Chess puzzles rated 1200 to 1500
The rung where the patterns are still single ideas and the positions stop being tidy.
- 120 positions in the course
- Difficulty 1200–1498
- Section: The Ladder
- 5 levels
What changes at this level
Between 1200 and 1500 the tactics themselves are not harder. They are the same forks, pins and back rank ideas that appear in a beginner set. What changes is the surroundings: nothing has been cleared away, several moves look reasonable, and there is usually a capture available that is not the answer.
That is why the training here is different in kind rather than in degree. What is being drilled is not the pattern, it is finding a pattern in a position that was not arranged to show it to you. In this set six of the 120 are settled in a single move and forty-five need three, and endgames outnumber middlegames in it, which is a much higher proportion of endgames than most puzzle apps serve at this rating.
How to spot it
- Look at the loose pieces on both sides before you look for a combination. At this level most tactics start from one.
- Find the piece that is defending two things. Overworked defenders are the commonest source of tactics in this band.
- Check every capture, including the ones that look obviously bad. The plausible wrong move is usually the natural one.
- If a move wins material but leaves your king airy, calculate their reply before playing it. That trade is how ratings stall here.
Three positions from the 1200 to 1500 band
Three positions from the 120 in this skill, easiest first. The highlighted squares are the move your opponent has just played. Work it out before you open the answer.
Position 1
Black to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
33.Kf2 33...Rh2#
The line ends in checkmate. These are ordinary positions from real games in the 1200 to 1500 band, where the pattern is a single idea and nothing has been cleared away to show it to you.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 1277 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
Position 2
Black to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
42.f4 42...Qe1+ 43.Kh2 43...Qxh4+
The line wins a rook. These are ordinary positions from real games in the 1200 to 1500 band, where the pattern is a single idea and nothing has been cleared away to show it to you.
The position comes from an endgame of a real game, rated 1413 for difficulty.
Position 3
White to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
31...Kxb7 32.Qc8#
The line ends in checkmate. These are ordinary positions from real games in the 1200 to 1500 band, where the pattern is a single idea and nothing has been cleared away to show it to you.
The position comes from an endgame of a real game, rated 1479 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
What actually moves a rating from 1200 to 1500
Three things, in this order. Stop hanging pieces, which is still the single largest source of lost material at this level. Look at your opponent's last move before choosing your own. And learn a small number of endgames properly, because half the games that reach one are decided by a technique that takes an afternoon to learn.
What does not move a rating here is opening study. A player rated 1300 who knows twelve moves of theory reaches move thirteen with a good position and then loses it the same way as before. That is not an argument against openings, it is an argument about order.
Questions people ask
What rating puzzles should I do at 1200?
Slightly above your current level, where you solve most of them and have to work for the rest. Puzzles you fail regularly teach very little, because the pattern never attaches to a moment of recognition.
How do I get from 1200 to 1500 in chess?
Blunder less and play slower time controls. Almost every game in this range is decided by one piece left undefended rather than by a plan, so the highest-value habit is checking what your intended move leaves hanging, every move.
Is 1200 a good chess rating?
It is above the median on most online sites, and it means the basics are in place. It is also the level at which the fastest improvement is available, because the mistakes still being made are large and identifiable.
Nearby patterns
Club Level sits in The Ladder. The rest of that section: