10 defensive resources rated between 1000 and 1199, averaging 1132. 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.
Defensive puzzles ask for the only move that holds. Finding these matters more for your rating than finding brilliancies does: most decided games are lost by the side that had a defence and did not see it.
These are pitched at 1000-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 1000 is one that players around 1000 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.
Nb6+ Kc6 Nxa8 Kb7 Nb6
Qxe4 fxe4 Bxd7 a3 Be6
Rxb8 Qb2+ Kg3
d4+ cxd4+ cxd4+ Kd3 Kd5
Be5 Qxe5+ Qxe5
Bxe3 Bd8 f4
Rxa5 bxa5 c4
Kc4 Kf4 Kxb4 Kg3 a4
Be3 Kd5 Bxd4 Kxd4 f4
c4+ Kd4 Qxe6 Rf8+ Kg3
Train defensive move puzzles at your rating →
Defensive puzzles ask for the only move that holds. Finding these matters more for your rating than finding brilliancies does: most decided games are lost by the side that had a defence and did not see it.
Puzzle ratings work like player ratings. A puzzle rated 1000 is one that players rated around 1000 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 1132, so they suit 1000-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.