I would think that they help people get better at chess. I have experienced a rating increase after doing lots of puzzles.
Do puzzles really help me get better at chess?
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May 24, 2025
0
#3
Try doing puzzles from puzzle book or pick up a tactic book or two. Puzzles help train random tactics but sometimes it’s good to just study the tactics more deeply
May 24, 2025
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#4
but overall, yes. Try to keep up an hour of puzzles a day if you want to improve, although you should try to get the puzzles from puzzle books more and less from chess.com
No
edited moderator AndrewSmith
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ChanMan4 wrote:
I've done thousands of puzzles on this account, with a rating of 2550. But I'm confused on whether they actually help. Why? Well, when I do puzzles, its a lot easier to spot sacrifices and stuff like that, because you know there is a solution. But in real games, its different. I also only have a 52% pass rate, so that may also be a reason. If puzzles aren't a good way to make me improve fast, what else should I do? I feel like my skill isn't improving
No, puzzles only play chess. @Puzzles
May 27, 2025
0
#12
With 52% success rate I am almost sure how you do it - guessing? You should try to calculate puzzle up to the end.
May 27, 2025
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#13
i am trying i probably just suck, but I did 14 puzzles and did 10 correctly like the other day
I would say that they help me discover different types of checkmates that I wouldn’t have necessarily discovered whilst playing a game and they teach me positional tactics
ChanMan4 wrote:
i am trying i probably just suck, but I did 14 puzzles and did 10 correctly like the other day
look at the article I sent it may be helpful
May 27, 2025
0
#16
They're a good warm up and way to kill time. But as a tool for improving they're overrated as you know there's always going to be a winning move which is a luxury you don't have in a real game.
Not only that, but tactical vision and instinct is something you either have or you don't.
May 27, 2025
0
#17
I almost entirely stopped doing puzzles because I wasn’t getting anywhere.
Playing Coach and tons of bots over several months did actually improve my playing significantly. Since I’m a better player, I thought maybe I’d be better at puzzles, too.
Nope!
May 27, 2025
0
#18
Hey @ChanMan4 👋
Get where you’re coming from — I’m big into solving puzzles too (to the point I hardly play regular games anymore 😄). But from my experience, puzzles help your chess, just not always in the super obvious ways.
You're right that puzzles are a bit "artificial" — you know there’s a tactic coming, and you’re trained to find it. Real games are messier. But here’s what puzzles do build:
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Pattern recognition – so when tactics do show up in your games, you’ll spot them faster.
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Calculation skills – learning to visualise 2, 3, 4 moves ahead is gold in practical play.
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Confidence under pressure, especially with timed puzzle formats like Puzzle Rush or Survival.
That 52% pass rate is pretty normal — puzzles get harder the more you improve. Don’t be discouraged!
If you want to improve your real-game performance too, you could try:
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Playing some longer, rapid/classical games to apply your puzzle instincts.
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Analysing your games afterwards, you’ll start seeing “I missed that tactic I would have found in a puzzle” moments.
You’ve already put in a ton of work — trust that it is making a difference behind the scenes. Keep going, you're doing great 💪
— @JosephReidNZ ♟️
May 28, 2025
0
#19
JosephReidNZ wrote:
Hey @ChanMan4 👋
Get where you’re coming from — I’m big into solving puzzles too (to the point I hardly play regular games anymore 😄). But from my experience, puzzles help your chess, just not always in the super obvious ways.
You're right that puzzles are a bit "artificial" — you know there’s a tactic coming, and you’re trained to find it. Real games are messier. But here’s what puzzles do build:
-
Pattern recognition – so when tactics do show up in your games, you’ll spot them faster.
-
Calculation skills – learning to visualise 2, 3, 4 moves ahead is gold in practical play.
-
Confidence under pressure, especially with timed puzzle formats like Puzzle Rush or Survival.
That 52% pass rate is pretty normal — puzzles get harder the more you improve. Don’t be discouraged!
If you want to improve your real-game performance too, you could try:
-
Playing some longer, rapid/classical games to apply your puzzle instincts.
-
Analysing your games afterwards, you’ll start seeing “I missed that tactic I would have found in a puzzle” moments.
You’ve already put in a ton of work — trust that it is making a difference behind the scenes. Keep going, you're doing great 💪
— @JosephReidNZ ♟️
thanks for the response! don't u have the highest puzzle rush score on the entire site?
I've done thousands of puzzles on this account, with a rating of 2550. But I'm confused on whether they actually help. Why? Well, when I do puzzles, its a lot easier to spot sacrifices and stuff like that, because you know there is a solution. But in real games, its different. I also only have a 52% pass rate, so that may also be a reason. If puzzles aren't a good way to make me improve fast, what else should I do? I feel like my skill isn't improving