Chess Play Area : Assorted Chess Puzzles

Chess Play Area : Assorted Chess Puzzles
Chess Play Area : Assorted Chess Puzzles

A Chess Puzzle is a great way to develop your brain to visualize moves ahead – whether they’re single maneuvers resulting in a sudden “Checkmate” of your opponents King; or mutliple moves that result in positional play, before capturing a piece and/or winning a game.

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The current selection contains an assortment of Tactics and Checkmate Puzzles …

Assorted Chess Puzzles

1. Tactics Puzzles, The Pin

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How it works:

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    Play alone
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    Play with AI
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    Play in room
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    Watch the rooms
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    No Ads, Clean Play Room

Contains 26x puzzles involving the Pin chess tactic.

Look out for enemy material positioned in a straight line (Rank, File, or Diagonal). The less-valuable Pawn or Piece can be “Pinned” against the more valuable unit.

When a Pawn or Piece is successfully Pinned, it usually won’t be able to move (especially if its King is behind). Look for opportunities to pile up the pressure against the paralyzed Pawn or Piece, and then capture it.

Puzzle Theme Variations:

  • Breaking the Pin

2. Tactics Puzzles, The Knight Fork

Contains 24x puzzles involving the Knight Fork chess tactic.

The Knight is often ideal for carrying out a Fork attack, because of its ability to hit multiple enemy pieces, without being in their line of fire.

It may be necessary to remove any hostile defenders, before the Knight Fork can successfully proceed. And, sometimes, it may be necessary to make a series of even exchanges, which in themselves involve no gain of material, in order to achieve the main material gain, from the Knight Fork.

Puzzle Theme Variations:

  • The Fork and the Pin

3. Tactics Puzzles, Double Attack

Contains 24x puzzles involving the Double Attack chess tactic.

The Double Attack is when one Pawn or Piece attacks two hostile units or squares simultaneously, functioning by way of mating threatsattacks on loose piecesPawn pushes, and Pins.

Puzzle Theme Variations:

  • …with Check
  • …on Loose Pieces
  • …with the Pawn Push
  • …with Pins

4. Tactics Puzzles, Discovered Attack

Contains 14x puzzles involving the Discovered Attack chess tactic.

Discovered Attack is a simultaneous attack on two specific enemy targets. Two attacking units will be used, with one moving to check, capture, or threaten one enemy unit, while at the same time it “Dis-covers” (uncovers) a second friendly unit attacking the second enemy target. The opponent will be forced to decide which unit to save, and which will be lost (if there’s a choice, it will be the less-valuable unit that’s will be captured).

Puzzle Theme Variations:

  • …with Check
  • …with Capture
  • …with Mate Threats

5. Tactics Puzzles, Discovered Check

Contains 6x puzzles involving the Discovered Check chess tactic.

The Discovered Check works in the same way as the Discovered Attack, except the enemy King is the Piece attacked (“Checked”) by the “Dis-covered” Piece.

6. Tactics Puzzles, Double Check

Contains 3x puzzles involving the Double Check chess tactic.

Double Check is an even more extreme form of Discovered Check, and is also much rarer.

In a Double Check attack, BOTH initial attacker AND the secondary attacker (the “Dis-covered” Piece) are simultaneously attacking the enemy King, which is helpless, and must find a way out of Check by himself. Unsurprisingly, Double Checks often end in Checkmate.

7. Tactics Puzzles, The Overworked Piece

Contains 12x puzzles involving the Overworked Piece chess tactic.

Piece is said to be Overworked, if inadvertently or out of necessity, it has been given more than one assignment (e.g. defence of multiple friendly units, specific squares, or a mixture of the two).

The Overworked Piece won’t be able to carry out both tasks, and this creates a vulnerability that can be exploited by the attacking force.

8. Tactics Puzzles, Removing The Guar

Contains 14x puzzles involving the tactic of Removing The Guard.

One of the primary objectives of an attack is to capture enemy material. But, if that target is protected, then the solution is often to Remove The Guard(s), to enable you to capture that original target.

Options for Removing the Guard include capturing it outrightchasing it away; or using your pieces to exchange the Guard off the board, before capturing the unit it had been defending.

9. Tactics Puzzles, Low Mobility Targets

Contains 5x puzzles involving attacks on targets with Low Mobility.

Look out for Pieces whose mobility is restricted, especially by fellow Pieces. Such Pieces may have no safe place to retreat!

Also, be aware of how captures might lead to a Piece becoming trapped, despite there being plenty of space on the board (see Puzzle #5, for this one!).

10. Tactics Puzzles, The Skewer

Contains 10x puzzles involving the Skewer chess tactic.

The aim of the Skewer Attack is to threaten a more-valuable piece into moving, so you can capture a less-valuable piece, which is in a direct line, behind the piece being attacked at the front.

The main target of a Skewer Attack is usually NOT the Piece at the front, but the Pawn or Piece behind (the one that’s being shielded by the more-valuable Piece).

11. Tactics Puzzles, Pawn Promotion Combinations

Contains 12x puzzles involving combinations that lead to Pawn Promotion.

In their book, “Winning Chess: How to Perfect Your Attacking Play,” authors Chernev & Reinfeld give 5 simple rules for playing Endgames:

  1. Get a Passed Pawn!
  2. Push the Passed Pawn!
  3. Clear the way for the Passed
    Pawn to advance.
  4. Capture, exchange or drive off
    any blockader of the Passed
    Pawn.
  5. When the Passed Pawn has a
    clear road to the queening-
    square, simplify by exchanging
    all the pieces on the board,
    sacrificing material if necessary.

The puzzles in this section will help reinforce this set of rules.

12. Tactics Puzzles, First Rank King Attacks

Contains 13x puzzles involving the tactic of attacking the enemy King, on his side’s first rank.

The majority of these attacks end in Checkmate (a Back Rank Mate, specifically), but failing that, they can also be used to gain a material advantage.

Because the attack is on the vulnerable enemy King, look out for opportunities for the attacker to sacrifice material, to achieve his objective.

13. Tactics Puzzles, Breaking Communication

Contains 5x puzzles involving the tactic of Breaking Communication between a target enemy piece and the rest of its army.

In general, stay alert for time-wasting captures that force a piece to move far apart.

If communicating units are side-by-side, look out for opportunities to attack, to force them apart, before breaking the lines of communication, either with your own material, or theirs (typically via an exchange).

14. Tactics Puzzles, The Surprise Move

Contains 9x puzzles involving the tactic of playing a Surprise Move, often in order to either launch, or build-up to, a Combination attack.

As an example: when a Piece is “surprisingly sacrificed,” to enable an attack through the defenses surrounding the enemy King, as part of a Mating attack

Irving Chernev & Fred Reinfeld say: “On the chessboard, surprise is nothing more than logic that packs a wallop.”

15. Tactics Puzzles, Combined Operations

Contains 14x puzzles involving Combinations of multiple chess tactics, which combine to make a series of forcing moves, resulting in an improved position, material gain, or checkmate.

For example, a Queen Sacrifice (TACTIC 1) that enables a Knight Fork (TACTIC 2), that results in a material gain, would be considered a successful Combination.

16. Tactics Puzzles, Self Defence

Contains 19x puzzles involving the necessary skill of being able to Defend, when under attack.

Defence is a necessary part of playing chess: attacks and defence cannot be separated. Without the ability to defend, your attacks may come to nothing, if the enemy can find a way to counterattack.

The following puzzles should help open your mind to ways of dealing with attacks and threats.

Puzzle Theme Variations:

Defence…

  • …by Declining a Capture
  • …by Declining a Sacrifice
  • …to a Combination
  • …to a Threat
  • …to Attack and Counterattack

17. Checkmate Puzzles, Mating Patterns

Contains 13x puzzles involving standard patterns that enable Mating Attacks.

Don’t worry if you have to look at the Solutions; the main thing is to learn from them, so you can begin to recognize these sorts of Mating Patterns, which can crop up quite frequently, in games.

18. Checkmate Puzzles, Mate in 1 Move

Contains 20x puzzles whereby Checkmate can be made in one move.

For added difficulty, we’ve not specified whose turn it is. This means you’ll need to study the board from both White & Black’s perspectives, to find the Checkmate solution.

Contains 20x puzzles whereby Checkmate can be made in two moves.

The increase in moves can, in some cases, result in more than one solution to the same puzzle, and we have five such examples in this batch.

Again, we’ve not specified whose turn it is.

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