10 clearance motifs rated between 1400 and 1599, averaging 1493. 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 1400-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 1400 is one that players around 1400 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.
Qxf2+ Rxf2 Rd1+ Ne1 Rxe1#
Rxc6+ Bxc6 Rc8
Rh8 Qg7 Rdg8 Qxg8+ Rxg8
Qxf7+ Rxf7 Rb8+ Rd8 Rxd8+ Rf8 Rfxf8#
Ng4 Qf4 Be5
Nxe5 fxe5 Bg4
Rxb1+ Nxb1 Qb2#
Qe1+ Qf1 Rh1+ Kxh1 Qxf1+ Kh2 Qxf4+
Nxf2+ Rxf2 Rg3#
Rh7+ Bxh7 Qg7#
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 1400 is one that players rated around 1400 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 1493, so they suit 1400-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.