Choose your opponent. You both get the same puzzles and the same three minutes.
The house players are on their way…
Rules
- You both get the same puzzles in the same order. The first is easy, and then they get harder and harder.
- The clock runs for three minutes. Every puzzle you solve scores a point.
- A wrong move costs a life. Three mistakes and you're out.
- No hints, no solutions. Just you and the board.
Is your opponent really playing?
Yes. The house players are the same opponents you can play games against. We had each of them try every puzzle, thinking the same way they do when they play you, and worked out how often they solve it. In the duel, that chance decides whether your opponent solves the puzzle, and they think about each move for as long as they do at the board. Nobody gets better or worse to make it exciting.
It can go fast. Speedy Sam and Blitz Bea don't think long about their moves. Start with one of the easier ones if you like, and work your way up. How you have done against each of them is kept in your browser, and a check mark by a name means you have beaten that player.
Want to see who in the house solves a particular puzzle? It shows under every puzzle once you're done with it, in Puzzle training and on the daily puzzle.
The puzzles come from Lichess, fetched on October 2, 2026.