Master Chess Puzzles like a Pro

Tactics are important at every level of chess. One of the most vital ways to progress to an intermediate level, more important than learning openings, is building your pattern recognition with puzzles. Working through tactical puzzles sharpens calculation and pattern recognition. However, simply guessing moves wastes potential learning.

I have solved 42,808 puzzles on Chess.com and developed a process that enables me to solve each one to the best of my ability. This 8-step approach will ensure that you can start solving puzzles more effectively and actually learn how to apply them to your games.

8 steps to solve chess puzzles

1. Quickly evaluate the position. 

   Before calculating any moves, familiarize yourself with the material balance and king safety.

   
   

   In our example:

• Material: Black is down a minor piece (3 points) and a pawn (1 point). This means that black is down 4 points of material. Generally, when you are down a great deal of material in a puzzle, the correct solution is to checkmate or win a large amount of material back.

• King Safety: White's king is in dire straits compared to our king. White's doubled pawns on f2 and f3 greatly weaken the diagonals and squares around the white king.

2. Identify the objective. 

   Decide whether the goal is to checkmate, win material, or defend a losing position. This focus guides your search. On platforms like Chess.com and Lichess, most puzzles end with a win, not a draw.

In our example:

• Objective: Because we likely need to checkmate our opponent, combined with the fact that white's king is in significant danger, you can conclude we can create mating threats against their king.

3. Review your opponent’s last move. 

   Tactics often arise from the consequences of the opponent’s previous move. Identify new weaknesses or undefended squares/pieces that move has created.

In our example:

• The consequence of Qe2: It is difficult to identify how this move could backfire, as it doesn't seem to hang a piece or cause an obvious detriment to white's position. In the winning sequence, the white queen blocks the king's escape to e2. That may seem far-fetched from this position, but will make sense in the final position.

4. Identify targets and motifs. 

   Look for exposed pieces, weak squares, and classic tactical ideas such as forks, pins, skewers, and discovered attacks.

In our example:

• Queen & Bishop Battery: This is a powerful attacking formation that can lead to checkmating threats, especially when a king is in this much danger.

• Weak h2 square: Our battery lines up against the h2 pawn, which cannot be defended by any of white's pieces. The issue is not that white is losing the pawn, it's that white is being checkmated.

5. Calculate checks, captures, and threats.  

   Examine all checks, captures, and threats. These forcing moves often reveal tactical ideas.

In our example:

• Checks: Black has 4 checks from the starting position.

• Qg3+, Qg4+ & Qxh2+: These moves clearly blunder a queen without compensation. White can recapture with their pawns or king.

• Qg5+: This check forces the white king to the h1 square, which actually helps save the white king from our threats. We can no longer create our queen & bishop battery, and the white rook can now attack us on the g-file.

• Captures: There is only one capture that doesn't blunder a queen.

• Bxc3: This knight was well defended, as white can just recapture with their a4 knight, or their pawn on b2. We have helped white simplify their position by trading pieces, and now they are completely winning.

• Threats: There is one move that threatens a checkmate, and two other rook moves that threaten a 2nd rank invasion.

• Be5: This move threatens mate in 1 by creating a queen-and-bishop battery. The only way White can avoid this checkmate is by moving their f1 rook away to make an escape square for the king. After the rook moves, we are still able to play Qxh2+, Kf1, Qh1#.

  
  

• Rfd8/Rad8: These moves may look promising, as we are preparing to put our rook on the 2nd rank, which would be defended by our queen. White does not need to worry about this, as their 2nd rank is well defended and they are up a piece. White can simply make a move to stop the real threat of Be5 by offering a queen trade with Qe3. Additionally, there does not seem to be a relevant difference between these moves, indicating they are incorrect, since there is only one correct solution.

6. Narrow your candidate moves by process of elimination. 

   List the most promising options, then eliminate weaker ones through logical analysis. Systematically review all legal moves if uncertain.

In our example:

• Let's narrow down our options to Be5, Qg5+, and Bxc3. Be5 sets up a checkmate threat, Qg5+ is an empty check that helps the white king escape, and Bxc3 helps our opponent trade pieces down to a winning endgame. Be5 is clearly the best move by that logic, even if you don't see the entire combination.

  
  

• When you finally decide on a move, I recommend you consider it a good move, not just a random guess. If you are confident in your move, go ahead and play it. But if you are not sure, don't guess. Guessing leads to poor thinking habits in actual games and missing out on the benefits of proper puzzle-solving.

7. Compare your answer with the solution.

   
   

   Review the puzzle’s answer; note any errors in your thought process, missed motifs, and miscalculations. This puzzle was a forced mate in 3 moves.

White made a game-losing blunder with Qe2??.

Black has an unstoppable mating threat by creating the queen and bishop battery with Be5.

White cannot avoid mate, but can delay with Rfd1, vacating a space for their king on f1

Black takes a pawn with check.

The white king is forced onto the f1 square.

Black can follow up with Qh1#, which results in checkmate.

8. Study the solution

Take a moment to reflect and understand why the correct move works and how the ideas could appear in your games. Did you miss a key thematic idea or detail? Were you familiar with the tactical idea? Did you miscalculate while visualizing the variations? Which positional themes contributed to the tactical solution? Hanging pieces? An exposed king? A battery?

Even if you didn't find the correct solution, reflecting on the correct solution helps you develop pattern recognition of tactical ideas and your intuition. In future puzzles and games, you will be able to sense when tactical opportunities present themselves.

Additional calculation tips

There are three key skills when training with puzzles: tactical vision, calculation accuracy, and calculation speed.

The following techniques help:

• Avoid ruminating. 

  Don’t repeatedly analyze the same line if you are positive it fails. However, don’t dismiss a line too early—sometimes a hidden resource appears deeper in the variation.

  
  

• Set milestones. 

  In complex puzzles, calculate forced lines until they reach a quiet position, then reassess and look for new candidate moves.

  
  

• Think prophylactically. 

  Always ask what your opponent wants to do next.

• Keep puzzle rating in mind. Easier puzzles often feature immediate tactics, while harder ones may involve quiet moves (moves without a check, capture, or threat) or longer forcing lines.

  
  

• If a move seems too good to be true in a difficult puzzle, usually it is. Part of the reason puzzles can be higher rated is that there are several appealing options you have to sort through to find the solution.

Practice routines

• Puzzle rush vs. long calculation.  

  Use timed sessions to develop speed, and untimed sessions to build accuracy.

  
  

• Mix difficulty levels.  

  Combine easier puzzles that reinforce patterns with harder ones that stretch your calculation.

  
  

• Record mistakes.

  Keep a log or use Chess.com/Lichess history to revisit missed puzzles and review them later.

• Balance puzzles, playing, and opening analysis.

  For beginners, spend about 60% of your time playing and analyzing games, and 40% solving puzzles.

  
  

  For intermediate players, aim for 50% games and analysis, 25% puzzles, and 25% opening theory.

Now get out there and start solving puzzles—your blunders aren’t going to turn into brilliancies by themselves. Warning: they’re dangerously satisfying.

"Tactics is what you do when there is something to do; strategy is what you do when there is nothing to do" - Savielly Tartakower