Puzzle z8IeH — ELO 1912
This is a White-to-move puzzle rated 1912 ELO. The first move is a2a3, tagged with 10 interpretable concepts and Lichess themes: crushing, defensiveMove, endgame.
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Position
White to move. ELO 1912. Themes: crushing, defensiveMove, endgame, interference, rookEndgame, veryLong, zugzwang.
FEN: 8/8/2p2k2/r4P2/4K3/5R2/P7/8 w - - 4 49
Show solution (14 ply)
Try to find the move yourself first — look for the rarest concept firing on this position before peeking. Solution sequence: a2a3 a5a4 e4d3 a4a3 d3e2 a3f3 e2f3 f6f5 f3e3 f5e5 e3d3 e5d5 d3c3 d5c5
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 Detects a king on the back rank or 7th rank in rook endgames, often with the…, which appears in only 257 of our 9,950 puzzles (2.58%). 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 1912 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?
1912 Lichess ELO. Solvers below that rating typically miss the key cue.
Which side moves first?
White to move; the first move of the solution is a2a3.
What concepts does it train?
10 SAE-derived patterns including Detects kings in near-opposition or close proximity in…; King in an endgame position with no immediate threats…; King actively centralised in a late endgame (pawn or minor….
Can I attempt it without an account?
Yes — Climbchess requires no signup or email. Click the trainer link to play the position interactively.