Zugzwang is German for "compulsion to move". It describes a position where the side to move would be fine if it could pass, but every legal move makes things worse. Chess does not allow passing, so the obligation to move becomes the weakness. The puzzles on this page come from real games and are matched to your puzzle rating, and in each one zugzwang decides the result.
In most positions, having the move is an advantage. Zugzwang is the exception. Each available move gives up a key square, abandons a defended pawn or lets the enemy king in, and there is no harmless move left to spend the turn on.
That is why zugzwang lives mainly in the endgame. With many pieces on the board there is nearly always some move that changes nothing. With only kings and pawns, or a few pieces, the spare moves run out, and then who has to move can decide the game.
Put a white king on f5 and a white pawn on e4, and a black king on d4 and a black pawn on e5. The pawns block each other. Each king attacks the enemy pawn and defends its own. Neither king can capture, because each pawn is defended.
If White is to move, the only legal moves are king moves, and every one of them leaves e4 behind: Ke6, Kf6, Kg6, Kg5 and Kg4 all allow ...Kxe4. Kf4 is impossible because the e5 pawn covers that square. If Black is to move, the mirror happens: every black king move allows Kxe5. This is mutual zugzwang, often called a trebuchet: whoever has to move loses their pawn.
In zugzwang the side to move has legal moves; they are all bad. In stalemate the side to move has no legal move at all and is not in check, and the game is a draw. With a white king on e6 and a white pawn on e7 against a black king on e8, Black to move is stalemated: every square the king could go to is covered. Winning endgames are often about reaching the zugzwang version of a position while avoiding the stalemate version.
The first tool is the opposition. When the two kings stand face to face with one square between them, the side to move must step aside and let the other king forward. The second is a spare pawn move: a pawn that can still step forward one square is a way of passing the turn back to the opponent. The third is triangulation. Your king takes three moves to return to its square by walking a small triangle, while the enemy king can only shuffle between two squares, so the same position comes back with the opponent to move.
In puzzles, the key move of a zugzwang solution is often quiet: a king step, a waiting move or a pawn push that threatens nothing directly. That is why these puzzles feel different from ordinary tactics. The question is not "what can I attack?" but "what would my opponent like to do, and how do I take away every useful move?"
The most common is rushing: pushing a pawn or giving a check that hands the move back to the opponent at the wrong moment. The second is spending a spare pawn move early, so it is not there when the position needs one. The third is stalemate: taking away the last move from a king that is not in check. Before any quiet move in an endgame, count the opponent's legal replies. If there are none and there is no check, it is a draw.
For each puzzle, ask what the opponent would play if it were their move now, and whether that move helps them. If every one of their moves hurts them, your job is to find a move that keeps the position the same while handing them the turn. If you are stuck, the hint shows the piece first, then the move. After you solve, the full line appears beside the board.
For mixed tactics at your level, use Puzzle Training. The Woodpecker Method repeats a fixed set until the ideas are automatic, Elo Maxing serves the motif you are weakest at, and Pattern Drill works from positions in your own games. Endgames that turn on who must move often begin as promotion races. To see how many of your own games are decided in the ending, read how to review your chess games.
A position where the side to move would rather pass, because every legal move makes their position worse. The word is German for compulsion to move.
A position where whichever side has to move is worse off. The trebuchet, with blocked pawns and each king attacking the other pawn, is the classic case.
No. In zugzwang you have legal moves, but all of them hurt you. In stalemate you have no legal move and are not in check, and the game is drawn.
Rarely, because there are usually spare moves that change nothing. It is far more common in endgames with few pieces left.
Because the aim is to hand the turn to the opponent while keeping the position the same, not to attack anything directly.