Chess Puzzles Anyone?

Hi! Sooo....A lot of people on chess.com do the daily puzzle. We do puzzles that other people create. We track other people's puzzle and blog activity. Why do so many people like chess puzzles so much? Some good reasons are...

• You can begin at any point during a game
• You don't have to play the whole game to get there
• You can practice any part of your game, i.e. endgame which is a part of the game that some people don't feel as comfortable with
• You can learn outstanding moves like forks, pins, and sacrifices 
• They're really fun!

So, why not make a habit of doing the daily puzzle? I do it almost every day. Sometimes I make one. Sometimes I do another persons. Here's one "made by me":

Yes, its kind of easy. This one, I mean. Some are super unclear or difficult. How do you make a chess puzzle worth doing anyway? How does dailypuzzle do it every day? One way is to use an endgame played by two REALLY good chess players. Or, you can just wing it. Bear in mind:

• Always double check and make sure that there is no other better solution.
• You don't HAVE to end with a checkmate. You might just want to do a really nice opening that's partway done and gives an advantage for someone. (see my previous post.)
• Don't have your puzzle be too long, it can get hard to solve and boring. 2-5 moves is great.
• Do it in the "preview" to see if it's ok or not

Hope you can use this! And don't make one as lame as the one I just made! :P One more thing: Unless it's an opening, the losing color shouldn't be able to get out of it no matter how early. If it is an opening though, the other color usually has a way to avoid what's going to happen.

G'day! Enjoy your puzzle-making and puzzle-doing!