Endgame

Tactics in the endgame

The endgame is the last phase of the game, when most of the pieces have been traded off. The king becomes a fighting piece, the pawns grow more important, and a single tempo can decide the game.

Tactics look a little different in the endgame. They're more often about promoting a pawn, winning a race, or finding the only move that wins. Skewers and deflections are common, because the pieces are spread thin and the kings are often out in the open.

The puzzles here come from every kind of endgame: with rooks, bishops, knights, queens or just pawns. If you want to practice one kind at a time, rook endgames and pawn endgames have pages of their own.

How the puzzles work

There are 150 puzzles here. Choose a level above the board. Within each level the puzzles get harder and harder, and when you come back you pick up where you left off.

Your opponent makes the first move, then it's your turn. If you get stuck, Hint shows which piece to move, and Show the solution plays the rest. The theme only shows once the puzzle is done, but here you already know what you're looking for.

In Puzzle training you get puzzles in this theme at your own level, and see how you're doing in each theme.

More puzzles

• Mate in one
• Mate in two
• Mate in three
• Fork
• Pin
• Skewer
• Discovered attack
• Double check
• Sacrifice
• Deflection
• Attraction
• Hanging piece
• In-between move
• Back-rank mate
• Smothered mate
• Promotion
• Rook endgames
• Pawn endgames
• Zugzwang

The puzzles come from Lichess, fetched on October 2, 2026.

Updated November 6, 2026