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"chess is 99% tactics" - richard teichmann.

Tactics are the most important aspect of the game for chess players of all levels, from beginner to grandmaster.

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Spend only a few minutes every day solving chess puzzles and you will boost your chess in no time! Improve your pattern recognition and spot winning moves fast. Enhance your ability to visualize and calculate with more accuracy. Your decision-making skills will improve, and your overall play will benefit from your efforts solving chess puzzles.

If you want to improve your game the fastest, easiest and most fun way, start solving chess puzzles right now. One thing that is absolutely undisputed in chess training philosophy is: solve chess puzzles regularly and you'll get better and better everyday.

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Solving chess puzzles daily helps you with one of the most important chess qualities a player can have: pattern recognition.

Pattern Recognition

Pattern recognition is the ability to look at a position and quickly identify a potential tactical resource. If you are playing bullet, blitz or rapid, the concept of pattern recognition is more important than ever. But it is also important in classical games, where chess tactics are less frequent.

Strategic Thinking

Contrary to what most people believe, improving your tactics can also help you improve your strategic thinking. This is because by solving chess puzzles you get better at thinking several moves ahead, which helps you prevent mistakes and foresee attacks from your opponents. If you solve chess puzzles regularly, you will also be better at finding the right moves when being under pressure. Chess puzzles will turn you into a much more creative player. You will be able to think outside the box to find the best solutions in hard positions. Regularly studying and practicing chess tactics requires a disciplined approach, which can help you become a more diligent player when it comes to assessing a position and finding opportunities to improve your position.

Most Common Chess Tactics

Some of the most common chess tactics are:

• Pin: a piece is pinned when it is not allowed to move because the king would be exposed to a check, or when moving that piece would result in a massive disadvantage, such as losing the queen or another piece.
• Fork: a fork happens when a less valuable piece attacks two more valuable pieces at once.
• Discovered Attack: when you move a pawn or piece and create an immediate attack with another piece that was being blocked.
• X-Ray: when you attack an enemy piece and force it to move, and you then capture another valuable piece that was being protected by the first one.
• Battery: the combination of two pieces attacking another piece, pawn or square.
• Sacrifice: when you exchange or lose a valuable piece in order to gain material afterwards, deliver a checkmate, or simply get a much better position.
• Overloading the Defender: when a piece is defending too many of its own pieces or enemy threats, we can create a situation in which that piece won?t be able to defend anymore.
• Double Check: by using the discovery attack tactic, we can give a check to the enemy king with two different pieces at the same time.
• Interference: when you create an obstruction between two enemy pieces in order to gain material or improve your position.

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How to solve chess problems

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Chess and Problem Solving: Sharpening Your Mind

Chess is not just a game; it is an activity that challenges your mind and enhances your problem-solving skills. In this article, we will explore the connection between chess and problem-solving and how playing this strategic game can have a positive impact on sharpening your mind. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced player, understanding the cognitive benefits of chess and incorporating it into your routine can help improve your critical thinking, decision-making, and analytical abilities. So, if you are ready to embark on a journey of mental growth and development, let’s delve into the world of chess and discover how it can boost your problem-solving capabilities.

The Benefits of Chess for Problem Solving

Improves critical thinking skills.

Chess is a game that requires players to think critically and make thoughtful decisions. By analyzing positions and evaluating potential moves, chess players develop their ability to think logically and strategically. This mental exercise helps improve critical thinking skills, enabling individuals to approach problems and challenges in a systematic and analytical manner.

Enhances pattern recognition

Chess is a game of patterns. Successful chess players are adept at recognizing and understanding various patterns on the chessboard. This skill transfers to problem-solving situations outside of the game as well. Through regular chess practice, individuals can enhance their pattern recognition abilities, enabling them to identify similarities and connections in different contexts. This heightened pattern recognition skill can be beneficial in various problem-solving scenarios, such as identifying trends, predicting outcomes, or finding creative solutions.

Fosters strategic planning

Chess is all about strategic planning. Players must consider short-term and long-term goals, formulate and adjust their plans accordingly, and anticipate their opponents’ moves. This constant exercise in strategic thinking fosters a mindset that is crucial for effective problem solving. Chess players learn to weigh different options, anticipate consequences, and develop strategies to overcome obstacles. These skills transfer beyond the chessboard, allowing individuals to approach problem-solving situations with a well-thought-out plan and the ability to adapt and adjust their strategies as needed.

In conclusion, engaging in chess as a means of problem-solving practice offers several benefits. It improves critical thinking skills, enhances pattern recognition abilities, and fosters strategic planning. By incorporating chess into one’s routine, individuals can sharpen their minds and cultivate valuable problem-solving skills that can be applied to various aspects of life.

Developing Problem-Solving Techniques through Chess

Analyzing positions and making decisions.

In the game of chess, players are constantly faced with the challenge of analyzing positions and making crucial decisions. Each move requires careful evaluation of the current situation on the board and the anticipation of potential future moves by the opponent. This process helps develop problem-solving techniques as players are forced to think critically, weigh different options, and assess the consequences of their decisions.

Analyzing positions involves considering various factors such as piece placement, pawn structure, king safety, and potential threats. By carefully assessing these elements, players can identify advantageous moves that can lead to a stronger position or material gain. This analytical thinking translates into real-life problem-solving skills by encouraging individuals to break down complex problems into smaller components and evaluate different approaches.

Identifying and solving chess problems

Chess is not just about playing against human opponents; it also offers a wealth of puzzles and problems that require critical thinking to solve. Chess problems can be in the form of tactical puzzles, where players need to find a sequence of moves to gain a significant advantage or checkmate the opponent’s king. Solving these problems enhances problem-solving abilities by challenging players to think creatively, consider alternative solutions, and anticipate potential obstacles.

Identifying chess problems involves recognizing patterns, calculating moves, and visualizing potential outcomes. This process trains the mind to look for hidden opportunities and consider unconventional strategies. By honing these skills in chess, individuals can apply them to real-life situations, improving their ability to identify problems, devise efficient solutions, and adapt their approach as needed.

Learning from mistakes and adapting strategies

Chess is a game of continuous learning, and making mistakes is an inevitable part of the process. However, what sets successful chess players apart is their ability to learn from these mistakes and adapt their strategies accordingly. Analyzing past games, reviewing critical positions, and understanding the reasons behind errors are crucial steps in improving problem-solving techniques.

By reflecting on their mistakes, chess players develop a growth mindset that emphasizes learning and improvement. They learn to identify weaknesses in their thinking process, detect recurring patterns of errors, and adjust their strategies to avoid similar pitfalls in the future. This adaptive thinking nurtures problem-solving skills by encouraging individuals to approach challenges with resilience, flexibility, and a willingness to reassess their approach when necessary.

Overall, chess serves as an excellent platform for developing problem-solving techniques. Through analyzing positions, solving chess problems, and learning from mistakes, players sharpen their minds and acquire valuable problem-solving skills that can be applied to various aspects of life.

Chess Tactics and Problem-Solving

Understanding tactical patterns.

In the game of chess, tactical patterns are essential for success. These patterns are specific combinations of moves that players can use to gain an advantage over their opponents. Understanding these patterns allows players to identify opportunities and make strategic decisions accordingly. Some common tactical patterns include forks, pins, skewers, and discovered attacks. By studying and recognizing these patterns, players can improve their problem-solving skills and make better moves on the chessboard.

Applying tactical knowledge in problem-solving

Chess is not just a game of strategy; it also requires problem-solving skills. Players must analyze the position, evaluate potential moves, and anticipate their opponent’s responses. By applying tactical knowledge acquired through studying patterns, players can effectively solve problems on the chessboard. They can identify weaknesses in their opponent’s position, find winning combinations, and create threats that force their opponent into unfavorable situations. Problem-solving in chess requires a combination of logical thinking, creativity, and the ability to calculate multiple moves ahead.

Utilizing chess puzzles for practice

Chess puzzles are an excellent tool for practicing and sharpening problem-solving skills. These puzzles present players with specific board positions and challenges them to find the best move or sequence of moves. By regularly solving chess puzzles, players can improve their tactical awareness, pattern recognition, and overall problem-solving abilities. Chess puzzles come in various difficulty levels, allowing players to gradually progress and challenge themselves. Additionally, solving puzzles can be an enjoyable and engaging way to enhance one’s chess skills outside of actual gameplay.

By understanding tactical patterns, applying tactical knowledge in problem-solving, and utilizing chess puzzles for practice, players can sharpen their minds and improve their overall chess gameplay. Developing strong problem-solving skills in chess not only enhances one’s performance on the board but also translates into improved critical thinking and decision-making abilities in various aspects of life.

In conclusion, chess is not just a game of strategy and competition; it is also a powerful tool for enhancing problem-solving skills and sharpening the mind. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned player, engaging in regular chess practice can improve your critical thinking abilities, decision-making skills, and overall mental agility. By analyzing complex positions, evaluating multiple possibilities, and devising effective plans, chess players develop a unique mindset that can be applied to various real-life situations. So, if you are looking for a fun and challenging way to boost your cognitive abilities, consider immersing yourself in the world of chess. Start honing your problem-solving skills today and witness the positive impact it can have on your mind.

Mastering Chess Puzzles: The Comprehensive Guide to Effective Problem Solving

• GM Noël Studer
• Middlegame , Train like a Grandmaster

I often get emails from blog readers who seemingly solve most Chess puzzles correctly but can’t find the right moves during the game.

What is their problem?

Mostly their definition of ‘correct solution’ differs widely from mine.

They either solve Chess puzzles in a way they can’t during a game (try & error), or they are happy finding the first right move and don’t go deeper.

In this article, you will learn why these approaches are so hurtful for your chess progress & how a correct Chess puzzle solution should look.

In the Spotlight: A Chess Puzzle for You

To make a point, let’s look at the following position. If you want to test yourself, take some time to solve the position. Read on once you come up with an answer. (White to move)

The correct answer is 1.Rxf6 Rxf6 2.Rf1 Raf8 3.Qg5 Kg7 4.Nh5+

Other sub-variations work, such as playing 2.Qg5 then 3.Rf1 or playing 4.Bxf6+ first before playing 5.Nh5+.

The key is to finish the calculation once the piece is regained by force.

Any solution not written down until the end is not correct. This might seem nitpicking, but it is actually extremely important.

During a game, you don’t have the benefit of knowing there is a win. You have to calculate clearly and can’t just play the move that looks most tempting. It might very well be that a tempting move loses because of a trick at the end of the line.

To prepare for the in-game moment, we need to calculate correctly and, until the end, also in training.

So if you just thought, “Ah, 1.Rxf6 Rxf6 2.Rf1 wins”, you have some work to do.

Your intuition is right, but sooner than later, there will be an in-game position where your intuition leads you on the wrong path. This is where your crystal clear calculation should come in and save your ass.

Now let’s look at the two most common ways to do it wrong, and you’ll learn how to do it better next time.

Falling into the Trap: The Try & Error Method

This is a phenomenon mostly happening when studying with online tactics trainers. You see a tempting move and execute it. If it is correct, you will do the same on the second move. If it is wrong, you have another shot at the same puzzle and go with the next most likely move.

Eventually, you will “solve” (I’d rather say guess) the puzzle. You might try Bxf6, Rxf6, or Qg5 in any order in the example above. Even if you get 1.Rxf6 right from the get-go, you shouldn’t really be proud. You probably didn’t see until the end of the line, so you didn’t improve any skills that help you in real games.

This is also the reason why I’m not a big fan of speed puzzle solving like Puzzle Rush or Puzzle Racer . The limited time forces you into a try & error mindset, which will be useless during a real game.

The only real solution here is:

Never solve by the try & error method.

It is a horrible habit that increases your confidence (“I got it right”) but worsens your chess. This inevitably leads to way too high expectations and, thus, to disappointment and frustration.

Just remember Try & Error —> Frustration, and you should be able to withstand the temptation.

A Common Mistake: Shallow Thinking and Its Consequences

Shallow thinking is the next biggest issue and is a close friend of the try & error method. Both stem from the same human tendency to be lazy.

It is hard to calculate a line until the end, but sometimes glaringly obvious which first move one should play. So you think, “I’ll just play this move and think from the next position.”

The problem here is a practical one again. Sometimes, the obvious moves are wrong!

When solving tactical exercises, you know there is something good in the position. If there is only one forceful-looking move, you might be tempted to go with it without thinking.

But during the game, this isn’t true at all. There are positions where a move looks good but loses instantly.

That’s why it is important that you only execute a move during training when you finish your full calculation process. This habit will eventually save you a lot of points during your games.

Wisdom from Artur Jussupow

Artur Jussupow, the former World #3 and my Coach in my teenage years, had some great advice when I used the shallow thinking method in training.

A common conversation would go like that:

Artur: “Solve this position, White to move, you get 5 Minutes

Noël (after 30 seconds): “I believe f5 looks good.”

Artur: “You can believe in the church; in chess, we calculate and know.”

He would then not say anything until I came up with the full line I calculated until the very end.

Since then, whenever I thought, “This move looks good,” I was reminded of Artur telling me to finish my calculation before making assumptions.

The Road to Success: How to Solve Chess Puzzles Correctly

Now that you know what to avoid solving a puzzle correctly is pretty straightforward. Open up your puzzle book or go to your favorite Online Chess Tactics Trainer.

Now follow these three simple steps:

1) Carefully examine the position before jumping into one move that looks or feels right (sometimes my students miss that they are material up or down because they immediately try to spot the right move).

2) Come up with a List of Candidate moves. The simplest way to get the most forcing ones it to look for:

in this sequence.

3) Calculate one move at a time. Start with the most forceful one ( if there is a checkmate , you don’t need to calculate other moves!) and finish only with a clear evaluation. If you win by force, shortly make sure you didn’t miss anything, then write down the solution and compare it with the puzzle solution.

If the evaluation isn’t good (enough), continue with the next most forceful move. If none of the initial candidate moves ends in a good (enough) evaluation, you either need to find more candidate moves or decide on the line with the least bad evaluation.

You are now curating a habit that will help you during your exercises but even more in-game. The right, non-rushed thought process helped me and my students save dozens of points. It will do the same for you.

I firmly believe that

anyone can improve their chess through the right mindset and training techniques.

I’m here to guide you on your journey to chess mastery.

Read more about Noël

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Home » Chess Strategy » How To Solve Chess Puzzles (Quickly and Easily) For Beginners

How To Solve Chess Puzzles (Quickly and Easily) For Beginners

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Which puzzles should you solve?

• Look for forcing moves
• Look at what each piece is doing
• Look for what would be left after
• Practical Examples on Solving Puzzles
• Types of Puzzles
• Art of Solving Puzzles

If you’re new to the game this is the question you’ll face especially during your training. So in this article, I’ll share a simple 3-step process you can use to solve puzzles.

After that, I’ll share some typical examples where we’ll use the process to solve the puzzles and show a way to improve your speed at solving them. Before we move on, I must confess that everyone has a different process. Also with time and experience, the process evolves.

But regardless of that, it’s important to solve puzzles as it improves your tactics and calculation.

Last Updated: September 28th, 2021

At first, you should start with easy puzzles and move on to more difficult ones. Imagine you’ve decided to run a marathon. Is it possible that from day one you’d be able to run 42 kms all at once?

For most humans, that would be impossible. You’d need to train for smaller distances, become better at it and then gradually increase the difficulty.

If you start with the goal to run 42 kms at once in the first few weeks without proper training, you are going to put yourself under immense pressure and become demotivated when you don’t hit your target.

The same also applies when you train in chess. You first start to solve simple chess positions, before you move on to more complex ones.

So if you’re a beginner and have never solved a puzzle in your life, I recommend you start by solving basic ‘Mate in 1’ puzzles first. Once you master that, then you can start with ‘Mate in 2’ puzzles and so on.

You keep increasing the difficulty as things become easier.

Process To Solve Puzzles

• Look for forcing moves.
• Look at what each piece is doing.
• Look at what would be left at the end.

For most masters, because of continuous training, they are able to spot simple combinations and checkmates rather quickly.

While everyone develops their own individual style for solving puzzles, there are some common elements which they all follow.

I’ll share them below.

1) Always look for forcing moves

These are moves where your opponent is FORCED to react to in a certain way. This limits their choices and gives your calculation a direction to follow.

The forcing moves are:

• Checks – Thanks to the rules of the games, a player has to deal with a king in check, and any other move which doesn’t address this problem is illegal.
• Captures – When you capture material, the opponent needs to recapture it back or else they’ll be behind in material. While capture isn’t as forcing as a check, the opponent’s choice is still restricted.
• Attacking moves – What’s your first instinct when someone attacks your queen? Do you ignore it or you make sure that your queen is safe? Under normal circumstances, any player would move their queen away(unless you’re Mikhail Tal!). So basically when you attack something, your opponent has to respond to your threat. Once again, this puts a limit on their number of options.

Now let’s see practical examples and understand how to put these principles into action.

2) Watch out for which piece is doing what

Often there will be a piece that will be performing an important defensive task. Other times, they might be controlling an important square or attacking something. You don’t need to be very detailed on this, but it’s good to have a general understanding of what pieces are doing.

As you become more experienced, this process happens unconsciously without your active interference.

3) What are you left with at the end?

These three things will serve you as a good starting point.

Now let’s get down to business and see how it all works in practice.

Types of Puzzles and How To Solve Them

Let’s go over the different types of puzzles and how to solve them, beginning with Mate in One Puzzles. We’ll keep increasing the difficulty.

How To Solve Mate in One Puzzles

In these puzzles, you’re supposed to deliver a mate in 1 move. This means here, you should always look for the checks in the position, since that’s the only way you could deliver a checkmate.

Black to play.

Let’s ask ourselves – “What are the forcing moves they can play?” We can notice they have 2 checks at their disposal –

1…f2+

1…Re1+

Since this is a mate in 1 puzzle, one of them should lead to a checkmate. Let’s just find that out with a simple calculation.

After 1…f2 , White can still play 2.Kf1 or Kh1 and it’s not a mate yet.

And after 1… Re1+ , can the White king move anywhere? Absolutely not! So after the 2nd move, White is checkmated. Therefore the solution would be 1…Re1# .

This is a simple illustration to show you how a more complicated process works.

How To Solve Mate in Two Puzzles

It’s White to play and mate in two in this position. What to play?

Let’s start by calculating the forcing moves in the position. What are the checks White has? We immediately noticed one 1.Rd8+!   How can Black respond to it?

They’re forced to play 1…Rxd8 .  Again, we ask ourselves, what are the forcing moves White has after 1…Rxd8 ? If you notice carefully, the queen and bishop are eyeing the long h1-a8 diagonal and will soon deliver a checkmate.

So we can find White has 2 checks, and apparently both lead to a checkmate after 2.Qa8# or 2.Qb7#

Another similar example on mate in two moves.

Put the process that you learned to use above, and you should be able to find an answer.

White plays –

1.Rxe8+ and after 1…Rxe8 2.Qxg7#

After 1…Qxe8 also 2.Qxg7# .

White is winning after Rxe8+ .

Here, I’d also like to emphasize here on the importance of paying attention to the details in the position. If you notice, White is attacking on the g7-point. They could’ve started with  1.Qxg7 or 1.Bxg7, but in both cases, the knight was defending the g7-pawn.

So after 1.Rxe8 , we eliminate the knight on e8 defending the g7-pawn. During your calculation, pay attention to such small details. They help you understand the position better.

General Tactics Puzzles

Black has just played …Nd4 . How should White respond?

Let’s kick off our calculation by looking for forcing moves. White could give a check with 1.Bb5+. Black would then play 1…Nxb5 capturing White’s bishop. Sounds like a bad deal!

So continue looking for other options.

Do you have any captures? Yes, we can spot 1.Nxd4 . What would Black do then? Let’s calculate one by one.

They could play 1…exd4 , but then we capture their bishop with 2.Bxg4. Now if we count the pieces, we are a piece up! So this is a bad deal for our opponent, and they shouldn’t take it!

What else could they play? 1…Bxe2 was another option for them.

Now again we have 3 options – 3 forcing moves – 2.Kxe2, 2.Qxe2, 2.Nxe2 .

Now, it’s easy to discard 2.Kxe2 because Black then has 2…exd4 and the material is equal. We lost a knight and bishop, and so did our opponent.

If you observe on 2.Qxe2 , Black has the same reply – 2…exd4 . We could play 3.Qb5+ and try to gain the b7-pawn.

But before we move there, let’s examine another important option we might have – 2.Nxe2 . Suddenly, we realize that Black has no …exd4 . Our knight is safe, and we have lost only 1 bishop, while our opponent has 2 pieces, the bishop and the knight. We are a piece up!

And so we’ve established that 1.Nxd4 Bxe2 2.Nxe2! leaves us with an extra piece.

A Famous Position

This is a popular position.

Here White has a strong way to proceed. Can you spot how?  Let’s get down to business!

What are White’s forcing moves?

1. Bxf7+ (check)

1. Nxe5 (capture)

1. g4 (attacking move)Very quickly we can find out that 1.Bxf7+ Bxf7 brings nothing. White loses their piece and there doesn’t seem to be a reasonable follow up.So let’s have a look at 1.Nxe5 . Black has 3 choices then. Here’s how the process could look like – 1…dxe5 2.Qxh5 (capture) and White wins a piece.

Another line could run like 1.Nxe5 Bxd1 2.Bxf7+ (check) Ke7 3.Nd5# (check). A beautiful mate!

1.Nxe5 and now let’s consider 1…Nxe5. White plays 2.Qxh5 (If instead 2.Bxf7+ , Black defends with 2…Bxf7 after which White has nothing.) 2…Nxc4 .

Looks like White has lost a piece, but they have a forcing move left at their disposal 3.Qb5+! Qd7 4.Qxc4 and White regains the piece and has an extra pawn.  Now we know that 1.Nxe5 works and leaves us with an extra pawn!

If you calculate for 1.g4 , you’ll see that it leaves us with nothing after 1… Bg6 .

So what do we play? We go for 1.Nxe5! Because it leaves us with extra material compared to the other two lines.

Pattern Recognition — The Art of Solving Puzzles… Faster!

Have you ever wondered how a Super Grandmaster like Hikaru Nakamura is able to solve positions at such a fast speed? That’s because he has solved many positions over and over that have built up his ‘pattern recognition muscle’. For a lot of master level players and strong amateurs, this thing holds true.

The easiest way to build this muscle is to solve puzzles on one theme!

It’s like to make your legs strong, you focus only on that muscle group and do squats daily.

Similarly, to become good at pins, you solve puzzles whose main theme is a pin.

Enough of talking, let me show you how it actually works.

How Pattern Recognition “Fires Up” Old Memories of Training

Let me share two puzzles to show how effective this tool can be.

It’s White to play, what would you play? Let’s use the process and examine the forcing moves – 1.Nh6+, 1.Ng5+, 1.Nd8+, 1.Ne5+, 1.Nxd6+ .

You’ll notice that after all other moves apart from 1.Nh6+ , White is losing their queen with 1…Nxd5. So immediately all those options are discarded.

Let’s examine 1.Nh6+ (double check with queen and knight). Black’s only legal move is to move the King away with 1…Kh8 . Then again we have two checks –

On 2.Nf7+ , Black plays 2…Kg8 while repeating the position. So does White have any other options?

2.Qg8+ looks crazy, but let’s keep going with that fantasy. Black has only one forced move 2…Rxg8+ and then suddenly we spot that the only forcing move leads to a checkmate – 3.Nf7#.

So we instantly play the solution – 1.Nh6+ Kh8 2.Qg8+ Rxg8 3.Nf7# .

This pattern is also known as the smothered mate .

Now that you know the previous puzzle, this one should be easy to solve. How would you continue as White?

On careful inspection, you’ll see that the first move is 1.Qb3+. Now consider Black’s options 1…Rf7 and 1…Kh8.

After 1…Rf7, White White’s forcing moves are 2.Qxf7, 2.Qxb7 .

In both cases, White achieves nothing .

So what do we do? We return to the position and find out if there’s anything else.

Suddenly, we can spot an attacking move with 2.Ng5. Black’s rook is pinned and it soon will be captured.

So – 1.Qb3+ Rf7 2.Ng5 leaves us with an extra exchange as we will capture the f7-rook with our knight.

After 1.Qb3+ Kh8 , our forcing moves with a check (2.Qxb7 and 2.Qg8+) bring us nothing, so we play something else. What’s that? We can play 2.Ng5!

Can you spot the similarities between this position and the previous one? That’s basically how pattern recognition works in chess. You find something you are familiar with and try to execute that on the board.

If you notice carefully, Black has no way to defend against 2.Nf7+ or 2.Ne6, leaving White with an extra exchange. And thanks to the last puzzle, you should be able to figure out how White threatens a smothered mate.

So the solution will be 1.Qb3 Kh8 2.Ng5! 

To become better at solving puzzles, there’s only one way and that is by solving them everyday. This is also how you’ll build your muscle for pattern recognition.

The process shared here should give you a good starting point. Go to chess.com or lichess and start to put what you learnt here into practice!

Happy solving!

I hope this guide on how to solve Chess puzzles helped you. You may also be interested in reading about castling in Chess . and the list of ways on how to get better at Chess .

Draw in Chess: 7 Types of Draw Rules Explained (For Beginners)

10 best british chess players, ranveer mohite.

Ranveer Mohite is a professional chess player from India. His current elo rating is 2277, and he regularly writes about chess, expressing his passion for the game. Check out his blog here. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

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How to Solve Chess Puzzles

You will often hear how important it is to train tactics but rarely will you find guidance on how to solve chess puzzles. Solving chess puzzles is a good exercise, but if you use the method I’ll discuss on this page, you will learn a lot more from every puzzle you try to solve.

Here’s a quick summary of the method that I will discuss on this page:

Diagram above: Black to move. What would you do? (I’ll use the position in this diagram to present you with a logical method that will transform the way you approach tactical puzzles, for the better.) The point of this exercise is not to see how quickly you can find the solution, but rather to learn about a better way to solve chess puzzles.

Method to Solve Chess Puzzles

If you’re like most people, you will approach a chess puzzle by calculating a few attacking moves until you, hopefully, uncover the solution. This approach is not inherently bad and you can definitely improve your tactical skill this way. However, I want to suggest a puzzle solving method that will turn every tactical puzzle you do into an instructive exercise that will make a lasting improvement to your playing strength.

Although solving chess puzzles should be an important part of your chess training, there is a well-known problem with it. When you’re presented with a puzzle–you already know there is a tactic in the position. (In an actual game no-one will tell you when there’s a tactic to look for). Therefore, you must do more to make the process of solving chess puzzles as instructive as possible–and that is what this lesson is all about.

It should also be said that your improving your knowledge of tactical patterns will help you become more efficient in solving puzzles. My tactical patterns bundle deal is the perfect resource to master these patterns.

8 Steps to Solve Chess Puzzles

• Do a Quick Evaluation of the Position
• Determine the Likely Objective
• Consider Your Opponent’s Last Move
• Identify Possible Targets and Motifs
• Examine Moves That Smite
• Settle on Your Chosen Move
• Compare Your Answer With the Solution
• Study the Solution to the Puzzle

At a first glance the process may seem a bit long but since the steps follow a completely logical order, you will get used to it very quickly. Of course these steps won’t always be applicable to every chess puzzle you do, but they serve as a general guideline to help you get maximum training value from solving puzzles.

Example of the Method to Solve Chess Puzzles

I’ll discuss the details of each step at the hand of an example. It would be a good idea (optional) to pack the position on a real chessboard to help you study this lesson:

Note: If you spot the solution along the way (before you completed all the steps), you should still follow the whole process, to the end, as to not miss the actual purpose and potential benefit of the lesson.

Step 1: Do a Quick Evaluation of the Position

When you’re presented with a chess puzzle you’ve never seen before, you have no point of reference–as you would have had if it were your own game. Therefore the purpose of the first step is to somewhat familiarize yourself with the position before you continue.

There is no need to spend a lot of time on this step. We are not looking to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the position here. Instead, we simply want to familiarize ourselves with the situation at hand by looking at two of the most fundamental aspects of a position, namely:

• the material count and
• the respective safety of the kings.

In our example:

• Material: White has a 1-point lead in material. (Rook vs Knight+pawn)
• King-safety: The white king is clearly far more exposed than the black king.

We conclude the first step by determining that white has a small advantage in material (an extra pawn) but their king is rather vulnerable, which could lead to tactical opportunities for black.

Step 2: Determine the Likely Objective

Objectives guide our thinking process. Without an objective in mind, our search for a solution will be a very random process. You want to guide your thinking in the right direction and that is why it is helpful to determine your likely objective–before you start to calculate candidate moves.

To solve a typical chess puzzle correctly you should either:

• force a checkmate (in which case it doesn’t matter how much material you sacrifice in the process),
• achieve a material advantage (as a rule-of-thumb, you should generally end up at least two points ahead in material in order to solve a typical puzzle–without compromising too much on your position), or
• save yourself from a desperate situation (find a great defense to avoid immediate disaster).

In our example we determined that black is behind 1 point in material. This implies that winning a pawn or two would probably not be the solution to the puzzle. We’ll have to do better than that. We also observed that white’s king is vulnerable to checks.

We conclude then that our likely objective is to achieve a material advantage, probably by exploiting the vulnerability of white’s exposed king.

Step 3: Consider Your Opponent’s Last Move

Most online chess tactics servers will indicate the last move that lead to the puzzle position. This is very helpful because chess puzzles are generally based on a tactical idea that became possible as a consequence of the last move. Therefore it makes sense to observe such consequences as it may contain key information that will help you find the solution.

It is in any case a good thinking habit to always consider the consequences of your opponent’s last move (the threats and its down-sides) before you even start to think about your own move.

The consequences of white’s move, 1.Qe2, are:

• White is threatening to exchange the queens, Qxb5. (This is a real threat because the endgame will favor white, since white has a material advantage.)
• By moving the queen, white clears the e1-square. (This gives the white king a new escape-route to the king-side, via the e1-square. White could also decide to develop their inactive rook to the e1-square). However, by clearing the e1-square, white’s back-rank becomes more vulnerable.
• White’s queen now defends the pawn on b2. (Which defends against black’s threat 1… Qxb2).
• White’s rook on h1 is now hanging (An undefended piece is always a likely target).
• With the white queen now on e2, the black knight could potentially fork the white king and queen (if it weren’t for the fact that the pawn on b2 defends it.)

Of course, not all of the consequences, if any, will be relevant to the solution. Yet, we won’t know which consequences are relevant, or not, until we observe and investigate it.

Based on our observation of white’s threat (to exchange the queens), we can already conclude that whatever we do, we must not give white the opportunity to exchange the queens. Therefore we can immediately discard a move such as 1… Nf4, attacking the white queen, because it will allow white to exchange the queens, 2.Qxb5.

With the information we gathered till this point, the next logical step is to identify possible targets and tactical ideas.

Step 4: Identify Possible Targets and Motifs (Patterns)

It will be a good idea to study the lesson Tactical Targets in Chess after you studied this example of how to solve chess puzzles. For the moment you only need to understand that a tactical target is any piece or square that you can attack or make a threat against.

• White’s king is partially exposed to various checks and threats (a likely target).
• White’s rook on h1 is hanging (undefended).
• The geometric relation between white’s king and queen allows a knight-fork (motif), Nxc3+, but the pawn on b2 seems to defends against it.
• White’s back-rank is weak (a possible motif)

The next logical step is to consider all the attacking moves at black’s disposal.

Step 5: Calculate Moves That Smite

What is a smite?

In chess, a smite refers to any move that strikes your opponent very hard. This where you give yourself the freedom to consider, for a moment, seemingly crazy moves–with zero concern for the material cost of the move. You want to investigate the potential of every check, capture and threat you can make. In many chess puzzles, this step is the key that helps you find surprising tactics in a position.

Of course, in an actual game you won’t consider only moves that smite, but when you’re calculating tactics or solving chess puzzles, observing all smites is a starting point to help discover tactical ideas.

For the sake of our example I’ll discuss 4 moves that smite:

• 1… Qxe2+
• 1… Qa4+
• 1… Ne3+
• 1… Nxc3+

You should then calculate each of these moves (smites) to see where they lead to:

1… Qxe2+ White will recapture your queen with their king, 2.Kxe2. After that it seems there is no more smites to calculate and black achieved nothing. So we discard this move.

1… Qa4+ White could play 2.Ke1 and their king will be running to safety. Black could then capture the pawn on a2, winning a pawn, but you will remember our likely objective is to win more than just a pawn. However, if we consider all other options and found nothing better, then 1… Qa4+ still seems a useful move. (Also note that if 1… Qa4+ 2.b3 Nxc3+ is good for black. Or 1… Qa4+ 2.Qc2 Ne3+ is winning for black.)

1… Ne3+ At a first glance this move seems utterly pointless because, 1… Ne3+ 2.Qxe3 Qxb2 leaves black even further behind in material. Thus we can confirm that 1… Ne3+ is, in fact, utterly pointless! We have to accept that the vast majority of “moves that smite” will turn out to be pointless. However, you will only find the exceptions if you are willing to consider them all–which is often where the solution hides.

1…Nxc3+ This move is easy to calculate because white’s response is essentially forced. White has to play 2.bxc3, else black will capture the white queen on the next move with Nxe2. If we consider the moves 1… Nxc3+ 2.bxc3, we will note that a new “smite move” becomes possible. Black can play 2… Qb1+, followed by 3… Qxh1.

Admittedly, for the sake of the example, this position is fairly simple. In more complicated positions there may be many more moves to calculate. There is no way around this fact, but regular practice will help you dramatically improve the speed and accuracy of your calculations. This is why regularly solving chess puzzles should be a very important aspect of your chess training.

Step 6: Settle on Your Chosen Move

At some point you have to settle on your chosen move. I highly recommend you always settle on a move that you would have played if it was your own game. In other words, don’t guess. If you are confidant in your solution-choose that move. But if you’re not quite sure, don’t settle for a guess .

Regularly guessing the solution to a chess puzzle will encourage bad thinking habits (you become prone to taking unjustified chances in actual games!) Furthermore, if you guess, you’re missing out on the real benefit of doing the exercise properly.

In our example, if you found 1… Nxc3+ 2.bxc3 Qb1+ 3.Kd2 Qxh1 then you go ahead and settle on your choice. However, if you didn’t find the solution, then 1… Qa4+ would have been a more practical choice.

My point is that even though 1… Qa4+ is not the solution, it is better to play a safe move rather than to comprise your integrity and revert to “hope-chess” by guessing.

Step 7: Compare Your Answer With the Solution

To help you visualize the solution, the diagrams below will illustrate it:

After 1… Nxc3+ 2.bxc3 Qb1+ 3.Kd2 Qxh1, black achieved a material advantage (to the value of 2 pawns).

Diagram above: In the final position it was important to note that black’s queen is temporarily out of the game. This compromise is acceptable for black because their king is safe and white has no “smite moves” that could pose a problem to black. This is in fact something you should have considered before playing the committing move 1… Nxc3+.

Step 8: Study the Solution to the Puzzle

Last but not least–take a moment to observe and reflect on what you can learn from the solution to the puzzle. If you rush through this step you will miss an ideal opportunity to develop your tactical awareness and get maximum value from the exercise!

In my collection of tactical patterns , I comment on the solution of every puzzle–making it the perfect resource to practice the method. If you do this, your understanding and knowledge of tactical patterns will improve dramatically.

Was there something you missed? If so, why do you think you missed it? Were you familiar with the tactical idea? Did you struggle to visualize the variations ? Which positional factors contributed to the tactical solution? An exposed king? Hanging/undefended pieces? Allow your mind to freely ask questions about the position and try to find the answers yourself.

Whether you got the solution right or not, the simple act of reflecting on the solution will help you develop your understanding of tactical ideas and enhance your ability to sense where and when tactical opportunities may exist. In other words, you will develop an eye for tactics.

How Many Chess Puzzles Should I Do in a Day?

As you can see from this lesson, the quality of your training is far more important than how many chess puzzles you solve every day. It is generally better to solve a few puzzles with the right approach, than to rush through one puzzle after another. That said, and depending on your personal goals and available time, you could spend anywhere between 5 minutes to an hour, daily, solving tactical puzzles.

Chess Problems

«Chessfield» is pleased to offer you a collection of interesting chess problems !

This volume presents a fascinating chess problems for all tastes from one to 21 moves.

All chess problems are interactive : You make a move (relocate the chess piece directly on the chess board with the mouse) and then receive an opponent answer to achieve the chess problem goal in the specified number of moves.

Did not solved chess problem at the first time? It does not matter! You could and should to think again.

You can start with any chess problem or try to solve the random problem .

Filter chess problems by number of steps:

Chess problem 1, chess problem 2, chess problem 3, chess problem 4, chess problem 5, chess problem 6, chess problem 7, chess problem 8, chess problem 9, chess problem 10.