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Free daily chess puzzles

Free Daily Chess Puzzles: Mate in Two, Defend the Mate, Win the Endgame

Three chess puzzles a day, each played out against an engine rather than checked against a key. Find the one move that forces mate and then deliver it against the most stubborn defence; find the one move that saves Black and keep finding it; walk a king-and-pawn endgame to promotion with every move exact.

3games
1new board a day, each
0signups needed

Pick a puzzle

3

How these differ from a tactics trainer

A tactics trainer stops you at the first wrong move. These do not: the position is played out, the engine defends as well as it can, and the round ends only when the game does. So a move the key did not list but which forces mate anyway wins on its merits, and a mistake is not announced while you can still play.

Mate is White to play and force checkmate in two against the best defence. Defend is Black to play and survive: White is threatening mate, several moves look like they answer it and exactly one does, and finding it only buys you the next one. Queen is a king-and-pawn endgame you are already winning, where one first move keeps the win and every move of the walk has to be exact.

Where to start

Mate if you have done tactics puzzles before. Queen if you want to learn endgames. Defend is the hardest of the three.

The week

Monday to SaturdayLonger forcing lines and more plausible wrong moves as the week goes on.
Sunday EditionDefend asks for a hold of four moves; Queen asks for a win in twelve.

Questions

What happens if I play a wrong move?

The game continues. The board ranks solvers by how many attempts the solve took, so you can replay the position and the replay counts.

Are they free?

Yes, all three, every day.