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Hanging piece Puzzles from the Sicilian Defence

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 1364 · solved 13,982,661 times

Opening: Sicilian Defence

These hanging piece puzzles were set in games that began as the Sicilian Defence: 8,602 puzzles, median rating 1364, solved 13,982,661 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 hanging piece puzzles Print a worksheet About the Sicilian Defence

By the numbers

hanging piece puzzles from Sicilian Defence games: the numbers

There are 8,602 hanging piece puzzles from Sicilian Defence games, solved 13,982,661 times in total. The median rating is 1364.

How hard are they?

Foundation
3,408 · 39.6%
Developing
2,199 · 25.6%
Challenging
1,827 · 21.2%
Advanced
1,168 · 13.6%

Often combined with

Middlegame tactics · 6,669Checkmate · 2,270Mate in 1 · 2,113Opening tactics · 1,859Kingside attack · 1,290Defensive move · 657Fork · 508Back-rank mate · 446

Which openings produce them?

Sicilian Defence · 8,602

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical hanging piece solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 hanging piece puzzles from Sicilian Defence games (23.3% of all 8,602).

25% need 1 solver move, 55.6% need 2 solver moves, 16.7% need 3 solver moves, 2.2% need 4 solver moves. Median rating: 790 for the shortest solutions, 2086 for the longest.

42.5% open with a queen move. The first move captures in 100% and gives check in 40.5%; 26.3% end in checkmate, 4% involve a sacrifice, 49.6% have White to move.

100%first move captures
40.5%first move gives check
26.3%end in checkmate
4%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

1 solver move
25% · median rating 790
2 solver moves
55.6% · median rating 1425
3 solver moves
16.7% · median rating 1770
4 solver moves
2.2% · median rating 2086

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a queen
42.5%
Key move by a knight
16.6%
Key move by the king
11.1%
Key move by a bishop
11%
Key move by a rook
10.7%
Key move by a pawn
8.1%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: rook
34.1%
Most valuable capture: queen
25.9%
Most valuable capture: bishop
20.8%
Most valuable capture: knight
19.2%

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)
0.4%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
1.6%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
43.5%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
39.6%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
14.9%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
17.4%
21–27 pieces
78.2%
13–20 pieces
4.4%
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: e8 (8%), e4 (7.3%), f8 (6.5%), h2 (4.7%), e7 (4.6%).

4.32.84.186.538
4.67
2.71.32.61.76
2.13.241.65
1.71.23.37.31.33.24
11.61.21.33
14.41.64.72
1
abcdefgh

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

Study positions

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

♜♝♚♝♜
♟♟♟♟♟♟
♞♟
♙
♙♞
♕♙
♙♙♙♙♛♙
♖♘♗♔♗♘♖
Black to move · rating 846 · solved 1,308 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd1

Solution: Qxf1#

♜♝♛♜♚
♟♟♝♟
♙♟♞♟
♟♗
♙♙♘
♕♗♙♙♙
♖♖♔
Black to move · rating 889 · solved 1,760 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qd2

Solution: Nxe4 → Bxd8 → Nxd2

♜♚♜
♟♟♟♟
♛♞♟
♘
♙♙
♙♙♟♝
♙♙♙
♕♖♔
White to move · rating 1169 · solved 1,569 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Bxf3

Solution: Qxh8+ → Ke7 → Qxa8

♜♛♜♚
♟♟♟♖♟
♝♟
♟
♞
♗♘♗♙
♙♙♙♙
♖♕♔
Black to move · rating 1232 · solved 1,956 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxg7+

Solution: Kxg7 → Nxe4 → Bxe4 → Qg4+ → Bg6

♜♜♚
♝♞♟♗
♟♛♟
♟♘♝
♙♘
♙♙♕♙♙
♔♖♖
Black to move · rating 1277 · solved 1,781 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Bxh7+

Solution: Kxh7 → Nxb6 → Bxd2+ → Rxd2 → Nxb6

♜♜♚
♟♟♟♟
♛♞♟
♟♝
♞
♘♙
♙♙♘♗♙♙
♖♕♔♖
White to move · rating 1457 · solved 1,540 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nxd4

Solution: Nxd4 → Bxe2+ → Nxe2

♜♝♛♜♚
♟♟♟
♟♞
♝♘♗♕
♗♟
♙
♙♙♙♙♙
♖♖♔
Black to move · rating 1477 · solved 1,386 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Bg5

Solution: Rxf5 → Bxd8 → Rxh5

♜♝♚♜
♟♟♟♟♟♟
♞♟
♛
♕
♗
♙♙♙♗♞♙♙
♖♘♔♖
White to move · rating 1608 · solved 819 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nxf2+

Solution: Kxf2 → Qxf4+ → Bxf4

♜♚♝♜
♟♟♟♟♟♟
♞
♙♙♞
♛♙♝
♘♗♘
♙♙♙♙♙
♖♕♔♖
White to move · rating 1646 · solved 573 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ne5

Solution: Nxe5 → Qxc3+ → bxc3

♜♝♛♚♜
♟♟♝♟
♟♞♟♟
♟
♙♙♞♗
♙♙♘♙♙♙
♖♘♕♖♔
White to move · rating 1749 · solved 1,218 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nxe3

Solution: Bxc6+ → Bd7 → Bxd7+ → Qxd7 → fxe3

♜♚♜
♝♟♟♝♟
♞♟
♘♛♗
♕
♗
♙♙♙♙♙
♔♖♖
Black to move · rating 2011 · solved 749 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxc4

Solution: Qxg5+ → Kb1 → O-O

♜♝♜♚
♟♟♟♝♟
♟♟♟♗
♛
♞
♗♘
♙♙♙♕♙♙♙
♖♔♖
White to move · rating 2093 · solved 564 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nxe4

Solution: Nxe4 → Qxd2+ → Bxd2

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 attackForkDiscovered attackPinMate in 2SacrificeAttractionTrapped piece

Same theme, other levels

Hanging piece puzzles by difficulty

Advanced levelFoundation levelChallenging levelDeveloping level