Before playing a move, look for direct threats: checks, captures, attacks on the queen, possible mate. Only then pick the candidate that holds up against the replies. This small discipline keeps puzzles from turning into guesswork.
- 1 Side to move: look for checks, captures and threats first.
- 2 Your puzzle rating and the current puzzle’s difficulty.
- 3 The solution played so far, move by move.
- 4 Hint, or skip to the next puzzle.
If you miss a puzzle, don’t rush to the next one. What matters most is understanding the kind of mistake: forgotten pattern, calculation too short, haste, or misjudging the final position.
Mix the modes
A fast series keeps the automatisms sharp. A slower session builds deep calculation. Daily challenges keep the rhythm. Rotating formats lets you improve without tying puzzles to a single way of thinking.
- Fast: pattern recognition.
- Slow: calculating lines.
- Mistake review: consolidation.
The best puzzle isn’t necessarily the one you solve. It’s often the one that reveals your blind spot.
Use the mistake log
The mistake log, the “Error notebook” mode of the Tactics tab (figure 2), is for revisiting the positions that really resisted you. Come back after a delay rather than immediately: if you still find the right move later, the pattern is starting to stick.
- 1 The run log: each puzzle, its theme, time and rating change.
- 2 The puzzle theme, to name the pattern.
- 3 Run summary: puzzles solved, best rating, hits and misses.
When a mistake keeps coming back, give it a simple name: “pinned piece”, “overloaded defender”, “weak square”, “in-between check”. This vocabulary makes patterns easier to spot in your games.
Connect puzzles and openings
After an opening session, a few puzzles can wake up your calculation before playing. After a bad game, they help tell a tactical problem from a repertoire problem. The two complement each other: the opening prepares good positions, tactics help convert them.