fool mate

And such wouldn't be a puzzle unless there was a forced nature to the moves that ended in the smothered mate.

How about we just post the start position and label it Fools Mate Puzzle?

If you think that makes it a puzzle then you need some more chess experience.

See my previous comment that sets forth my answer to this comment.  The Fool's Mate "puzzle"  would indeed be a puzzle to my granddaughter, who has just learned how the pieces move.

What you seem to imply is that to be a puzzle it has to be difficult for you.

As far as the "forcing" element being required in a puzzle, my answer to that as far as this puzzle is concerned is that the forcing move in this situation also happens to be the move that checkmates.  Granted, this is an extremely elementary puzzle, but it would still be a puzzle to some.

"The Fool's Mate 'puzzle"' would indeed be a puzzle to my granddaughter, who has just learned how the pieces move."

Whether one is puzzled or not by a "problem or task"  is irrelevant to whether it can be called a puzzle.

"What you seem to imply is that to be a puzzle it has to be difficult for you."

--Nope, you're not comprehending what I've written.

"As far as the 'forcing' element being required in a puzzle, my answer to that as far as this puzzle is concerned is that the forcing move in this situation also happens to be the move that checkmates. "

Not just a "forcing element" to a move but a forcing nature to the line of moves that results in the proposed solution.

Hey hey hey, careful who you're dissing there, goldster! This lady's, like, run a chess club and hobnobbed with the US Champion before now! And, incidentally, apparently plays the game to a standard that would disgrace a gradeschooler, but that's not the point. There is a point, I'm sure, but I'm unsure what it is. Maybe I should stop now.

Thanks, Gil-Gandel. (: 

Goldendog:  Many puzzles in the Tactics Trainer (even with a rating 1900+) involve a one-move solution.  So there goes your idea that a puzzle must contain a series of moves.

The OP wasn't a puzzle, merely a bad move by White.

Puzzles assume best play, which the OP clearly didn't describe.

That is incorrect, puzzles do not imply best play, although many puzzle doers think they should.  Many puzzles (in fact most of the puzzles in Tactics Trainer here) involve incorrect play on the part of the opponent.  Go ask Retguvvie (sp?) who is a diligent creator and monitor of the puzzles there. 

You're right that one move does not constitute a series. For all one move puzzles replace series with single .

OP's in question isn't a single forced move, though, is it?

What is "OP"?

+1

Best play, and within any specially stated constraints.

All I can say is that in the Tactics Trainer, they do not by any means ALWAYS assume best play on the part of the opponent.  (See my previous comment.)  The job of the puzzle doer is to know how to respond to WHATEVER move the opponent makes.  I would guess, though, that these interactive puzzles differ in that regard from the puzzles we see in chess books and magazine, etc., which would likely have the best move of the opponent.

Original Post. Also Original Poster - and I see that ours has had tons to say for himself in a scant two months since signing up...

Don't be silly.

In tactics trainer, the error has occured before the puzzle starts. After that, best play, by both sides, is assumed.

Please, don't try to teach grandpa how to suck eggs.

You are incorrect, grandpa!  Many TT puzzles start with a bad move on the part of the opponent!  The bad move is then part of the puzzle.

Once more, incorrect.

The piece moves then the puzzle starts (and the timer). Every move after assumes best play.

If you don't get that simple explanation, then there is little hope for you to understand anything more complex.

I'm done here, have a nice delusion.

Well, to set the record straight, move #1 of the puzzle, whether or not the clock is going, is part of the puzzle.  But in addition, in Tactics Trainer there have been inaccurate moves (wrong moves) on the part of the opponent within a puzzle, after the clock starts.  Still, the job of the puzzle doer is always to find the best move in response, not to bewail the quality of the move of the opponent, as the monitors always tell the complainers.

In this "puzzle" in question, the position is unusual for a chess puzzle because it is at the very beginning of the opening.

lol @ "opening trap"

Fool's Mate teaches you nothing beyond what Fool's Mate is.  This topic is a complete waste of space.

Honestly, you can argue about the specifics of puzzles all you want, but obviously there is a great deal of flexibility involved in assessing the merits of any composition.  Meeting certain criteria does not necessarily make a puzzle helpful.

Perhaps not to you, but that doesn't mean it would not be helpful to someone who never heard of a Fool's Mate. The forums on the home page, are not ONLY for medium to high-rated players.  It is also for those just learning the game! 

But see, having one random topic amidst a sea of other topics negates your whole point there.  Sure, it would be helpful if it was arranged alongside a greater collection of need-to-know basics, but it's not, it's randomly in the middle of a much wider variety.

And frankly, it gets posted all the time.  Really there ought to be a beginner's group for this lark, since clogging up the forums with a bajillion beginner-specific topics isn't really helping anyone, save for the gods of clutter.

Don't call it a puzzle, then. Call it what it is - "The Quickest Way To Lose" - and there you are, learning objective achieved and we can get on with, y'know, some chess...