Safety Puzzles

We all love doing puzzles, don't we? The thrill of "White to play and win", looking for something we know is possible in the set position - it sharpens up our mating skills, or we get to win material, or promote a pawn in an endgame. You feel great when you solve them!

But in real life, in real play, we need to get into those good positions in the first place before we can put our puzzle-solving experience to use. And that's hard, because to get there, we've got to avoid making bad moves in "normal" play. I've played many, many games that end with me saying to myself, "Oh no, I missed that!" and resigning immediately. You've been there too, right? Of course you have!

Vastly more games are lost through silly mistakes than are won through flashy combinations. So how about having more puzzles where the basic theme is safety? A normal-looking position, where you might not have a tactical shot yourself, but it's the *opponent* who has a potential winner or positional threat that you have to spot, and thwart with your next move, or a tightrope endgame where only one correct move will keep your chances alive.

Be safe first, and then you can be brilliant. Solve for safety!

What do you think? Leave a comment or share your experiences!

Mickdonedee's topic Blunder Watch answers to some degree to your safety issue.  Invite your opponent to make an unsafe play and then punish it!