Free daily chess puzzles

How these differ from a tactics trainer

Four 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; find the one move that turns a lost game into a draw; walk a king-and-pawn endgame to promotion with every move exact.

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. Swindle is White to play in a lost position: one move saves a draw by stalemate, perpetual check, repetition or bare kings, and every other move gets mated. 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. Swindle if you like an escape act. Defend is the hardest.