10 defensive resources rated between 400 and 799, averaging 675. 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 600-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 600 is one that players around 600 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.
Qf5 Qxf5+ Kxf5
Rxg1 Kxg1 Kh5
Qc2 Qxc2+ Kxc2 g4 a4 Kf7 a3 g5 a2 g6 a1=Q
Qf4 e5 Qxg5+
Rxc4+ Kxc4 Ke4
Rxg2+ Kxg2 a5 Kf3 a4
Rc7 Rxc7+ Kxc7
Bxg7 Kxg7 Kg5
Qxa7+ Kxa7 g5
Qd1 Qxd1+ Kxd1
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 600 is one that players rated around 600 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 675, so they suit 600-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.