Puzzle r87rv — ELO 1800
This is a Black-to-move puzzle rated 1800 ELO. The first move is a6c4, tagged with 10 interpretable concepts and Lichess themes: long, mate, mateIn3.
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Position
Black to move. ELO 1800. Themes: long, mate, mateIn3, middlegame, pin, sacrifice, smotheredMate.
FEN: r6k/pp2Q1pp/bn1N4/8/3q4/5PP1/6BP/4R2K b - - 7 28
Show solution (6 ply)
Try to find the move yourself first — look for the rarest concept firing on this position before peeking. Solution sequence: a6c4 e7e8 a8e8 e1e8 c4g8 d6f7
Concepts that fire on this position
Our SAE pipeline tagged this position with 10 active features. Each links to a page documenting that pattern in detail.
Why this puzzle is hard
The rarest pattern firing here is Black king on the back rank (a8–h8) with at least one black piece defending it…, which appears in only 461 of our 9,950 puzzles (4.63%). Rare patterns tend to be the bottleneck — players who haven't internalised them will fail this puzzle even when their tactical calculation is otherwise solid.
The puzzle's Lichess ELO of 1800 reflects this: solvers below that rating typically miss the cue entirely.
Similar puzzles
Puzzles sharing the most concept tags with this one — a stronger signal than theme overlap because it reflects the actual patterns Leela recognises.
Train this pattern
Click through to the Climbchess trainer to attempt the position interactively against the same Leela network that tagged it. The trainer adapts difficulty using your live concept-recognition profile — it surfaces puzzles tagged with concepts you've been missing, not random brawls.
If you want the underlying methodology, the how-it-works page walks through the SAE training run, the labelling pipeline, and the puzzle-tagging procedure end-to-end.
Frequently asked
What is the rating of this puzzle?
1800 Lichess ELO. Solvers below that rating typically miss the key cue.
Which side moves first?
Black to move; the first move of the solution is a6c4.
What concepts does it train?
10 SAE-derived patterns including A queen actively placed on an open rank or file relative…; White Queen on the 1st or 2nd rank, unthreatened by black…; Detects white king safely castled on the back rank….
Can I attempt it without an account?
Yes — Climbchess requires no signup or email. Click the trainer link to play the position interactively.