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11

Chess Moment · Puzzles

Hanging piece puzzles

An undefended piece is a free piece if you can reach it. Twelve positions that turn entirely on spotting what nobody is guarding.

12 positions · Rated 400 to 1998, easiest first.

The lesson behind it: Loose pieces

Hanging piece puzzle 1 · Black to move

Rating: 400

Show the solution
  1. YouRe8xe1

Open this position on a board

FEN: 4r1k1/ppP2ppp/2n5/8/5B2/8/P4PPP/3qQ1KR b - - 12 24

Hanging piece puzzle 2 · Black to move

Rating: 530

Show the solution
  1. YouQd5xd1

Open this position on a board

FEN: 8/k1B4p/6p1/3q1pP1/8/8/PP3p2/K2R1B2 b - - 0 46

Hanging piece puzzle 3 · Black to move

Rating: 637

Show the solution
  1. YouRg8xg7

Open this position on a board

FEN: 1k1r2r1/pp4Rp/8/8/2Qp4/5P1q/PPP2P2/R5K1 b - - 4 23

Hanging piece puzzle 4 · White to move

Rating: 829

Show the solution
  1. YouQe7xf8

Open this position on a board

FEN: 5r1k/2rbQ1pp/P4p2/3p4/2pq2N1/1pn4P/1RB2PP1/R5K1 w - - 0 31

Hanging piece puzzle 5 · Black to move

Rating: 970

Show the solution
  1. YouQg7xa1
  2. OpponentQd8-d1
  3. YouQa1xd1

Open this position on a board

FEN: 3Q4/5Bqk/p5b1/1pp5/2P5/8/P4PPP/R5K1 b - - 0 31

Hanging piece puzzle 6 · White to move

Rating: 1062

Show the solution
  1. YouBe3xc5
  2. OpponentRe7xe1
  3. YouRa1xe1

Open this position on a board

FEN: 1rbq2k1/p3rppp/2B2pn1/2b5/2P5/P3B2P/1PQ2PP1/R3R1K1 w - - 1 19

Hanging piece puzzle 7 · White to move

Rating: 1233

Show the solution
  1. YouRb8xe8
  2. OpponentKh8-g7
  3. Youc7-c8=Q

Open this position on a board

FEN: 1R2r2k/2P5/5p2/8/3K4/6p1/8/7q w - - 0 51

Hanging piece puzzle 8 · White to move

Rating: 1378

Show the solution
  1. Youh2xg3
  2. OpponentRh8xh1
  3. YouBg2xh1

Open this position on a board

FEN: rnbqk2r/ppp2p2/6p1/8/6p1/2N3b1/PPPPP1BP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 0 10

Hanging piece puzzle 9 · Black to move

Rating: 1544

Show the solution
  1. YouNc6xe5
  2. OpponentQd1-h5
  3. YouNe5-g6

Open this position on a board

FEN: r1bqkbnr/pppp2pp/2n5/4N3/2B1P3/2P5/PP3PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 7

Hanging piece puzzle 10 · White to move

Rating: 1657

Show the solution
  1. YouRg1xg8
  2. OpponentRc7xc3
  3. Youb2xc3

Open this position on a board

FEN: 6n1/Qpr1kp1p/3bp3/3p4/8/2B2N1q/PP2KP2/6R1 w - - 1 25

Hanging piece puzzle 11 · White to move

Rating: 1827

Show the solution
  1. YouQh5xg6
  2. OpponentNf7-g5
  3. YouBh6xg5

Open this position on a board

FEN: r3r1k1/pbq2np1/1p4nB/3p3Q/1P6/2PB4/2P3PP/5RK1 w - - 0 21

Hanging piece puzzle 12 · White to move

Rating: 1998

Show the solution
  1. YouRa1xa4
  2. Opponenth4-h3
  3. YouRa4-a3

Open this position on a board

FEN: 8/8/8/5K2/r6p/6k1/8/R7 w - - 2 78

Where these positions come from

Positions come from the Lichess puzzle database, dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0. Player names and game links are not retained. https://database.lichess.org/#puzzles