completely psyched out by tactics trainer

i think the tactics trainer is doing more harm than good

i recently slowed down my time on tactics trainer to work on a tactics book (1001 chess exercises for beginners) and i feel this book has really helped my tactical awareness in live games

however, my problems happen when i try the tactics trainer to see if i have gotten better and i find myself totally struggling; many problems dont really seem like “tactics problems” at all

i really try to apply im pruess’s strategy when solving the problems- ie quickly enough to rely on pattern recognition rather than spending 15 minutes on a problem- maybe getting an answer correct but not reinforcing patterns

my problem- 1400-1700 tactics trainer is maybe 1/3 are patterns and so many problems dont really feel like tactics

the problems snowball and i feel like many problems are a “lol- you thought this was a decoy sacrifice?...” “no way, my friend, this problem was specifically selected to trap those who thought it was a decoy sav but it is really move your king to safety...”

my issue is the mixed messaging from the problems themselves; by trying to be so effective and “like a real game” the trainer spreads itself so thin that i dont feel like i am training tactics

this is probably just a venting thread but i really find myself saying “wtf” more often than not

Forget about labels/types of tactics, and focus on the position.

How much time have you given yourself studying: "1001 chess exercises for beginners" before coming back to tactics trainer?

What do you mean by "studying"?  I ask this because some people definition of "studying" is different from others.  One person thinks studying a chess book means flying through it as fast as possible, while someone else will take months to study a book.

Are you looking at all Forcing Moves: Checks, Captures, Threats?  And i mean ALL.

 

 Take your last tactics puzzle.  Always start with Forcing Moves, and be sure to look at ALL Forcing Moves, no matter how bad they are or look.  It will force you to "see" the entire board.

 

i have been working on the book for 3 months now

i am roughly 2/3rd’s through it and am constantly queued to retrain the problems so i am still actively training on it

Good to hear.  Just as in chess, you need to take your time. 

Make sure you always look for Forcing Moves first, and calculate all lines out as far as you can.   Sorry to harp on this, but it is that important.

I noticed the same thing about the chess.com tactics trainer.  That is why I do not do my tactics here.  I know people that still think chess.com tactics are better.  To each there own I suppose.  I can't tell you the name of the tactics trainer I use, because chess.com will delete it.  Just shop around.  See what other people think about different tactics trainers and try them all out.

The best advice i got for learning tactics was reading the introduction to "the woodpecker method" book. The author laid out a study plan where you select a fixed amount of puzzles, complete them thoroughly and then do them again, and then again with an increased speed each time, until you have more or less memorized them. This is how the patterns will stick. 

I can recommend doing the "champion tactics with GM wolff" series a few times instead of the tactics trainer:

https://www.chess.com/mentor/courses/tactics

lol- i remember this thread

fwiw i train my tactics from a few books on chessable and a couple of print books

i might do a couple of tactics on the puzzles here but more as a kind of test than “train”

i have considered trying the woodpecker method for one of my tactics “books” i recently started