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Pick a level above and press Play. Three mistakes fail a puzzle in Strict mode.
👆 Tap a piece, then tap a glowing square • 💡 One hint per puzzle shows the right move • 📅 A fresh Daily puzzle arrives every day
Chess puzzles you can solve right here, free. This is Chess Puzzles, an original GameOLL tactics trainer with 30 checkmate puzzles. Every position hides a forced mate: in one move, in two moves, or in three. Find the one move that works, beat the toughest defence the board can offer, and watch your puzzle rating climb. No download. No sign-up. It works on your phone and your PC.
There is a fresh Daily puzzle every day, a streak to protect, and two ways to play: Strict mode, where three mistakes fail the puzzle, and Free retry mode, where you can hunt for the mate at your own pace. Your rating, your best rating and your solved puzzles save in your browser, ready for your next visit.
Genre
Board · Puzzle
Players
1 Player
Platform
Browser · Mobile · PC
Price
Free
In this guide
- How to play
- Controls for phone and PC
- How the rating works
- Puzzle tips that raise your rating
- Chess Puzzles FAQ
- Final verdict
How to play Chess Puzzles
Every puzzle is a chess position with a secret: one side can force checkmate in a fixed number of moves. That side is yours. The board turns so your pieces always start at the bottom, and the goal at the top of the game tells you the mate you are hunting — mate in 1, mate in 2, or mate in 3.
- Pick a level on the start screen — All, Mate in 1, Mate in 2, Mate in 3 or the Daily puzzle — and press Play.
- Tap one of your pieces to pick it up. Every square it can legally move to lights up with a dot, and capture targets get a ring.
- Tap a glowing square to move there. If a pawn reaches the last rank, a chooser pops up so you can promote it to a queen, rook, bishop or knight.
- The defence then replies on its own, and it does not play kindly. It picks the reply that resists the mate the longest, so a correct first move still has to be finished well.
- A move that lets the mate slip away counts as a mistake. The position does not change, so you can think again. In Strict mode, three mistakes fail the puzzle.
- Stuck? The Hint button shows you the correct move — once per puzzle. Using it cuts the rating prize for that puzzle in half.
- Deliver checkmate on or before the final move of the goal and the puzzle is solved. Your rating rises, your streak grows, and the next puzzle is one tap away.
One fair rule is worth knowing: you do not have to copy a memorised solution. A real chess engine lives inside the game and judges every move you play. If your move still forces mate inside the goal — even by a different line — it counts. Only moves that let the forced mate escape count as mistakes.
The puzzles themselves are training positions we composed for this game, plus classic patterns from chess history that have been public domain for centuries: the Fool’s mate finish, the Légal trap finish, Morphy’s Opera game finish and Philidor’s legacy pattern among them. No puzzle ships on trust. The built-in engine proves each one before it joins the bank: the position must be legal, the mate must be forced against every defence, and the first move must be the only move that mates in time.
Controls for phone and PC
| Action | Phone / tablet | PC / laptop |
|---|---|---|
| Choose a level | Tap All, Mate in 1, Mate in 2, Mate in 3 or Daily | Click a level button |
| Start or next puzzle | Tap Play or Next | Click Play or Next |
| Pick up a piece | Tap the piece | Click the piece |
| Move the piece | Tap a glowing square | Click a glowing square |
| Promote a pawn | Tap queen, rook, bishop or knight | Click a piece in the chooser |
| Get a hint | Tap Hint | Click Hint |
| Restart the puzzle | Tap Restart | Click Restart |
| Strict or Free mode | Tap the mode button | Click the mode button |
| Sound on or off | Tap the speaker button | Click the speaker button |
| Back to the start screen | Tap Menu | Click Menu |
The board always turns so the side that mates starts at the bottom. In one famous puzzle that side is Black — the board flips for that puzzle, and the goal line at the top tells you which colour you are playing.
How the rating works
Your puzzle rating starts at 800 and follows you from visit to visit. Clean solves in Strict mode pay the most. Mistakes, hints and failures all leave a mark, and the Daily puzzle pays a bonus once a day.
| Result | Mate in 1 | Mate in 2 | Mate in 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clean Strict solve | +8 | +16 | +24 |
| Each mistake | −4 from the prize (a solve never pays less than +2) | ||
| Hint used | Prize cut in half | ||
| Failed puzzle (3 mistakes) | −10 | −14 | −18 |
| Free mode solve, or a repeat solve | +2 flat | ||
| Daily puzzle bonus | +10, once per day | ||
Strict solves build your streak — solve after solve with no failure and the streak keeps counting, and your best streak is kept too. One failed puzzle resets the streak to zero. Free retry mode is the practice room: mistakes never fail you there, but a solve pays only 2 points and does not touch your streak. Your rating can climb without limit, and it never falls below 100.
Puzzle tips that raise your rating
- Checks first, then captures, then threats. Most mating keys give check, so scan every checking move before anything else. If no check works, look at captures, and only then at quiet moves.
- Count the king’s escape squares. Before you move, name every square the defending king could run to. The right move is usually the one that covers the last open square — or takes it away.
- Ask what defends the mate square. A mate fails when the mating piece can be captured or the check can be blocked. If a defender guards your mate square, deflect it, capture it, or block its line first.
- Do not fear the sacrifice. Several puzzles in this bank open by giving up the queen — on purpose. If the queen can be taken but every capture still ends in mate, the sacrifice is the key.
- Quiet keys exist. Not every mate in 2 starts with a check. Sometimes the winning first move is a calm waiting move, and every reply the defence tries walks into a different mate.
- Choose the promotion with care. When a pawn promotes inside a puzzle, check what each new piece covers before you tap. In this bank the queen is the mating pick — but only because the rook leaves one escape square open. Look, then choose.
- Play the Daily in Strict mode. The Daily pays its 10 point bonus once a day, and a Strict solve stacks the level prize on top of it. It is the fastest single rating gain in the game.
Is Chess Puzzles free and safe to play?
Yes. The game is free. It runs fully inside this page. It asks for no name, no email and no account. It installs nothing on your device. Your rating, your best rating, your streaks and your solved puzzles stay in your browser only.
Chess Puzzles is an original game made by GameOLL. The chess engine inside it — legal moves, check and checkmate detection, castling, en passant and promotion — was written for this game and tested against known move-count positions, so the mates it promises are mates it has proven.
More games and guides on GameOLL
- Want every game in one place? Visit our Play Games page.
- Stay on the board with Checkers Master, our checkers game.
- Drop your pieces in Connect Four Duel, our connect 4 game.
- Think in grids instead? Play Sudoku Master, our sudoku game.
- Chase the big tile in Tile Merge 2048, our 2048 game.
- Step carefully through Minesweeper, our minesweeper game.
Chess Puzzles FAQ
Is Chess Puzzles free to play?
Yes. Chess Puzzles is 100% free. You play it right on this page in your browser. There is no download, no sign-up and no payment.
How many puzzles are in the game?
There are 30 puzzles. Twelve are mate in 1, ten are mate in 2, and eight are mate in 3. A new Daily puzzle is picked every day from the same bank, and solving it pays a bonus.
Are the solutions really forced mates?
Yes. A full chess engine is built into the game. It checks every position before it ships: the position must be legal, the mate must be forced, and the first move must be the only move that mates in time. When you play, any move that still forces mate in time counts as correct.
What happens when I play a wrong move?
A wrong move counts as a mistake, and the position stays the same so you can try again. In Strict mode, three mistakes fail the puzzle and lower your rating. In Free retry mode, mistakes never fail the puzzle, but a solve pays only 2 points and does not build your streak.
How does the puzzle rating work?
You start at 800. A clean Strict solve pays 8 points for mate in 1, 16 for mate in 2 and 24 for mate in 3. Each mistake takes 4 points off the prize, and a hint cuts it in half. Failing a puzzle costs 10, 14 or 18 points by level, and your rating never drops below 100.
Does the game save my progress?
Yes, in your own browser. It keeps your rating, your best rating, your streak, the puzzles you have solved and your Daily record. Nothing leaves your device, and there is no account to make.
Final verdict: should you play Chess Puzzles?
Yes — if you want real chess tactics, proven mate by mate, in your browser. Chess Puzzles does not ask you to trust a solution book. Its own engine forces the defence to fight back with its toughest replies, accepts any move that truly mates in time, and keeps score with a rating and a streak that reward clean solving. Thirty puzzles, a fresh Daily every day, and two modes for brave days and practice days. Pick a level, and find the mate.
▶ Play Chess Puzzles 🎮 See All Free GamesLast updated: November 5, 2026. Chess Puzzles v1.0 — the first release of our original chess puzzle game, with 30 engine-proven forced-mate puzzles in three levels, a Daily puzzle, a rating and streak system, Strict and Free retry modes, hints and sound. An original GameOLL browser game. Found a bug? Tell us in the comments and we will fix it in the next version.
