10 defensive resources rated between 800 and 999, averaging 947. 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 800-rated players. Puzzle ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 800 is one that players around 800 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.
Bxe2 Nxe2 a5
e5 b4 e6 b3 e7 Kd7 Kf7
Nxb6 Rxh7+ Bf7
Kg3 e5 h3 e6 h2
Nxe6 Kxe6 f4
Kxb5 a6 Kxa6 Kc4 Kb6
Kf6 Rxg6+ Kxg6
Nxf5 f2 Ng3
Kf3 Kg1 Kxg3
Rf1 Qxf1+ Kxf1
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 800 is one that players rated around 800 solve roughly half the time. The puzzles on this page average 947, so they suit 800-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.