Opening — Chess Puzzles

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

The opening is the first phase of the game, where both sides bring pieces out, fight for the centre and get their kings to safety. Memorising long lines matters far less than most beginners think; understanding what the moves are for is what stops a game going wrong before it has started.

How to spot it

• Pieces are still on their starting squares and the king has not castled yet.
• The fight is about the centre — occupying it, or attacking it from a distance.
• Knights and bishops come out before the queen, and each piece moves once until development is done.
• Most opening disasters are ordinary tactics: an early check, a fork, or a piece left hanging while both sides are still developing.

A worked example

Move 14. Black's king is still on e8, the queen has gone to a8, and a white knight sits on b5. White to move.

1. Nc7 checks the king on e8 and attacks the queen on a8 — the knight on c7 reaches both.
2. The check comes first, so the queen cannot move away: Kd8, and Nxa8 takes it.
3. Nothing clever happened here. The king never castled, the queen went to a corner, and one knight punished both at once.

The idea Most opening disasters are not deep theory. They are an uncastled king and a piece on a bad square, met by a check that also hits something else.