Chess puzzles for Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Three new puzzles every day: easy, medium and hard. Try each one before you open the solution.
Easy: White to move and mate in 1
White to move and mate in 1. The opponent just played 26... Rxg8.
Puzzle rating 870
Hint
Theme: mate in 1, smothered mate, middlegame tactic
Show solution
27. Nf7#
FEN: rq4rk/p5pp/1n5N/1p4P1/3P4/2P5/PP5P/R4RK1 w - - 0 27
Medium: White to move and win
White to move and win. The opponent just played 39... Kb8.
Puzzle rating 1477
Hint
Theme: queen endgame, endgame tactic
Show solution
40. Qf4+ Qxf4 41. gxf4
FEN: 1k6/1p3Q2/p1p4q/3p4/7P/6PK/8/8 w - - 1 40
Hard: White to move and mate in 4
White to move and mate in 4. The opponent just played 8... a6.
Puzzle rating 2221
Hint
Theme: mate in 4, attraction (decoy), sacrifice
Show solution
9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Qd5+ Ke8 11. Qh5+ g6 12. Qxg6#
FEN: r1bqk1nr/1ppp1pp1/p1n4p/8/2B1P3/B1P2N2/P4PPP/R2QK2R w KQkq - 0 9