10 defensive resources rated between 2200 and 3500, averaging 2355. 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 2200+-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 2200+ is one that players around 2200+ 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.
Rd7 Qe5+ Kf7 Qh8 d1=Q
Nh3+ Kf1 Qxh2 Bd5+ Kg7
b4 axb4 a5
d3+ Bxd3 d1=Q+ Kxd1 Kxd3 Kc1 c2 Kb2 Kd2
gxf5 a3 Ke5
d6 Ng7 f5 Ke8 Kc7
b2 e6+ Kc7 Rh1 Ra1
Kd5 g4 Kc6 g3 Bd5
Kd6 Ke3 c5 hxg4 hxg4 Kf4 c4
Kg1 Bh2+ Kh1 Qh6 d8=Q+ Kg7 Qxf7+
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 2200+ is one that players rated around 2200+ solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 2355, so they suit 2200+-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.