mate with king and rook

not very good because some of black's moves were very strange

The puzzle was not that bad from what I could tell.

Ilogical moves...

It's not a puzzle because there's no single solution.  There are a number of ways to mate a lone King with King/Rook...

very straight forward (few moves i just pressed help on due to, too many right answers)

always good to practice the basics.

I find it better to practice things like this over your own board, since there is such a variety of moves to be done.  With greater practice you handle it more quickly.

The author's moves (for White, the ones the player picks) were very logical--I picked the same ones. More interesting to me is what variations work and why?

Move 7+: Only the puzzle moves work.

Move 6: 6.Rg7 & 6.Re7 force 6...Kc8 and win the same way. Less obviously, 6.Kd6 also forces 6...Kc8 because if 6...Ke8? 7.Rf1 Kd8 8.Rf8#.

Move 3-5: Only the puzzle moves work.

Move 2: 2.Re3 Kc6 3.Re6+ also wins.

Move 1:  1.Ke4 also wins. Surprisingly, even 1.Re3+ also mates in 12, despite seeming to initially lose ground after 1...Kd5.

I agree it would be better to present this position in another format since equally winning variations are treated as wrong, and the variations are not included in the puzzle notes. But thanks for sharing... mastering the basics is very important!  :)

There is no question that these elementary mates must be mastered, and as early as possible in one's chess training. I have seen (while lurking in Live Chess) a good many cases of otherwise moderately rated people--even up to 1500-1600 in some cases, and with plenty of time on the clock--flounder and then time out while attempting a K+R mate. My suggestion: if you can't do this mate in your sleep, stop all other chess activity and set up the position in some chess-playing computer program--and drill it. Over and over and over again.

I was maybe 11 when I realized I couldn't do this mate without a lot of thought. So I sat myself down one afternoon and worked it out. Interestingly enough, the method I worked out in my room that day is not the one that seems to be taught in the books. So although likesforests says that, for moves 3-5 in the above puzzle "Only the puzzle moves work," I have a different view. This is what I'm teaching to my children (somewhat longer and more laborious though it is), and I call it "Shrink the box." Works just fine.

I use the shrink the box method as well, only I've always thought of it as fencing him in.

 Edit: I think it's 6 moves for white, like this...

[see move list for variation (white mates in 5 if the black king moves the other way...)]

the_big_J_77, it's possible--and I'm certain of this--to win in three moves. You will learn something useful if you spend some time working out the moves on your own. Hint: Look for forcing moves. I won't be the spoil-sport who gives away the answer. :)

 Ok - I'll keep looking. Thanks for the tip.

Re5 Kc8

Rb5 Kd8

Rb8#

nice to watch!