Caution: Tacticals Ahead - Move Order Nightmares that Baffled Me Today and My Self Analysis.
https://www.chess.com/tactics/177587 - 1779 when i did it. This is the type of puzzle I call "Move Order Nightmare". Looked like a hot mess to me. How do you find the first move?
https://www.chess.com/tactics/156944 - 1876 This one did not baffle me but I'm adding it because it was a fantastic exercise in asking me to think one step further than I normally do. It also happens to be what I tend to call a maneuvering problem...which is very charming....when you first have to maneuver a piece where you want it...I think the chess word for that is decoy or deflection? I noticed that when I calculated dxe5+...I felt this only works if the king takes back...if Nxe5...and Qxe5...then the King has a fleeing square and my brain stopped there and started looking at other options...Qg6+? and just take the knight on e4? But when I played out what seemed the unlikely line...I only then realized my Queen would love to be sitting on e5 and the secret to realizing that is to figure out that the king has no more squares at his disposal and that I've forced the knight to stop protecting e5. I think what happens is my brain sees the complication and just chooses to believe there is no resource and other pieces will come out and muddle everything up. This is not a very calculating process of thought, I'm reminding myself as I type this. The questions should instead be precise...where can he go? What pieces of his can do something about that - can his queen? can his bishop? can a pawn? one of the knights? But check is very forcing...he only has a couple options...I can see that I need to organize my thinking pattern/structure and remove the intuitive/assumption fillers.
https://www.chess.com/tactics/33884 - 1977 level tactic. I did the wrong thing I just advised myself about above, except slightly different. After I played the first move, g6...I considered all the lines but when I looked at the correct line I thought, no...after Kg7 and Qf6+ and Kh6...I only have a weak exchange...or he has a perpetual. I failed to realize or...more accurately, I failed to consider that the discovery that comes with gxh7 also comes with g7+ but without any resource for the King. Fail!! Maybe I should just do this type of tactic over and over until it's all I see when I sleep.
https://www.chess.com/tactics/537252 - 1882 I really loved this one...partially because of how quickly and how easily it came and partially because it was a brilliant "relieve pressure/defensive endeavor"...it was like "um...I can take the queen and relieve my mate issues...oh, I can take the knight and check the king and then take the queen? Wait, no...the bishop takes back and then we're just trading but I guess I'm keeping the Queen and bishop from their mate....wait, how is that different than just taking the queen first...and then I was like "omg...nooooo, that's how you get mated in blitz!!! You somehow almost missed Rh1#!!" Qxe5+!! is one of those polymath moves that just like...takes care of EVERYTHING in your life. 
