Puzzles Jan 2026

A few tricky puzzles for tournament warm-up.

Black to play, checkmate in 2.



Black to play – we are threatening checkmate with our rook, but their queen guards the square. How can we take advantage of this?



White to play – their King is hiding behind his defender pawns – can we force him out? Checkmate in 3.



(Hard) Black to play, checkmate in 4.