How to Play TobyChess
A short guide to the Daily Puzzle mechanics, the move feedback colors, the tactical patterns that show up again and again in forced-mate puzzles, and how to read algebraic chess notation.
1. How the Daily Puzzle Works
Every day, TobyChess publishes a new hand-picked position with a forced checkmate in three to five moves — meaning there exists a sequence of moves for the side to play that leads to checkmate no matter how the opponent responds. Your job is to find that exact sequence, one move at a time.
- You control one side; the puzzle's built-in opponent replies automatically after each of your correct moves, following the only defense that keeps it in the game the longest.
- Only the move that continues the forced mating line is accepted — a legal-but-off-track move doesn't advance the puzzle (see the Red feedback below).
- Every action you take — a correct move, a wrong try, or a hint — is recorded as an attempt box (🟩🟥🟧) so you can see exactly how efficiently you solved it, and compare your result to the community distribution once you finish.
- If you get stuck, you can request a hint (see below) or give up to reveal the full solution line, which you can then step through move by move.
2. Move Feedback: Green, Red & Orange
Every action you take on the board is reflected immediately with a color-coded response:
Green — Correct move
You found the right move for this step of the forced mating sequence. The board advances and, if there is a reply, your opponent responds automatically before your next move.
Red — Incorrect try
The move you played is legal but is not part of the puzzle’s solution. The piece briefly shows on the square you dropped it on, then smoothly slides back to where it started — nothing is lost, and you can try again immediately.
Orange — Hint used
You asked for a hint, which highlights the piece that needs to move for the current step (without revealing the destination square). You can use one hint per step; it re-enables again once you find the correct move.
3. Tactical Motifs to Watch For
Daily Puzzle solutions are built from a small set of recurring tactical ideas. Recognizing them on sight is exactly the skill spaced daily practice is meant to build:
Pin
A piece cannot legally (or safely) move because doing so would expose a more valuable piece — often the king — to attack behind it. An absolute pin against the king cannot be moved at all under the rules of chess.
Discovered Check
Moving one piece out of the way reveals an attack from a second piece directly onto the enemy king. Because the moving piece is free to go anywhere, discovered checks are notoriously hard to defend against and often win material.
Deflection
A forcing move (often a sacrifice) lures a defending piece away from a square or file it was protecting, clearing the way for a decisive follow-up — frequently the final move of a daily puzzle’s mating sequence.
Back-Rank Mate
A king castled behind its own pawns with no escape square is checkmated by a rook or queen delivering check along the back rank, because the king’s own pawns block every square it could otherwise flee to.
4. Reading Algebraic Chess Notation
Move lists and solution lines throughout TobyChess (including the "Explore Solution Line" stepper) use standard algebraic notation, the universal shorthand for recording chess moves. Files (columns) are labeled a–h left to right, and ranks (rows) are labeled 1–8, so every square has a unique name like e4 or g7.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| K, Q, R, B, N | King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight (a pawn move has no letter — just the destination square) |
| e4 | A pawn moves to square e4 |
| Nf3 | A knight moves to square f3 |
| x | Captures — e.g. Bxf7 means the bishop captures a piece on f7 |
| + | Check — the move puts the enemy king in check |
| # | Checkmate — the move ends the game |
| O-O / O-O-O | Kingside castling / Queenside castling |
| =Q | Pawn promotion — e.g. e8=Q promotes the pawn to a queen |
Put together, a move like Nd6+ reads as "knight moves to d6, giving check," and Qd8# reads as "queen moves to d8, checkmate" — the exact kind of finish today's Daily Puzzle is usually building toward.
Put it into practice on today's position.
Solve Today's Puzzle