Equality Chess Puzzles

About equality puzzles

Equality puzzles focus on finding the precise move that restores balance in a position where one side appears to have an advantage. These puzzles train defensive resourcefulness and the ability to calculate moves that neutralise threats, simplify into a drawn endgame, or maintain sufficient counterplay. Finding equality is often as difficult as finding a winning move — the solution requires seeing exactly why the position is not lost and which resources save the game. Practising equality puzzles builds resilience and defensive skill that make you much harder to defeat. Players who can consistently find drawing resources save crucial half-points in tournaments and in difficult positions that less experienced players simply resign.

How to train equality

Train with a clear objective in mind. Knowing what you are trying to achieve in a position changes which candidate moves you look at first.

Questions

How many equality puzzles are there?

Enough that you will not repeat them — this set is drawn from a library of over 1,000,000 puzzles taken from real games, graded from easy to hard.

What level is this suitable for?

Children from about age 5 upward, once they know how the pieces move, through to rated tournament players. Start on the easy set and move up when you are solving most of them at a glance.