Chess puzzles for Wednesday, 15 December 2027
Three new puzzles every day: easy, medium and hard. Try each one before you open the solution.
Easy: White to move and mate in 2
White to move and mate in 2. The opponent just played 29... Rc8.
Puzzle rating 1150
Hint
Theme: mate in 2, back-rank mate, X-ray attack
Show solution
30. Qd8+ Rxd8 31. Rxd8#
FEN: 1Rr3k1/5ppp/3Qp3/p2p4/3P4/2q1P2P/5PP1/6K1 w - - 2 30
Medium: Black to move and win
Black to move and win. The opponent just played 48. Rxh2.
Puzzle rating 1726
Hint
Theme: hanging piece, quiet move, endgame tactic
Show solution
48... Kxh2 49. Kc6 Na4 50. c5 bxc5
FEN: 8/5p2/1p6/1PnKP3/2P5/6k1/7R/8 b - - 0 48
Hard: Black to move and win
Black to move and win. The opponent just played 36. h5.
Puzzle rating 2170
Hint
Theme: quiet move, defensive move, queen endgame
Show solution
36... g5 37. Qf3+ Ke7 38. e4 Qxd4
FEN: 8/5k2/p3p1pp/3p3P/P1pP2Q1/4P1P1/1q3PK1/8 b - - 0 36