10 defensive resources rated between 1600 and 1799, averaging 1651. 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 1600-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 1600 is one that players around 1600 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.
f3 Ke1 Kxa3
d7+ Kxd7 Kf7 Bb3+ Kf8
c3 Be4 Ka2
Kc2 Qe2+ Qd2 Qc4+ Qc3
Kd5 b6 axb6 axb6 Kc6 Ke4 Kxb6 Kd5 Kc7
Rxh5+ Kg4 f5
Qxe1+ Kh2 Qe5+ Qxe5+ fxe5 Kg3 Ke6
Rxd3 Kxd3 Nf2+ Ke3 Nxe4 Kxe4 a4
f5 Ke7 Kg7
Ke8 Rxb2 Rh2+ Ke3 Rxb2
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 1600 is one that players rated around 1600 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 1651, so they suit 1600-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.