Guide · Training
Eight Practice Positions: Find the Best Move
Each position below has one move that is clearly better than everything else. They run from a one-move mate to a pawn ending that strong club players miss. Solve them on the diagram first, then open the solution.
We chose positions where Stockfish, searching at depth 20 with three lines, puts the solution well ahead of the second-best move, so there is no "the engine also likes this" debate. If you get stuck, apply the four steps from how to find the best move: checks, captures and threats first. When you want positions from your own games instead, ChessHelper (chesshelper.ai) keeps a history of your finished games with move-by-move analysis, which is the next step after fixed puzzles.
How to use these positions
Give yourself a time limit: one minute for the first three, three minutes for the middle three and five for the last two. Write your move and the main reply you expect before you open the solution. A guess that happens to be right teaches you less than a wrong answer you calculated.
Every diagram has an Open in the finder link. Use it after you have committed to an answer, to test the defenses you were not sure about. The evaluation in each solution is from White's side, and "M2" means mate in two.
| No. | Level | Theme | Side to move |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Easy | Opening trap | White |
| 2 | Easy | Knight mate | White |
| 3 | Easy | Rook check | White |
| 4 | Medium | Pawn move | White |
| 5 | Medium | Back rank | White |
| 6 | Medium | Queen sacrifice | White |
| 7 | Hard | Forced mate in four | White |
| 8 | Hard | Pawn ending | White |
The theme column is a hint, not a spoiler; skip it if you want to solve blind.
Position 1: the opening trap
This comes from 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 Nf6, a sequence that happens thousands of times a day online. Black has just attacked the queen.
Show the solution
4.Qxf7# (M1). The queen takes on f7 protected by the bishop on c4, and the black king has no square: d7 and e7 are covered or blocked, and the queen guards both. Black's last move ignored the threat. The second-best White move, 4.Qd1, is worse than the mate by a whole game.
Position 2: a knight finishes it
Black's king is tucked in the corner behind its rook and pawns. White has only a knight left near the king.
Show the solution
1.Nf7# (M1). This is a smothered mate: the knight checks the king on h8, and every flight square is blocked by Black's own pieces (g8 rook, g7 and h7 pawns). Nothing can capture on f7. Without the mate, Stockfish rates the position as better for Black (−2.75 after the next best move), so finding it matters.
Position 3: line them up
Black's king and queen stand on the fifth rank. Black has a queen against White's rook, so White needs something forcing.
Show the solution
1.Ra5+ (+7.80). A skewer: the rook checks the king along the fifth rank, the king has to step off it (Black cannot block, because the king itself is in the way of the queen), and 2.Rxg5 wins the queen. Main line: 1...Kd6 2.Rxg5. Every other White move loses, for example 1.Rd1 at −6.29.
Position 4: a pawn with two targets
A quiet-looking middlegame without queens. Material is level.
Show the solution
1.e5 (+4.43). The pawn forks the bishop on d6 and the knight on f6, and it is protected by the d4 pawn, so 1...Bxe5 2.dxe5 still costs a piece. Stockfish's line is 1...Be7 2.exf6 Bxf6, with White a piece up. The next best moves, 1.Bd2 and 1.f3, are only about +1.5.
Position 5: the back rank again
Black's queen on a5 attacks White's rook on e1, and Black's rook on d8 guards the eighth rank.
Show the solution
1.Qe8+ (M2). The queen sacrifice drags the rook from d8: 1...Rxe8 is forced, and 2.Rxe8# mates on the back rank. Every other White move lets Black keep the balance (Stockfish gives 0.00 for the alternatives), because the rook on e1 is attacked.
Position 6: give up the queen
Black has castled long. White's two bishops point at the queenside.
Show the solution
1.Qxc6+ (M2). After 1...bxc6, forced because b8 is covered by the bishop on f4 and d8 is occupied, 2.Ba6# is mate. This pattern is called Boden's mate: two bishops on crossing diagonals, with the king's own pieces on d7 and d8 blocking it in. Without the sacrifice White is lost; the next best move scores about −12.
Position 7: a famous finish
White has a queen and knight against a rook, so almost anything wins. One sequence wins by force in four moves. Look for checks only.
Show the solution
1.Nf7+ (M4). 1...Kg8 is forced. 2.Nh6+ is a double check from knight and queen, so the king must move: 2...Kh8 (if 2...Kf8, 3.Qf7#). Then 3.Qg8+! Rxg8 4.Nf7#, a smothered mate. This sequence is known as Philidor's Legacy. Other moves still win in the long run (Stockfish rates 1.f4 at about +63), but only 1.Nf7+ forces mate.
Position 8: the pawn race
Three pawns against three, kings far away. Whoever creates a passed pawn first wins.
Show the solution
1.b6! (+11.42). The breakthrough. If 1...axb6, then 2.c6! bxc6 3.a6 and the a-pawn queens. If 1...cxb6, then 2.a6! bxa6 3.c6 and the c-pawn queens. Black's king on g8 is too far away to catch either pawn. Every other move is a draw (0.00), because Black's king walks over and the pawns block each other.
After you finish
Count how many you solved within the time limit. Seven or eight means you see the common patterns; work on longer calculation next. Four to six is typical for an improving player; the tactical patterns guide covers the shapes behind positions 3 to 6. If you are below four, slow down and run the checks-captures-threats routine on every move, including the moves that look pointless.
To make your own practice set, set up interesting positions from your finished games in the move finder and save their FEN strings. The setup guide explains how.
Fair play. Puzzles and finished games are the right place for engine checks. Chess.com, Lichess, FIDE and US Chess forbid outside help while a game is in progress.