10 clearance motifs rated between 2000 and 2199, averaging 2085. 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 2000-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 2000 is one that players around 2000 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.
Nf6+ gxf6 Rg4+ Kh8 Qxf6#
Rxe5 Rxe5 Rd1+ Kf2 Ng4+ Ke2 Nxe5+
Re8+ Rxe8 Qf7+ Kh8 Qxe8+ Bf8 Qxf8#
Rxf7 Qd4+ Qxd4 cxd4 Rb7+ Kf8 Rxb8+
Reg8+ Rg7 Be8+ Kg5 Rxh5+ Kf4 Rxf5+ Kxf5 Rxg7
Qxc8+ Bxc8 Rd8+ Kh7 Rh8#
Qf6+ Kg8 Rg7+ Bxg7 Qf7+ Kh8 Qxe8+ Bf8 Qxf8#
d3 Rd7 Rd4 Kf2 d2
Nf3+ Rxf3 Qg5#
Qf6+ Kg8 Nh6+ Qxh6 Qf7+ Kh8 Qxe8+
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 2000 is one that players rated around 2000 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 2085, so they suit 2000-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.