Daily chess puzzle
One position, one best idea, a new one every day at midnight UTC.
How the daily puzzle works
- The board opens with the other side making a move. You play the side at the bottom of the board.
- Find the best reply. If the puzzle is a checkmate, the panel says so, and any move that gives checkmate counts.
- If the line goes on, the other side answers and you find the next move. Lines are one to three moves long.
- A wrong move slides back and adds a try. There is no clock, so take as long as you like.
One of the 6 ChessDays characters hosts each day. They are bots with written reactions, so they comment in text on each attempt without judging how many tries you take.
Share your result without spoiling it
When you solve the puzzle you get one line to copy, such as "ChessDays puzzle, solved in 2 tries". It holds no moves and no position, so a friend can still solve the same puzzle afterwards. The themes appear only once you have solved it, because naming a fork or a pin first would give the answer away.
Days in a row
The page counts the days you solve, in your own browser. Solved days are all it keeps. Skip a day and nothing happens: no reminder, no warning, and your total stays put.
Where the puzzles come from
The 370 puzzles come from the Lichess puzzle database, which Lichess publishes under the CC0 public domain dedication. They come from real games. We kept puzzles rated about 700 to 1500 on Lichess that its players rated well, so they suit beginner to intermediate players. After the last one the list starts again. ChessDays is not connected to Lichess. See thelicences page for the credit.
Questions people ask
- When does the puzzle change?
- At midnight UTC, for everyone at the same moment. Depending on where you live, that can fall during your day.
- What counts as a try?
- Your first attempt is try 1, and each wrong move adds one. A wrong move slides back, so you can look again as often as you like.
- Do I need an account?
- No. There is no sign-up. Your solved days are saved in your own browser and nowhere else, so they stay on that device.
- What happens if I miss a day?
- Nothing. Your count of days in a row starts again the next time you solve one, and your total of solved puzzles stays as it was.
- What if I can't solve it?
- After a wrong move you can choose "Show the answer" and watch the solution play out. That day is not counted as solved.
Want a full game next?
Play one of the bot characters, or try the chess rating testfor a rough idea of your level from one game.