The "tactics trainer" is demoralizing :(

Anyone else feel this way? I mean, you lose around 10 points for getting it wrong, and only gain a few if you get it right. I get that the object is to try to get it right, but I feel like every time I DO get it right, it takes around 30-45 seconds so I only gain 3 points, then the next problem makes me lose 10 points.

Anyway, I love chess, and chess.com, but I gues I just needed to vent since no one around me plays or cares or uses the tactics trainer. It's fine if I'm the only one that feels this way lol!

Have a wonderful day, everyone! 

I've gotten just a many puzzles wrong as I have right, so I'm about to be a bit of a hypocrite. When you make your move are you certain you can see the solution right till the end? If you can't see the answer and you're just sort of winging it then there's a good chance your first or second or third move is gonna be wrong. If you take your time on the harder ones until you see the answer all the way through, you may only get +1, but that's way better than -10. You'll see that the +1's add up quick

I guess that makes sense. I just wish it wasn't timed. But I see your point - Sometimes I'm not sure if it's a multi-move puzzle or single-move. I guess the whole point is to sharpen your brain and make you think it through. So you may be on to something; better to slowly get +1s steadily than lose points.

 

I just went from around 900 to 795 in about 30 minutes, which included getting quite a few right lol. I'll slow down and think more

I am near your tt rating op and what I have noticed is the puzzles are much more specific regarding where to place checks, move order, and introducing more disconcerting sacrifices; many of my tt sessions of late have me running into puzzles where I can drop 100 more points at a time- some of the time I make a dumb mistake (like not noticing a pivotal piece in the corner or, for example, one I just tried earlier where I kept trying to move for several minutes only to realize I was supposed to play the other color or my king was in check); other times there is no great combo or move to make and I need to notice my forgotten pawn who might initiate a double attack or something; and lots of the time it's just a new or refinement of an idea that was learned at a lower "level"

After dropping a hundred points or so the new level of tactics begin to take hold and I can occasionally string together several in a row but if I start to chase that next threshold (900 in my case) I get tense and easily choke and make mistakes

Where I notice an improvement is in my games; I still make tons of errors but the rare times I can actually see a tactic through are most satisfying; I do find myself, however, frequently looking for the one hoped for/imaginary piece that will connect that much needed combo like the good ole tactics trainer sets up for us

Make those eyes bleed and see you on the other side

sometime when i take less than 20 seconds, i get 7 points

I stopped using tactics trainer and my rating went up, go figure....it makes no allowances for alternate game winning solutions...just a bunch of mindless hit them with a hammer checkmates.

I like to do these - but I don't like it when they time me. I am AWFUL at speed chess...

I like to study Winning Chess Tactics (by Serawan) and 1001 Brilliant Combinations and Sacrifices (by Fred Reinfeld). It is much more educational for me. I am a SLOW player.

 My advice for beginner/intermediate players, like myself, is to only focus on your success rate and ignore the rating. Take as long as you need to solve each puzzle; just assume you are only ever going to get +1 and don't even try to beat the clock. The important thing is to get really good at solving them, period.

 

For me the biggest benefit of the tactics trainer has not really been tactics per se, but my ability to more effectively analyse positions.  Part of that is because it forces you to visualize moves and consider a lot of variations, but more importantly you know that there is something in the position to be taken advantage of so the time spent on the problem is going to be beneficial, i.e. there is something to be learnt from each example.

 

I've had many tactics problems I've spent 20 minutes or more solving. Like everything else in chess, you can't rush it. Takes a lot of brain calories to see significant improvements.  

 

I like your approach havelock3! I do the exact same thing as well! As long as you have a very good success rate your rating will go up as well even if you get mostly +1s.

I am not sure what the calculation is with it, but it seems it takes into account the number of times you use it. I had a rating of around 1600 and around 2000 tries. I would get 1 point for solving one problem and -15 for miscalculation on one. I just reset it and it pushed the rating much higher, it follows the law of diminishing returns. I think the rating is meaningless and just is just a good way to exercise for playing.

Yes the up 1 then back 10 thing is aggravating, to say the least. 

I don't put a lot of stock in TT ratings.  I've noticed that the puzzles that I get are all rated 70 or so points lower than my rating.  Thus, my rating will decrease more when I miss a problem than it will increase when I correctly solve one.

Also, one thing that has been annoying is the number of puzzles that I attempt that are rated in the mid-1500s and have a pass rate of 15-30%.  That doesn't make sense. 

I've come to the conclusion that the best approach is to just try solving the puzzles and don't worry about my TT rating.  It's really a meaningless number.

-download the ones you got wrong (time consuming, but it did help)

-or skip the ones that got you stumped (downside, you wonder what the solution was)

It's apparent that in Chess, losses decrease one's rating much more than draws, so it is logical for the same to apply to incorrect attempts at solving puzzles. I don't think that "demoralizing" is the most accurate word for the phenomenon unless someone feels demoralized. I've heard high level players speak of controlling one's emotions in order to keep the focus on the present or next Chess task, move or thought at hand. Emotions can distract us from our best moves.

Tactics trainer is designed to strengthen one's tactics. You have to familiarize yourself with the different tactical motifs so that you can figure out which one is used in the puzzle. Just continue solving the puzzles you well soon get them.

I feel the same way: too much of a penalty.  Sometimes I get 10 or more in a row right, then miss two of the next four and my rating is back where it started.  I like the setup at chesstempo.com better, where you lose more like 2-4 points and the problems are more at your level than chess.com where some ridiculously easy 1-point-if-right mate-in-ones are included.  I'm approaching 1500 at chess.com and have floated between 1600-1700 at chesstempo. Additionally, the "Start" button ridiculously turns into the much bigger "Hint" button at the same position.  A number of us with laptops with all-in-one touchpad mouses, where the left or right click is made by depressing the touchpad at upper left or right and they are notorius for clicking when you just want to move the cursor.  Consequently I have lost at least 70 points for Hints even though I never have consciously asked for a hintl  I've designed professional webpages and THAT positioning is NOT professional.

After I get a problem wrong, I rework it until I get it right. On one occasion I was stuck I asked for a hint, not knowing you get penalized for that, too!  So I lost 9 points on the puzzle and 8 more for the hint.  Next I solved a very difficult problem that took several minutes to solve. I got 1 point for that!

This should help: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-qLOQ-OEls4I3rqV_pQje1olPqu1VglD

Just go to Chess Tempo and do a lot of tactics till u get good. But yeah, Chess.com tactics are "speed tactics", so they worry about the time u take. In Chess Tempo u can choose normal tactics or speed tactics. That's why my rating in Chess Tempo is 1600 and here my best was 1060.

It's only demoralizing if you aren't getting better at tactics with practice. You should learn something every time you miss. I don't think any correlation exists between a TT rating and a play rating. If you want to get a high TT rating, my method is to play the first move fast only when I'm sure I have the right answer, otherwise I wait as long as it takes to find the solution, even if it takes 20 minutes. Like people say, a +1 beats a -10.  To get better, take as long as you need until you've solved the problem in your mind without making a move. That's what you need to do during real games, see the continuation before it happens on the board.

I think that the time function is way cool! The algorithm seems to average players time and rate the puzzle accordingly.
By doing so you are served with puzzles that match your level, and that's all that matter because if you play puzzles way above your level, you would never even understand what you did wrong.