10 defensive resources rated between 2000 and 2199, averaging 2083. 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 2000-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 2000 is one that players around 2000 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.
Rxc8 Qb1+ Kg2
Qd3 Rb1+ Kf2
Rxg3 Rxg3 Ka4 Rg6 a5
Rxc4 dxc4 Ke4
Ke6 Ke3 Kf5 Kf3 h4 Ke3 Kg4 f5 Kxf5
gxf6 Kg2 Kd4
Kc4 Rc8+ Kb3
Bxd4 Kxd4 Kb6 Kc4 Kc6
Kg3 Qe1+ Kxf3 Qxh4 Rxh4
Kd4 Kd6 a4 Kc6 axb5+ axb5 Ke5
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 2000 is one that players rated around 2000 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 2083, so they suit 2000-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.