Chess Puzzle Themes — Browse Every Tactic
Every chess puzzle theme on ChessMates in one index: tactical motifs like forks, pins and skewers, checkmate patterns such as the smothered mate and back-rank mate, endgame types, and puzzles drawn from specific openings. All free, all graded by difficulty, no login required.
All themes
Phases
- Opening — Tactics from the opening phase.
- Middlegame — Tactical ideas from the middle phase of the game.
- Endgame — Tactical ideas from the final phase of the game.
- Rook Endgame — An endgame with only rooks and pawns.
- Bishop Endgame — An endgame with only bishops and pawns.
- Pawn Endgame — An endgame with only pawns.
- Knight Endgame — An endgame with only knights and pawns.
- Queen Endgame — An endgame with only queens and pawns.
- Queen and Rook Endgame — An endgame with queens, rooks and pawns.
By Openings
- Sicilian Defense — Puzzles from the Sicilian Defense.
- French Defense — Puzzles from the French Defense.
- Queen's Pawn Game — Puzzles from the Queen's Pawn Game.
- Italian Game — Puzzles from the Italian Game.
- Caro-Kann Defense — Puzzles from the Caro-Kann Defense.
- Scandinavian Defense — Puzzles from the Scandinavian Defense.
- Queen's Gambit Declined — Puzzles from the Queen's Gambit Declined.
- English Opening — Puzzles from the English Opening.
- Ruy Lopez — Puzzles from the Ruy Lopez.
- Scotch Game — Puzzles from the Scotch Game.
- Indian Defense — Puzzles from the Indian Defense.
- Philidor Defense — Puzzles from the Philidor Defense.
Tactical Motifs
- Advanced Pawn — A pawn deep in enemy territory.
- Attack on f2 or f7 — Exploiting the weakest square.
- Capture the Defender — Remove the piece defending a target.
- Discovered Attack — Moving a piece to reveal an attack.
- Double Check — Two pieces give check simultaneously.
- Exposed King — Exploiting a vulnerable king position.
- Fork — One piece attacks two or more targets.
- Hanging Piece — Capturing an undefended piece.
- Kingside Attack — An attack targeting the kingside.
- Pin — A piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable one.
- Queenside Attack — An attack targeting the queenside.
- Sacrifice — Giving up material for a greater advantage.
- Skewer — A reverse pin — the more valuable piece is attacked first.
- Trapped Piece — A piece with no safe squares to move to.
Advanced
- Attraction — Luring a piece to a vulnerable square.
- Clearance — Vacating a square for another piece.
- Collinear Move — Moving along the same line as another piece.
- Discovered Check — Moving a piece to reveal a check.
- Defensive Move — A precise move to save the position.
- Deflection — Forcing a defender away from its duty.
- Interference — Blocking an enemy piece's line of action.
- Intermezzo — An in-between move that changes the sequence.
- Quiet Move — A strong move that doesn't check or capture.
- X-Ray Attack — A piece attacks through another piece.
- Zugzwang — Any move worsens the position.
Mate Puzzles
- Checkmate — Find the checkmate.
- Mate in 1 — Deliver checkmate in one move.
- Mate in 2 — Deliver checkmate in two moves.
- Mate in 3 — Deliver checkmate in three moves.
- Mate in 4 — Deliver checkmate in four moves.
- Mate in 5+ — Deliver checkmate in five or more moves.
Mate Patterns
- Anastasia Mate — A knight and rook deliver mate on the edge.
- Arabian Mate — A knight and rook coordinate to deliver mate.
- Back Rank Mate — Checkmate on the back rank.
- Boden Mate — Two bishops deliver a criss-cross mate.
- Corner Mate — Checkmate in the corner of the board.
- Double Bishop Mate — Two bishops deliver the final blow.
- Dovetail Mate — The queen delivers mate with king escape squares blocked.
- Epaulette Mate — The king is trapped by its own pieces on both sides.
- Hook Mate — A knight, rook and pawn coordinate for mate.
- Kill Box Mate — A rook and queen create a lethal box.
- Morphy Mate — A bishop and rook deliver mate against a castled king.
- Opera Mate — A rook and bishop coordinate on an open file.
- Smothered Mate — A knight delivers checkmate to a completely trapped king.
Special Moves
- Castling — Winning through castling.
- En Passant — A special pawn capture.
- Promotion — Promoting a pawn to a queen.
- Underpromotion — Promoting to a piece other than a queen.
Puzzle Goals
- Equality — Find the move that equalizes.
- Advantage — Gain a decisive advantage.
- Crushing — Win with an overwhelming move.
- Checkmate — Deliver checkmate.
Puzzle Length
- One Move — Solve in a single move.
- Short — A short tactical sequence.
- Long — A longer combination.
- Very Long — An extended tactical marathon.
Puzzle Origin
- Master Games — Puzzles from master-level games.
- Master vs Master — Puzzles from games between masters.
- Super GM Games — Puzzles from super grandmaster games.
- Player Games — Puzzles from player games.