Master level chess puzzles
Positions that have already survived every idea you would try first, which is most of what makes them hard.
- 120 positions in the course
- Difficulty 2100–2550
- Section: The Ladder
- 5 levels
What makes a puzzle a master-level puzzle
Difficulty at this level is not about the number of moves. It is about the answer being something you rejected. The position has usually been reached in a real game between strong players, which means every straightforward idea has already been prevented by somebody who was looking for exactly that.
The composition of this set makes the point. Not one of the 120 positions is settled in a single move, and seventy-three of them need three of yours. Seventy-four are classified as reaching a winning advantage while only six end in checkmate, so what is being asked for is almost never a mating attack. Fourteen are defensive, where the task is to find the only move that holds, and sixty are endgames.
How to spot it
- Go back to the move you rejected first. At this level it is usually the one that gives up material for a line you stopped calculating too soon.
- Calculate to a position you can assess, not to the end of the forcing moves. Those are different stopping points and only one of them is useful.
- Consider underpromotion and stalemate resources explicitly. At this level they are real answers rather than curiosities.
- In a defensive position, look for the move that changes what they are allowed to do rather than the one that saves the most material.
Three positions from the 2100 and above 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
White to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
21...cxb1=Q 22.Qd6+ Kg8 23.exf7#
The line ends in checkmate. These come from games between strong players, so the ideas you try first have usually already been prevented by somebody looking for them.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 2102 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
Position 2
Black to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
18.Nf5 18...Qxe5 19.Nf3 19...Qxf5
The line wins a piece. These come from games between strong players, so the ideas you try first have usually already been prevented by somebody looking for them.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 2151 for difficulty. The answer reaches a winning advantage.
Position 3
Black to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
18.Nxa8 18...Qf3 19.Bd5 19...Qxd5
The line wins a piece. These come from games between strong players, so the ideas you try first have usually already been prevented by somebody looking for them.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 2201 for difficulty. The answer reaches a winning advantage.
How to use puzzles at this level
Volume stops being the lever. At 2100 and above, ten hard positions worked through properly -- with the candidate list written out, the rejected moves justified, and the final position actually assessed -- does more than a hundred solved by pattern. The point is no longer recognition, it is the quality of the search.
It is also worth being honest about what a puzzle is not. Every position here has a solution and you know it before you start, which is a piece of information you never have in a game. That is fine for training calculation and misleading for training judgement, so the two need different practice.
Questions people ask
What rating are master level chess puzzles?
These are drawn from the 2100 to 2550 difficulty band. Puzzle ratings run higher than playing ratings on most sites, so this band is not the same as a 2100 playing strength.
Are hard chess puzzles worth doing if I am not a master?
In small numbers, yes. Working through a position well above your level with full attention teaches more about how to search than a dozen puzzles at your own level, provided you do it deliberately rather than guessing and reading the answer.
Why do so few master-level puzzles end in checkmate?
Because between strong players the mating attacks get prevented. What is left is winning material by force or reaching a technically won endgame, which is why six of these 120 end in mate and seventy-four simply reach a decisive advantage.
Nearby patterns
Master Level sits in The Ladder. The rest of that section: