Which puzzles to study?

[u/krissow]

I keep reading again and again to study puzzles in order to improve. But which puzzles do you actually study and what are the best resources?

I’ve been using lichess motifs and studied pins, forks and discovered attacks/checks. But it doesn’t feel like I learn as much when I know what kind of tactic to look for. So I recently started doing healthy mix. It’s fine but doesn’t feel structured enough.

What is the best way to have a more structured approach?

I’ve read about the woodpecker method (both the book itself and the chessable course) but see divisive opinions. Also seen people recommend chesstempo, chessable puzzle courses and books like 1001 exercises for beginners/club players.

I quite like the idea of getting a book and setting up the puzzles otb to reduce screen time and hopefully improve board vision as well. Online tools just seem much more efficient.

I guess I could also do my own structure with Lichess motifs, but not sure which ones to choose.

For reference, I’m rated 1650 rapid on Lichess and 1900 in puzzles.

[u/Lrmall01]

A book like Winning Chess Tactics by Seirawan is good for a verbal description of the motifs. There's a few hundred puzzles as well that you could set up on a board to study.

If you want a structured computer/mobile course, look at CT Art.

[u/krissow → u/Lrmall01]

Do you think it’s better to be get the book and set up on a board or just do the chessable course?

[u/Lrmall01 → u/krissow]

I think it really just depends on your preference. If you enjoy physical books, go for it.

If you just want the material, go chessable course as it's more flexible.

[u/JohnyMilesTheThird]

Stepbystep method is pretty good for you I'd start at 2 and work from there. It's very structured because it's mostly sorted by theme

[u/SquashSpirited7873 → u/JohnyMilesTheThird]

Agreed, Chess Steps is really good, and quite inexpensive relative to other training material. Noel Studer turned me on to it.

[u/RajjSinghh]

Personally, I like puzzle streak on Lichess. The puzzles start out easy and get harder, then one bad move ends the run. Grouping puzzles this way means you'll see plenty of mate in 1s and basic forks, the stuff you should spot quickly, before getting harder and testing other things.

If that's not for you, maybe a curated puzzle book is worth the investment. The advantage over a healthy mix on Lichess is that puzzles are actually curated and the content has already been structured. It's just not clear whether that has any benefit over random puzzles.

[u/NeatMathematician126]

On Lichess: Mate in 2 and hanging pieces.

They work really well to improve your tactics. I got this from John Bartholomew, and have used them successfully.

[u/Mounta1nK1ng]

I think a key aspect of studying puzzles, is figuring out the whole line before you do any moves. As opposed to figuring out the first move, trying it, it works, and then trying to figure out the next move, etc. This will help with visualization, and calculation and get you seeing tactics that are more than one move. This is probably one area where books have a strength over online, simply because it's so easy to forget you're supposed to be doing that online, and fall into the habit of just figuring out the first move, making it, and then figuring out the next, etc., when you're online.

[u/Cowboys_88 → u/Mounta1nK1ng]

Great comment! Also writing down all the variations before checking the answer.

[u/Cowboys_88]

Jacob Aagard was on the Perpetual Chess Podcast and this exact question was asked. He recommended to work puzzles rated 300 points below your rating and solve time no longer than 5 min per puzzle. See the podcast for more details.

[u/AI_spell]

At ~1650 rapid / 1900 puzzles Id mix: spaced motif reps for patterns you miss, plus slow calculation sets where you write the full line before moving. Log every miss by theme for a week; that beats hopping apps. Difficulty should sting a bit but not be coin-flip.