Real positions from rated games. Narrow them by motif, difficulty or rating, then solve or print each one.
326 real-game Attacks on f2 / f7 puzzles in this collection
What is an attacks on f2 / f7?
The f2 and f7 squares start the game defended only by the king, which makes them the oldest targets in chess. These puzzles win through sacrifices and batteries aimed at that soft point.
How to spot it
Early queen-and-bishop alignment toward f7 (or f2), a knight reaching g5 (or g4), or a rook arriving on the f-file all signal the classic strike.
What this set trains
Essential pattern armor for open games — both to land these blows and to stop losing miniatures to them.
How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine
What a typical attacks on f2 / f7 solution looks like
Sample: 2,140 attacks on f2 / f7 puzzles (4.8% of all 44,681).
62.6% need 1 solver move, 23.2% need 2 solver moves, 10.9% need 3 solver moves, 2.1% need 4 solver moves, 1.2% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 905 for the shortest solutions, 2470 for the longest.
63.4% open with a queen move. The first move captures in 94.6% and gives check in 91.8%; 74.8% end in checkmate, 14.5% involve a sacrifice, 68.9% have White to move.
94.6%first move captures
91.8%first move gives check
74.8%end in checkmate
14.5%involve a sacrifice
How many moves does the solver need?
1 solver move
62.6% · median rating 905
2 solver moves
23.2% · median rating 1411
3 solver moves
10.9% · median rating 1848
4 solver moves
2.1% · median rating 2169
5+ solver moves
1.2% · median rating 2470
Which piece plays the key move?
Key move by a queen
63.4%
Key move by a bishop
27.2%
Key move by a knight
4.3%
Key move by a pawn
2.4%
Key move by a rook
2.3%
What does the solver win?
Most valuable capture: pawn
74.8%
Most valuable capture: queen
10%
Most valuable capture: bishop
6.1%
Most valuable capture: rook
5.3%
Most valuable capture: knight
3.7%
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)
4.8%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
75%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
8.9%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
9.1%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
2.2%
How much is left on the board?
28 or more pieces on the board
47.1%
21–27 pieces
47.6%
13–20 pieces
4.9%
12 pieces or fewer
0.4%
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 2,140 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: f7 (92%), e5 (0.8%), e6 (0.7%), f6 (0.7%), g6 (0.7%).
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Counted from the same 2,140-puzzle sample. Squares under 1% are left blank.
Study positions
The most-solved attacks on f2 / f7 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 872 · solved 2,134 times
· Mate in 2. It ends in checkmate on f8 with the queen. The solver captures 2 pieces (pawn, bishop).Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Qxg5
Solution: Qxf7+ → Kd8 → Qxf8#
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Black to move · rating 949 · solved 2,387 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f2 with the queen. The solver captures a pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Bxg7
Solution: Qxf2#
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White to move · rating 1154 · solved 2,277 times
· Mate in 2. It ends in checkmate on e6 with the queen. The solver captures a pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Bxf3
Solution: Bxf7+ → Kd7 → Qe6#
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White to move · rating 1269 · solved 3,190 times
· Mate in 2. It ends in checkmate on f8 with the queen. The solver captures a pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: fxe3
Solution: Qxf7+ → Kd8 → Qf8#
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Black to move · rating 1285 · solved 3,736 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f2 with the queen. The solver captures a pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Nxc5
Solution: Qxf2#
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White to move · rating 1335 · solved 3,593 times
· 2 solver moves to find. It gives up the knight (Nxd6+) on the way. The solver captures 2 pieces (pawn, pawn).Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Bg7
Solution: Nxd6+ → Qxd6 → Qxf7+
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White to move · rating 1338 · solved 3,215 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f7 with the bishop. The solver captures a pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Bxd1
Solution: Bxf7#
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Black to move · rating 1644 · solved 1,274 times
· 2 solver moves to find. It gives up the bishop (Bxf2+) on the way. The solver captures 2 pieces (pawn, queen).Reveal line
Opponent's last move: dxc7
Solution: Bxf2+ → Kxf2 → Qxd1
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White to move · rating 1648 · solved 1,177 times
· Mate in 2. It ends in checkmate on f7 with the pawn. It gives up the queen (Qf7+) on the way. The solver captures a bishop.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Nd7
Solution: Qf7+ → Bxf7 → gxf7#
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White to move · rating 1667 · solved 1,653 times
· 2 solver moves to find. The solver captures a bishop.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: h6
Solution: Nxf7 → Kxf7 → Bg6+
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White to move · rating 2039 · solved 562 times
· 2 solver moves to find. The solver captures 2 pieces (pawn, pawn).Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Nxd4
Solution: Nxf7 → g6 → Bxg6
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White to move · rating 2047 · solved 950 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f7 with the queen. The solver captures a pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Rg6
Solution: Qxf7#
Positions and move sequences come from real rated games (CC0 data). Engine evaluations, where shown, are stored evaluations of the position (CC0).
Background reading
Fried Liver Attack
The Fried Liver Attack, also called the Fegatello Attack (named after an Italian dish), is a chess opening variation of the Two Knights Defense in which White sacrifices a knight for an attack on Black's king. The opening begins with the moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5?! 6. Nxf7 White's move 4.Ng5 is an aggressive attacking line against the Two Knights. Black's move 5...Nxd5?! is risky (5...Na5 is generally considered best). Bobby Fischer felt that 6.d4! (the Lolli Attack ) was incredibly strong, to the point 5...Nxd5 is rarely played. It is classified as code C57 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings.
History
The Fried Liver Attack has been known for many centuries, the earliest known example being a game played by Giulio Cesare Polerio before 1606.
Considerations
After 6...Kxf7, play usually continues 7.Qf3+ Ke6 (7...Kg8?? leads to a mate in 3 after 8.Bxd5+ while other moves immediately lose the knight on d5) 8.Nc3 (diagram). Black will play 8...Nb4 and follow up with ...c6, bolstering their pinned knight on d5. White can force the b4-knight to abandon protection of the d5-knight with 9.a3, a move Yakov Estrin recommended, but Black is quite strong after 9.a3 Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Nd4!? Thus, 9.Bb3, 9.Qe4, or 9.0-0 are better choices. White has a strong attack, but it has not yet been proven to be decisive. Because defence is harder to play than attack in this variation, the Fried Liver is dangerous for Black, particularly with shorter time controls.
Further reading
* Computer Analysis of the Fried Liver and Lolli, Dan Heisman, Chessbase CHNESO001U * Re-Fried Liver, by Jon Edwards, Chess Life, July 2009, pp. 32–34.
External links
*The Fried Liver Attack blog by GM Boris Alterman *Fried Liver Attack The Chess Website by Kevin Butler
Where this page comes from
The text above is adapted from
“Fried Liver Attack” on Wikipedia,
by its contributors. We removed reference markers, infoboxes, templates and embedded
media, and kept the prose sections otherwise intact — nothing here was written or
rewritten by AI.
The original is published under
CC BY-SA 4.0,
so this section is published under the same licence. You may share and
adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same
licence.
Puzzle positions, ratings and move sequences on this page come from real rated games (CC0 data), not from Wikipedia; theme write-ups and difficulty guides
elsewhere on this site are Chess Puzzle Print's own original work and are not covered by
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