10 defensive resources rated between 1800 and 1999, averaging 1883. 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 1800-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 1800 is one that players around 1800 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.
Re1 Rxe1 fxe1=Q Rxe1 Bxe1 b7 Bg3
b3 f5 Rb1
Rd4+ Kb5 Rxa4 Kxa4 Kd6
Qh3 Qb8+ Bc8
e7 Kd7 Kg7 Bc4 Kf8
Nf7+ Kg8 Nh6+ Kf8 Nxg4 Kf7 Ke5
Bc6 Qf4+ Kg2 Qg3+ Rxg3
g2 e5+ Kc7 e6 Rxf3+
Bxe4 Kf4 Kh3 b4 Kh4 b5 Kh5 b6 Kg6
g6 Nc4+ Kf2
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 1800 is one that players rated around 1800 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 1883, so they suit 1800-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.