Make Your Own Chess Puzzle for Kids
Make a “win a free piece” chess puzzle for a friend. Pick the winning capture first, place only the pieces you need, then check that exactly one capture wins a piece your friend's opponent cannot take back.
Make your puzzle in four steps
- Choose the answer first: which piece captures, and which enemy piece has no defender.
- Place only the pieces you need, always including both kings. The side that is not moving must not be in check.
- List every capture the mover has. Cross out any capture where the captured square can be taken back.
- If more than one capture is still free, add a defender or remove a piece until only your answer is left.
Write pieces as letters: K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight, P pawn. Draw a circle around black pieces.
One made-up example
In the draft, White to move has Bxb5 and Bxe6. Black cannot take back after either capture, so a friend could pick either answer.
Adding a black pawn on f7 guards the knight. Now Bxe6 loses the bishop to the pawn, and the only free capture is Bxb5.
Both positions are made up for this page and checked by a chess program. They are not published puzzles.
My chess puzzle
Puzzle by:
Who moves first:
Goal: win a piece that cannot be taken back.
- ☐ Both kings are on the board
- ☐ The side not moving is not in check
- ☐ Only one capture wins a free piece
Fold behind along the dashed line so your friend cannot see the answer.
Answer
Winning move:
Why the piece is free:
Practise spotting free pieces in the hanging piece puzzles, such as Knight Takes the Hanging Rook. Read the beginner chess puzzle guide, or browse all chess puzzles.