The idea is you should gain points for the patterns you know, and not lose too many for the ones you have to work out. Over time you build up pattern recognition and answers become obvious.
If you have to work it out more than just checking then you don't know the features of the position well enough.
Focus on the tactics, the scores will come.
You may want to learn the basic patterns from a book first.
For example this one :
http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Tactics-revised-Everyman/dp/1857443861/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378750781&sr=1-2&keywords=seirawan
You may want to learn the basic patterns from a book first.
For example this one :
http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Tactics-revised-Everyman/dp/1857443861/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378750781&sr=1-2&keywords=seirawan
thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out
I like the chesstempo tactics trainer better. At chesstempo you can set it up so that you are not timed and so you can take your time in studying the puzzle. It is a good idea to try to figure out what each piece is doing on the board, which pieces are loose and what would happen if you check the king or sacrifice each piece. Don't worry about trying to learn the pattern since that will happen automatically over time.
I know all about that one, TT has had me swearing a lot in the past, but I was advised to do 25 puzzles a day. I started doing that and found that I end up doing way more than that. So every time I beat my highest, I end up falling back down again. I agree with the othe post that you start to recognise different things. I've found that to be the case, things I've learnt from it that I now know to do the next time it comes up on there. I've also found that it has improved my general game a bit already. I seem to be a little bit sharper and on the ball. I also don't swear as much now 
I understand this all too well. I can't seem to hit 1400. Last week I got up to 1398, and then I got one wrong, and another, and another, etc. And then I became obsessed with getting my rating back up to 1300. I was like the wife in that Albert Brooks movie Lost in America where she couldn't stop playing roulette. The upside, though, is my pattern recognition skills are finally improving. The downside is loss of sleep. 
Hang in there. You have to do lots of these to get better. My advice: don’t just move onto the next one if you get it wrong. If you’re on the pc, go to the analysis board and take a screenshot of the starting position with the answer in the txt. You got it wrong, so you should focus on the pattern and try and internalise it so that when it comes round again, you solve it automatically. I rehearse the ones I got wrong before I start a new session. A sort of pre tactics trainer preparation. That’s my 2 cents anyway. Hope this helps.
WizardEsk; not THAT's funny. " TT had me swearing a lot ". hahahaa WHAT!, the members don't do that enough to ya???
I switched it to unrated and I get a lot less frustrated. Now I hit the tactics trainer during the commercials when watching TV.
No time constraint means I can relax and not worry about my score. If I miss some, then perhaps I'll know them next time around....
RonaldJosephCote wrote:
WizardEsk; not THAT's funny. " TT had me swearing a lot ". hahahaa WHAT!, the members don't do that enough to ya???
Haha! Sometimes...
Not to say your statement sounds naive, but it would be very idealistic to believe it was a thinking man's game instead of more of a memory game. That would be great if it was the thinking that was more heavily rewarded. However, I have a sneaking suspicion (as I'd wager you do too) it could be more of the latter. 
Then again, you have a few decades and several hundred rating points on me, so maybe it's time I start thinking.
You sound really cool chess gg.
Oh, was being somewhat facetious with the memorization thing earlier. I guess what I was getting at, is that when I started learning the game a couple of years ago, I had this notion that great chess proficiency was equal to great intelligence since it was a "thinking" game as you say. Then, to my surprise, I noticed some players with below average intelligence who had just amassed a big collection of patterns play really strong chess while some people who were otherwise considered very intelligent (top 2% percentile on standardized intelligence tests, etc.) would struggle to survive past the opening.
It is in that light, that I think tactics trainer and memorizing patterns can prove to be really helpful.
However, I am in full agreement with you that chess does require critical thinking skills and is very much a "thinking" man's game.
Also, it would be very easy to dismiss quick play as not "thinking", but I think that would be a mistake. It only takes watching World Champion Carlsen spot his opponent several minutes on the clock while he himself has less than a minute before demonstrating a very high level of critical thinking...just at faster speeds.
Chesstempo is definitely the place for tactics, whatever flavour, and Richard is a super nice guy, he even phased ads out for everyone, premium member or not. Here is OK for a bit of fun, but its blitz, so your relying on intuition as much as analysing.
I get far more from being certain of the whole line before moving. That means looking at the whole board, potential threats to my King, hanging pieces, is castling possible, back rank threats, chances of draw by repetition, checks etc etc, all of that can take as much as a minute in some positions, and then when you've worked it out, double check, I've spent 30mins on some puzzles (& still got them wrong). Improving visualization as well as pattern recognition, that’s what I try to get from tactics.
Endgame tactics too are really beneficial, learning those little King triangles and how to shepherd that lone pawn home, lots of stuff like that, you rarely get to practice it in open play.
Chess gg wrote: "I see absolutely no purpose for publicizing anyone's training. In fact, I think doing so is STUPID."
I wholeheartedly agree. That should be private information for personal use by the player. Personally, I don't care about the numbers. Either my player rating or TT rating. I'm just looking to improve my game and have fun. That someone would cheat while doing an exercise designed to improve one's game is mind blowing to me.... If, as you say, the info was private, there would be ZERO reason to cheat. Not that I can fathom why anyone cares about a number so much they would anyways lol Peace
They would still cheat anyway. I've known people cheat in unrated training games.
As for TT here I am just about phasing it out in favour of books and a board as the blitzy nature of it can be somewhat counter productive.
sometimes, there's a forced checkmate with a rook and another with a queen in the same puzzle. so there's two variations. try with the rook, says i'm wrong. chess.com should really include these variations in the TT.
Oh, the indignant-ass gambit.
LMAO. I really did laugh out loud.
If you want to improve yourself in tactics play actual games (no faster than 15/10), or even against an engine set slightly higher than your level, refrain from playing a limited repertoire of openings especially the slow buildup ones, and particularly stay away from memorising the opening's "correct" sequence(s). Study of openings should come much later as you improve your game.
Take a look at the article "The sailor who beat Bobby Fisher"
http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-sailor-who-beat-bobby-fischer
Puzzles should help your tactics a lot as well. Do lots of them, and take your time. When you feel confident enough you can start pushing yourself to make an "intuitive" decision in 20 secs or less. Soon enough you'll be able to prioritise properly the sequences that you first need to calculate, so that you spend less time on "dead end" sequences, and eventually start to recognise patterns.
Books are great, but remember, there's no substitute for experience. And this takes time. If rated tactics demotivate you, stay away from them until you are ready!
Ok - new player yes I suck at tactics but I'am getting better.
I've been dancing around the 1000 - 1100 mark and everytime I hit 1100 I seem to get unlucky with a sequence of abstract puzzles. I managed to hit 1100 again today and the first puzzle after I wanted to not blunder so I took my time and got it correct first time and got -4.
Boom back under 1100. Feeling pretty demotivated right now.