10 clearance motifs rated between 400 and 799, averaging 700. 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 600-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 600 is one that players around 600 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.
Rf8+ Rxf8 Qh7#
Nxf6+ gxf6 Qh7#
Bxf3+ Rxf3 Rd1+ Rf1 Rxf1#
Nxf6+ gxf6 Qh7#
Rxe8+ Qxe8 Rd8 Qxd8 Bxd8
Nf1+ Rxf1 Qg2#
Rxe1+ Rxe1 Qg2#
Qxd5+ cxd5 Rf8#
Qxa7+ Nxa7 Bb6+ Kf1 Bxa7
Qxd1+ Qxd1 Rc1 Kf1 Rxd1+
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 600 is one that players rated around 600 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 700, so they suit 600-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.