Printable chess puzzles
Chess puzzle sheets in PDF for clubs, schools and coaches: pick mate in 1, 2 or 3, a rating band, and 6 or 12 diagrams per page. Every diagram shows whose move it is, and the solutions are grouped on the last page.
How it works
Pick the puzzle
Mate in 1 for beginners, mate in 2 to learn to calculate, mate in 3 for confident players. Four rating bands, from 600 to over 1800, match the difficulty to your group.
Set the layout
Six diagrams per page for boards over 6 cm wide, twelve to save paper. Every diagram is at least 45 mm square and carries a number and the side to move.
Print and hand out
The solutions are on the last page, in algebraic notation. Print it separately to keep it, or attach it to the answer sheet of your session.
Printing and teaching tips
Choose “Actual size” or “100%” in the print dialog, not “Fit to page”: the diagrams keep their size and stay readable. Dark squares are a light grey and the pieces are drawn in black and white, so any printer without colour works, and the sheet photocopies well. For a club or a class, start with a page of mate in 1 to warm the group up, then move on to mate in 2: ask everyone to find the move before looking at the solution, and let the fastest players start a page of mate in 3. The puzzles come from real games, not artificial compositions, so they show the patterns that come up over the board, such as the back-rank mate, the smothered mate or the discovered attack. White starts at the bottom of the diagram; the side to move is written above each board, because it changes from one puzzle to the next.
Frequently asked questions
Where do the puzzles come from?
They come from the Lichess puzzle database, released without restriction (CC0 license). We keep a subset of mates in 1, 2 and 3 moves, sorted by rating, and every solution is replayed move by move before printing to check that it really ends in checkmate.
Who plays, White or Black?
It varies from puzzle to puzzle, as in a real game. The side to move is written under each diagram number: “White to play and mate in 2” or “Black to play and mate in 2”. On the last page, solutions start with “1...” when Black is to play.
Can I use them in my club or at school?
Yes, freely, including printing them in quantity for a lesson, a camp or a tournament. Only reselling the files is not allowed.
Are the sets always different?
Every set has a number and never contains the same puzzle twice. “Another set” draws a new one; to find the same set again later with the same settings, note its number. Your settings stay on your device, nothing is sent to a server.