A new chess puzzle every day.

190 engine-checked puzzles with a name, a hint and a tip, by type of move.

The last 30 days

The moves puzzles teach

Checkmate

A move that attacks the king with no way out: the game ends on the spot. How to spot it: Look at every check first. Count the king's escape squares and ask which check covers all of them. Learn the classic patterns (back-rank, smothered, Arabian) and you'll start seeing mates in your own games.

Fork

One piece attacks two or more enemy pieces at once. Your opponent can only save one. How to spot it: Find two loose or valuable pieces that one of your pieces could reach from the same square. Knights and queens fork best. Kings and queens are the best fork targets because they must move. Watch for them sitting a knight's jump apart.

Pin

An attack through one piece to a more valuable piece behind it, so the front piece can't move. How to spot it: Look along files and diagonals that run through an enemy piece to their king or queen. Once a piece is pinned, attack it again: it can't run away.

Skewer

A pin in reverse: attack a valuable piece that must move, and win the piece behind it. How to spot it: Kings and queens lined up on a rank, file or diagonal are a skewer waiting to happen. Give check along the line: the king steps aside and the piece behind it falls.

Discovered attack

Move one piece out of the way so another piece behind it attacks. Two threats in one move. How to spot it: Find your own pieces lined up behind each other, aimed at something valuable. When the piece that moves gives check, the hidden attack can't be stopped.

Promotion

A pawn reaching the last rank becomes a new piece, almost always a queen. How to spot it: Count how many moves your passed pawn needs and whether anything can stop it. Check all four promotion pieces: sometimes a knight that gives check is the winner.

Hanging piece

An enemy piece is undefended. Take it for free. How to spot it: After every opponent move, ask: what did they just leave unprotected? Free material wins more beginner games than any tactic. Check for it on every move.

Winning trade

A capture that comes out ahead once all the trades on that square are done. How to spot it: Count attackers and defenders on the square, and the value of what gets traded. Capture with your least valuable piece first.

Forcing check

A check that drives the king somewhere worse and sets up the win. How to spot it: List every check, then ask where the king must go and what that allows. Checks take away your opponent's choices. Use them to set the board up your way.

Quiet move

No check, no capture: a calm move that creates a threat your opponent can't meet. How to spot it: When no forcing move works, look for a move that threatens two things at once. The hardest moves to see are the quiet ones. Look past checks and captures.

How to solve chess puzzles