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Every motif of the corpus, grouped the way players think about them. Pick one to browse its puzzles or drill it in rated training.
The tactical patterns every player meets first.
A move where the moved piece attacks two opponent pieces at once.
A piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it.
A valuable piece is attacked and, when it moves, the piece behind it falls — the inverse of a pin.
Moving one piece out of the way unveils an attack by a long-range piece behind it.
Move a piece to reveal a check from a hidden attacker, often winning material.
Check with two pieces at once: the king must move.
An opponent piece is undefended or insufficiently defended and free to take.
A piece has no safe square left and will be captured.
Give up material now to gain more after a forced sequence.
Remove the piece that guards another, then take the undefended one.
A king with few defenders around it, often heading for mate.
Attack the king after it castled short.
Attack the king after it castled long.
An attack aimed at the f2 or f7 pawn, as in the Fried Liver.
One of your pawns is deep in enemy territory, maybe threatening to promote.
Subtler ideas: deflections, quiet moves, zugzwang.
An exchange or sacrifice that drags an opponent piece onto a square where a tactic follows.
A move, often with tempo, that clears a square, file or diagonal for a follow-up.
Distract a piece from a duty such as guarding a key square — also called overloading.
Put a piece between two opponent pieces to cut their defensive link.
Before the expected move, play a threat that must be answered — the zwischenzug.
No check, no capture, no immediate threat — yet it prepares something unstoppable.
The precise move or sequence needed to avoid losing material or the advantage.
A piece attacks or defends a square through an enemy piece.
Every move the opponent can make worsens their position.
Pieces lined up on one rank, file or diagonal, setting up a line tactic.
A move along a line already shared with another piece.
Mating nets, from mate in one to the classic patterns.
Win the game with style.
Deliver checkmate in one move.
Deliver checkmate in two moves.
Deliver checkmate in three moves.
Deliver checkmate in four moves.
Work out a long mating sequence.
Mate the king on its home rank, trapped by its own pieces.
A knight mates a king surrounded by its own pieces.
Knight and rook or queen trap the king between the edge and a friendly piece.
Knight and rook trap the king in a corner.
Two bishops on crossing diagonals mate a king hemmed in by its own pieces.
Two bishops on adjacent diagonals mate a king hemmed in by its own pieces.
A queen mates an adjacent king whose two escape squares are blocked by friendly pieces.
Rook, knight and pawn combine, with an enemy pawn cutting the king's escape.
Rook and queen catch the king in a 3×3 box.
A supported rook mates while a knight covers the escape squares.
Confine the king to the corner with a rook or queen and a knight.
The king is mated between two of its own pieces on either side.
The queen mates while the king's retreat squares are blocked by its own pieces.
A bishop checks the king while a rook confines it.
A rook checks the king, defended by a bishop.
A rook mates while a bishop helps confine the king.
A bishop mates while the queen covers the nearby escape squares.
Two rooks on the seventh combine to mate in a 2×2 corner.
Queen and rook, one square from the king, form a triangle around it.
Tactics sorted by opening, middlegame and endgame type.
A tactic in the first phase of the game.
A tactic in the second phase of the game.
A tactic in the last phase of the game.
An endgame with only pawns.
An endgame with only rooks and pawns.
An endgame with only bishops and pawns.
An endgame with only knights and pawns.
An endgame with only queens and pawns.
An endgame with only queens, rooks and pawns.
Castling, en passant and promotions.
Bring the king to safety and the rook into play.
A tactic built on capturing a pawn that just advanced two squares.
Promote a pawn to a queen or a minor piece.
Promote to a knight, bishop or rook.
What the solution achieves: equality, advantage or a crushing win.
From one-movers to long forcing lines.
Puzzles taken from games between titled players.
From games played by titled players.
From games between two titled players.
From games played by the best players in the world.