10 clearance motifs rated between 1200 and 1399, averaging 1285. Each position below is from a real game, with the solution given underneath — so you can check yourself immediately rather than guessing whether you were right.
Clearance vacates a square or line your own pieces need, frequently with tempo so the opponent has no time to occupy it instead. The clearing move often looks like a blunder because it puts a piece where it can be taken.
These are pitched at 1200-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 1200 is one that players around 1200 solve about half the time, so if you are getting most of these you should move up a band.
Solving from a page is good for pattern recognition but not for tracking progress. The rated puzzle trainer serves puzzles matched to your own rating and adjusts as you solve, and the Mistake Trainer builds puzzles from positions you actually got wrong in your own games.
Qc7+ Qd7 Rf7+ Kxf7 Qxd7+
Rxg7 Qxg7 Rh7 Qxh7 Qxh7+
Nxe2+ Qxe2 Qf4+ Kb2 Qxh2
Nxf4+ gxf4 R8e3+ Qf3 Rxf3#
Rf1+ Rd1 Bf4 Rxf1 Bxe3+
Ngf6+ gxf6 Qg7#
Ng3+ hxg3 Qh5#
Nxe7 Qxe7 Rf7+ Rg7 Rxe7
Nxf6+ gxf6 Qg4+ Kh8 Qxd7 Qb1+ Kh2
Qxc4 bxc4 Bc3
Train clearance puzzles at your rating →
Clearance vacates a square or line your own pieces need, frequently with tempo so the opponent has no time to occupy it instead. The clearing move often looks like a blunder because it puts a piece where it can be taken.
Puzzle ratings work like player ratings. A puzzle rated 1200 is one that players rated around 1200 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 1285, so they suit 1200-rated players.
Yes. Every puzzle on this page, including its solution, is free to view with no account. The rated trainer that tracks your progress and serves puzzles matched to your rating is part of Chess Ramp Premium.