10 clearance motifs rated between 1600 and 1799, averaging 1649. 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 1600-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 1600 is one that players around 1600 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.
Rxg2+ Bxg2 Qf2+ Kh1 Bxg2#
Bh2+ Kh1 Nxf2+ Rxf2 Re1+ Rf1 Rxf1#
Rg1+ Kf4 h1=Q Qe8+ Kh7
Nxe6 fxe6 Bf4 Qd8 Bxb8
d7 Rd1 Kg8 Rxd7 h8=Q+
Qxe6 Rxe6 Bc5+ Kf1 Rxe6
Rxd6 exd6 Re8 Qxe8 Qxe8+
Qxg7+ Rxg7 Rf8#
Qxf7+ Rxf7 Rd8+ Qe8 Rxe8#
Qxg7+ Rxg7 Rf8#
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 1600 is one that players rated around 1600 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 1649, so they suit 1600-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.