10 clearance motifs rated between 2200 and 3500, averaging 2394. 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 2200+-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 2200+ is one that players around 2200+ 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.
Rgh8 Ng3 Rh1+ Nxh1 Bh2#
Qd1+ Qf1 Rc1 h3 Qxf1+
Rxg2+ Kh1 Rfg6 Qxf5 Qh4 Qxg6+ Rxg6
Rxg7+ Kxg7 Qg5+ Bg6 Qf6+ Kg8 Bh6
Kd5 g4 Kc6 g3 Bd5
Bxf7+ Kxf7 Qb3+ Kg6 Rf1
Rxe7 Qxe7 Re1 Qd7 Re8+ Qxe8 Qh7+ Kf8 g7+ Ke7 g8=Q+
Qe3 Qd1 Rc1 Ra1 Rxd1
Kh1 Nd5 Rg1 g6 Qh3
Nf5+ gxf5 Qg3+ Kh6 Rxf5
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 2200+ is one that players rated around 2200+ solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 2394, so they suit 2200+-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.