrifice · 1,257Checkmate · 1,026Pin · 772Mate in 2 · 725

Which openings produce them?

Sicilian Defence · 14,309

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical discovered attack solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 discovered attack puzzles from Sicilian Defence games (14% of all 14,309).

0.8% need 1 solver move, 69.8% need 2 solver moves, 23.8% need 3 solver moves, 3.8% need 4 solver moves, 1.8% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 1340 for the shortest solutions, 2254 for the longest.

44.4% open with a knight move. The first move captures in 60.8% and gives check in 65.2%; 8.1% end in checkmate, 49.6% involve a sacrifice, 61.4% have White to move.

60.8%first move captures
65.2%first move gives check
8.1%end in checkmate
49.6%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

1 solver move
0.8% · median rating 1340
2 solver moves
69.8% · median rating 1275
3 solver moves
23.8% · median rating 1736
4 solver moves
3.8% · median rating 2187
5+ solver moves
1.8% · median rating 2254

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a knight
44.4%
Key move by a bishop
33.4%
Key move by a pawn
10.2%
Key move by a queen
6.7%
Key move by a rook
4.6%
Key move by the king
0.6%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: queen
52.6%
Most valuable capture: knight
16.6%
Most valuable capture: bishop
12.4%
Most valuable capture: rook
9.8%
Most valuable capture: pawn
7.2%
Captures nothing along the line
1.3%

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)
9.1%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
11.8%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
29.8%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
38.4%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
10.9%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
22.9%
21–27 pieces
74.6%
13–20 pieces
2.6%
12 pieces or fewer
0%

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: f6 (13.8%), h7 (13.5%), f7 (7.1%), d4 (5.9%), d5 (5.1%).

8
1.312.57.11.613.57
1.14.34.54.113.82.71.86
4.81.75.14.31.72.65
11.35.92.24
3
2
1
abcdefgh

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

Study positions

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

♜♝♜♚
♟♟♟♝♟
♛♟
♗
♞
♘
♙♙♙♙♙
♖♗♕♖♔
White to move · rating 1040 · solved 2,355 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nb4

Solution: Bxf7+ → Rxf7 → Qxd6

♜♜♚
♟♟♟♟
♟♝
♟
♛♗♕
♙♙♙♙♙
♖♖♔
White to move · rating 1147 · solved 1,958 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Be6

Solution: Bxh7+ → Kxh7 → Qxc3

♜♝♜
♟♟♟♚♟
♟♞♟♞♟
♙
♗♛♗♕
♙♙♙♙♙
♖♖♔
White to move · rating 1186 · solved 2,191 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxc3

Solution: Bh6+ → Kxh6 → Qxc3

♜♜♚
♝♟♙♝♟
♟♟
♟♟
♛♞♕
♙♘♙♙
♗♙♙♔♙
♖♗♖
Black to move · rating 1201 · solved 6,291 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kg2

Solution: Ne3+ → Bxe3 → Qxh4

♜♜♚
♟♟♝♟♟♟
♛
♗♕
♙♙
♙♙♙♙
♔♖♖
Black to move · rating 1313 · solved 1,850 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rhe1

Solution: Bg5+ → Kb1 → Rxe4

♝♜♚
♟♟
♟♟
♟♟♟
♙♕♞♛
♙♙
♙♙♙♙
♖♘♗♖♔
Black to move · rating 1400 · solved 2,988 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxe4

Solution: Bh2+ → Kh1 → Nxf2+ → Rxf2 → Qxe4

♜♛♚♜
♟♟♟
♟♝♝♟
♞
♕♙
♘♗
♙♙♙♙♙
♖♗♖♔
Black to move · rating 1405 · solved 1,807 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qd4

Solution: Bxh2+ → Kxh2 → Qxd4

♜♝
♟♟♟♚♝♟
♟♞
♛♙♕
♜
♘
♙♙♙♙♙♙
♖♖♔
White to move · rating 1642 · solved 1,023 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxd4

Solution: e6+ → Bxe6 → Qxa5

♜♝♜♚
♟♝
♟♟♟♟♟
♟♞♗
♘
♙♘
♙♙♙♙♙
♖♖♔
White to move · rating 1644 · solved 978 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h6

Solution: Nf6+ → Bxf6 → Rxe8+

♜♛♜♚
♟♟♞♟♟
♝♖
♗♞
♕
♙♙♙♙♙♙
♖♘♗♔
Black to move · rating 1689 · solved 1,150 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxd4

Solution: Nf3+ → gxf3 → Bxh2+ → Kxh2 → Qxd4

♜♞♝♛♝♜
♟♟♟♟♟♟
♚♞
♟♕
♙♘
♙♙♙♙♙♙
♖♘♗♔♖
White to move · rating 2094 · solved 639 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nf6

Solution: Ng5+ → Kd6 → Nf7+ → Kc7 → Qxc5+ → Nc6 → Nxd8

♚♜♜
♟♟♟
♗♞♝♛♟
♘
♕♙♟
♙♙♙♙♙♙
♔♖♖
Black to move · rating 2107 · solved 409 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Bxa6

Solution: Qxd5 → Qxd5 → Bf4+ → Kb1 → Rxd5

Positions and move sequences come from real rated games (CC0 data). Engine evaluations, where shown, are stored evaluations of the position (CC0).

Same opening, other tactics

More puzzles from the Sicilian Defence

Middlegame tacticsCheckmateMate in 1Opening tacticsKingside attackForkPinMate in 2SacrificeHanging pieceAttractionTrapped piece

Same theme, other levels

Discovered attack puzzles by difficulty

Advanced levelFoundation levelChallenging levelDeveloping level