Real positions from rated games. Narrow them by motif, difficulty or rating, then solve or print each one.
607 real-game Queen endgame tactics puzzles in this collection
What is a queen endgame tactics?
Queen endings balance perpetual-check defense against promotion technique. The tactics here find the check that wins the new queen — or the ladder that escapes every check.
How to spot it
Centralize the queen, hunt cross-checks that trade queens into won pawn endings, and calculate the check ladders to their actual end.
What this set trains
Teaches the most slippery ending in chess, where one careless check turns a win into a draw.
How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine
What a typical queen endgame tactics solution looks like
Sample: 3,673 queen endgame tactics puzzles (5.2% of all 71,009).
17.3% need 1 solver move, 44% need 2 solver moves, 25.8% need 3 solver moves, 8% need 4 solver moves, 5% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 1038 for the shortest solutions, 1937 for the longest.
84.5% open with a queen move. The first move captures in 26% and gives check in 76.4%; 32% end in checkmate, 16.6% involve a sacrifice, 49.7% have White to move.
26%first move captures
76.4%first move gives check
32%end in checkmate
16.6%involve a sacrifice
How many moves does the solver need?
1 solver move
17.3% · median rating 1038
2 solver moves
44% · median rating 1380
3 solver moves
25.8% · median rating 1702
4 solver moves
8% · median rating 1933
5+ solver moves
5% · median rating 1937
Which piece plays the key move?
Key move by a queen
84.5%
Key move by a pawn
11.4%
Key move by the king
4.1%
What does the solver win?
Most valuable capture: queen
57.6%
Captures nothing along the line
35.2%
Most valuable capture: pawn
7.2%
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)
66.9%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
14.2%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
0.3%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
3%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
15.6%
How much is left on the board?
28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0%
13–20 pieces
28%
12 pieces or fewer
72%
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 3,673 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: h8 (4.3%), f5 (3.6%), e8 (3.5%), f4 (3.5%), g4 (3.3%).
2.2
1.8
1.6
3.2
3.5
2.8
1.5
4.3
8
1.2
1.3
1.5
1.7
1.7
1.8
1.6
7
1
1.6
1.7
2.7
2.5
2.2
1.1
6
1.5
1.7
2.3
3.3
3.6
2.5
1.6
5
1
1.4
2.1
3.1
3.5
3.3
1.9
4
1.5
1.5
2.2
2.3
1.7
1.1
3
1
1.1
1.4
1.2
2
1
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Counted from the same 3,673-puzzle sample. Squares under 1% are left blank.
Study positions
The most-solved queen 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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Black to move · rating 1159 · solved 2,377 times
· 2 solver moves to find. The solver captures a queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Kf3
Solution: Qh1+ → Ke2 → Qxe4
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White to move · rating 1165 · solved 2,429 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f7 with the queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: g5
Solution: Qf7#
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Black to move · rating 1191 · solved 2,588 times
· 3 solver moves to find. The solver captures a queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: b7
Solution: Qe2+ → Kc3 → Qc2+ → Kd4 → Qxc7
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White to move · rating 1331 · solved 3,353 times
· 4 solver moves to find. The solver captures a queen.Reveal line
Black to move · rating 1469 · solved 2,928 times
· Mate in 3. It ends in checkmate on g5 with the queen. The solver captures a queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: b6
Solution: g4+ → Kh4 → Qe7+ → Qg5+ → Qxg5#
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White to move · rating 1630 · solved 1,471 times
· 2 solver moves to find. The solver captures a queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Qf7
Solution: d6 → Qxc7 → dxc7
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Black to move · rating 1650 · solved 3,358 times
· 2 solver moves to find. It gives up the queen (Qxe6+) on the way. The solver captures 2 pieces (pawn, queen).Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Qd7
Solution: Qxe6+ → Qxe6 → fxe6
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White to move · rating 1674 · solved 1,655 times
· 3 solver moves to find. A quiet solution: no capture and no mate.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Qf3+
Solution: Kc2 → Qe2+ → Qd2 → Qc4+ → Qc3
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White to move · rating 2058 · solved 915 times
· 4 solver moves to find. The solver captures a queen.Reveal line
White to move · rating 2272 · solved 645 times
· 2 solver moves to find. The solver captures a queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Qe3
Solution: Qxe3 → fxe3 → Kg1
Positions and move sequences come from real rated games (CC0 data). Engine evaluations, where shown, are stored evaluations of the position (CC0).
Background reading
Queen versus pawn endgame
The chess endgame of a queen versus pawn (with both sides having no other pieces except the kings) is usually an easy win for the side with the queen. However, if the pawn has advanced to its seventh rank it has possibilities of reaching a draw, and there are some drawn positions with the pawn on the sixth rank. This endgame arises most often from a race of pawns to promote. The side with the queen is the attacker and the side with the pawn the defender. Assume that the attacker has the move. If the pawn is not beyond its sixth rank, the attacker (to move) usually wins easily, but there are a few exceptions. The winning process is to either get the queen on a square in front of the pawn and moving the king over to help win the pawn or to check the defending king until it is forced in front of the pawn and using that tempo to bring the attacking king closer, until it can assist in winning the pawn. After the pawn is won, the attacker has an elementary checkmate.
Queen versus a pawn on the sixth rank
The queen usually wins easily if the pawn is on the sixth rank. In the first position, Black is to move, but White wins.: 1... Kg2: 2. Qg4+ Kf2: 3. Kb7 Ke3 If Black plays 3...Ke2, White replies 4.Qe4+, forcing Black's king back in front of the pawn, and then advances his own king.: 4. Kc6 f2: 5. Qd1 Kf4: 6. Qf1 and White wins.
Exceptions
Exceptions can occur when the king blocks the queen on a file or diagonal, as in this position.: 1. Qh1+ Kb2! White needs to pin the pawn by 2. Qh8, but the king blocks the pin. :2. Qb7+ This was White's only check which prevents the pawn from advancing, and Black responds :2... Kc1! repeating the position. If the white king is anywhere else (other than g7 and h8), the queen can pin the pawn and allow for the queen and then the king to approach.
Example
The biggest problem for a queen versus a pawn on the sixth rank is when its own king gets in the way. In this position, the white king prevents the queen from getting on the a1 to h8 diagonal, to pin the pawn to prevent it from advancing. White actually wins by: :1. Qh6!! Now if: 1... c2 then :2. Qc1+ wins. If Black does not advance the pawn then the white queen can maneuver to pin the pawn along the diagonal, and wins easily. If instead, White tries what may seem to be correct: :1. Qh1+? a draw results with correct play (but there are many chances for losing moves). :1... Kb2! (1...Ka2 loses quickly to Qc1.) :2. Qb7+ (otherwise 2...c2 draws.) :2... Kc1! :3. Kf6! (White tries his best chance.) :3... c2 :4. Ke5 Kd2 :5. Qd5+! Black has five replies. Four of them lose, but :5... Ke1! draws. :6. Qa5+ Kd1 (6...Ke2 loses to 7.Qa2.) :7. Qa4 Kd2 (7...Kc1 loses to 8.Qa2.) :8. Qa2 Kc3!! and White can make no progress.
Example from game
In this 1937 game between Vladimir Alatortsev and Vitaly Chekhover, White wins: :71... Ke3 :72. Qd5 Kf2 If 72...Ke2 then 73.Qe4+ Kf2 forces the Black king in front of the pawn. :73. Kd7 Kg3 :74. Ke6 f2 :75. Qh1! 1–0
Queen versus a pawn on the seventh rank
In order for the defending side to have a chance at a draw (with the other side to move), the pawn must be on its seventh rank and the king must be nearby (plus a few drawing positions with the pawn on the sixth rank, as above). Except for unusual cases, the attacking side wins if the pawn is a knight pawn (b- or g-files) or a central pawn (d- or e-files). For bishop pawns and rook pawns, the result also depends on the location of the attacking king. If the attacking king is close enough to the pawn, it wins; otherwise a draw results. First note that the attacker may win easily, depending on the location of the kings. In this position, White wins by 1. Qg5! followed by 2. Qc1, and then the white king is brought nearer to win the pawn. If the black king is on any other square around the pawn, the position is a draw, see below (position modified slightly).
Where this page comes from
The text above is adapted from
“Queen versus pawn endgame” 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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