Think you’re a strong tactician? These fifty puzzles are among the hardest in the entire Lichess puzzle database of over six million positions. Each one has been tried by hundreds of strong solvers, and most of them failed. They’re ranked from hardest to “only” extremely hard, and you can solve each one right here.
Even I had to put on my thinking crown for these. Take your time: there’s no clock on this page!
How we picked them
Plenty of puzzles have huge ratings simply because only a handful of people have tried them. Those ratings are guesses. To make this list, a puzzle had to be:
- Rated by lots of players. At least 200 attempts, so the rating reflects how hard it really is.
- Settled. A low rating deviation, meaning the rating has stopped moving around.
- Well liked. A popularity score of 70 or more, so you get clever ideas rather than messy positions.
The puzzles come from the Lichess puzzle database, which is free for anyone to use. Their ratings work like player ratings: a puzzle rated 2850 “beats” most solvers rated below that.
The puzzles
Make your move on the board. If you get stuck, Show solution plays it out, and Analyze opens the position with Stockfish.
#1: Deflection, Pins
Rated 29208
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#2: Pawn endgames
Rated 29048
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#3: Quiet moves
Rated 28931
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#4: Pins
Rated 28761
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#5: Defensive moves, Pawn endgames
Rated 28691
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#6: Defensive moves, Pawn endgames
Rated 28631
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#7: Advanced pawns, Quiet moves
Rated 28618
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#8: Puzzle
Rated 28608
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#9: Defensive moves, Pawn endgames
Rated 28508
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#10: Quiet moves
Rated 28481
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#11: Forks
Rated 28461
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#12: Exposed king
Rated 28451
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#13: Puzzle
Rated 28408
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#14: Defensive moves, Rook endgames
Rated 28391
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#15: Advanced pawns, Attraction
Rated 28388
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#16: Advanced pawns, Promotion
Rated 28341
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#17: Bishop endgames, Quiet moves
Rated 28348
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#18: Forks, Sacrifices
Rated 28338
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#19: Puzzle
Rated 28328
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#20: Advanced pawns, Discovered attacks
Rated 28258
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#21: Attraction, Deflection
Rated 28248
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#22: Attraction, Kingside attacks
Rated 28228
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#23: Exposed king, Forks
Rated 28221
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#24: Clearance
Rated 28181
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#25: Collinear moves, Pins
Rated 28161
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#26: Deflection, Interference
Rated 28168
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#27: Advanced pawns, Bishop endgames
Rated 28158
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#28: Defensive moves, Quiet moves
Rated 28148
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#29: Defensive moves, Pawn endgames
Rated 28141
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#30: Puzzle
Rated 28128
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#31: Puzzle
Rated 28121
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#32: Attraction, Quiet moves
Rated 28091
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#33: Defensive moves, Quiet moves
Rated 28088
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#34: Advanced pawns, Defensive moves
Rated 28088
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#35: Advanced pawns
Rated 28071
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#36: Puzzle
Rated 28058
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#37: Hanging pieces
Rated 28051
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#38: Discovered attacks, Discovered checks
Rated 28058
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#39: Puzzle
Rated 28048
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#40: Puzzle
Rated 28048
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#41: Forks
Rated 28041
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#42: Puzzle
Rated 28031
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#43: Puzzle
Rated 28021
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#44: Advanced pawns, Promotion
Rated 28018
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#45: Advanced pawns, Promotion
Rated 28001
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#46: Pawn endgames, Quiet moves
Rated 28001
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#47: Puzzle
Rated 28001
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#48: Defensive moves
Rated 27998
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
#49: Attraction, Defensive moves
Rated 27991
2
3
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Black to move. Find the best move!
#50: Advanced pawns, Bishop endgames
Rated 27998
7
6
5
4
3
2
1a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move. Find the best move!
Want more?
These are the very top of the mountain. For puzzles matched to your level, try the rated puzzle trainer, which adapts to how you’re doing, or pick a rating range on the puzzles by rating pages. To build the skills these puzzles test, the Attack and Calculation unit of the course is a great next step.
If you solved even one of these on your first try, you have serious tactical vision. Well done!