The Benefit of Solving Puzzles

Hi everyone!

It is my first blog, and I am not a strong chess player (you can see my rating), so please be indulgent for my rookie mistakes. These are the reasons I do not provide an in-depth analysis.

I solve as many puzzles as I can on regular basis: the bunch of freepuzzles, puzzle rush, puzzle battle, daily puzzle. I thank the chess.com team for providing such a good service.

I want to share how the puzzles helped me to win a much stronger player. It is the game

After 21. ... Qxh3 I was startled for I’m very bad at counterplay such attacks as this. But I did not see any immediate checks. Also at this very moment, I noticed an almost free e-file with my rook on it. Yes, usually I’m looking for free files to place my rook on it. I started to think of how to perform one of the patterns I learned by solving puzzles. So, I took the c5 pawn and after my opponent's move 22. ... Nd7 I was thrilled: my plan was working! So, I took the 23. Nxd7, my opponent took the 23. ... Rxd7. I placed my future "killing" rook 24. Rac1 and after 24. ... Qxf3 the black is losing.

I’m sure if I was playing black I wouldn’t see this pattern either. The Kg7 was pretty safe in his castle with his rook by his side. In contrast, Kg1 was exposed on the field almost alone with doubled pawns only.

This year I solved 1585 puzzles VS only 10 of my opponent's. So, my conclusion is solving puzzles is very good training.

I thank my opponent for this game.