10 clearance motifs rated between 1800 and 1999, averaging 1877. 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 1800-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 1800 is one that players around 1800 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.
Nd2+ Qxd2 Rf1+ Qc1 Rfxc1#
Rxf8+ Kxf8 Qd8+ Qe8 Rf1+
e7 Qe8 Qe6+ Kh8 Qd6
Re8+ Kd4 a8=Q Rxa8 Rxa8 c2 Rc8 c1=Q Rxc1
Qh7+ Kf8 Bg6 Qf7 Bxf7
Qxc5 bxc5 d6 Be8 Be6 Kf6 d7
Rxe2 Rxe2 Qc1+
Rxh2+ Qxh2 Rh8
Bh6+ Kc2 Rg7
Rxf4 exf4 Qe1+ Nf1 Qxc3
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 1800 is one that players rated around 1800 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 1877, so they suit 1800-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.