Middlegame — Chess Puzzles

Solve free «Middlegame» chess puzzles from the lichess database, from beginner to master. No account needed.

The middlegame starts once the pieces are developed and the opening moves have run out. There is no book to follow any more: you decide what the position needs, whether that is an attack on the king, pressure on a weak pawn, or a better square for the worst-placed piece. Nearly every tactic on this site happens here.

How to spot it

• Development is finished, both kings are usually castled, and the rooks are connected.
• The pawn structure has settled enough to say which squares are weak and which files are open.
• Play follows the structure: attack where your pawns point, and where the opponent cannot easily defend.
• Every plan starts with the same question — which of my pieces is doing the least?

A worked example

Move 43, every piece developed and both kings long since castled. Black's king on g7 and queen on f4 both stand a knight's move from h5. White to move.

1. Nh5 checks the king and attacks the queen from the same square.
2. The check has to be answered first, so the queen cannot be saved: Kf8, and Nxf4 takes it.
3. No opening trap and no endgame technique — an ordinary middlegame where one piece found a square that hit two things.

The idea Middlegames are decided by ordinary tactics arriving in ordinary positions. The habit that finds them is looking at every check you have, whether or not it looks promising.