Tactics puzzle rating system is ridiculous

Hey @Terrencef, totally get where you're coming from — it can feel punishing when you solve multiple long, tricky puzzles correctly and only gain a handful of points, then lose it all on one slip.

As @Martin_Stahl mentioned, the system takes into account a mix of factors:

The puzzle’s ratingYour ratingAnd how long take you to solve it

So if a puzzle is rated lower than your puzzle rating or if you take too long, the reward will be small. And yeah, if you get one wrong — especially a puzzle rated close to or below your level — the penalty can be sharp.

Also, check your Difficulty setting in the puzzle settings. By default, it’s set to Standard, which usually gives easier puzzles and smaller point swings. Try switching it to Hard or Extra Hard — that’ll give you puzzles with higher ratings and usually higher point rewards for solving them correctly.

Hopefully, with the harder setting, you’ll feel like the effort is better rewarded. You're not the only one feeling this way, and I think feedback like yours helps keep the conversation going about how it could be better balanced.

@JosephReidNZ ♟️

Change your puzzle Difficulty setting, on the website, to Hard or Extra Hard

Thanks Martin,

I've looked through all the settings I can find and can't locate the difficulty setting.

The only settings I can find are:

- Collect Puzzle Points,

- Always Show Rating,

- Show Timer.

Could you point me in the right direction please? 😊

It's on the website only at this point.

Settings > Gameplay > Puzzles > Difficulty

Thank you! 😊👍🏻

Hopefully it makes a difference...

Ok after several more sessions I'm sad to report that nothing has changed for me.

My current puzzle rating 2068 and I've tried all three levels of difficulty as suggested - but EVERY puzzle scores 5 points for any kind of correct attempt, whether I get it in one to two seconds or thirty to forty seconds.

In other words it's always 5 points for a correct answer and that hasn't been the case over the last twelve months - the points awarded for solving a puzzle was almost always variable.

However, EVERY wrong attempt is deducting different amounts between 18 and 26 points (for me) which is not only ridiculous - it's making me want to stop playing.

I don't expect chess puzzles to be easy - on the contrary I enjoy the wide variety - but to lose the same number of points for a single wrong answer that is awarded for five correct answers on the trot just doesn't make sense on any level, and it has certainly sucked the joy out of striving for improvement.

All I can say now is that after playing for a couple of hours every day for the last year or so, I'm finding it harder to put in the time when the reward/cost ratio no longer makes sense to me so it's time for me to take a break and find a different way of exercising my old brain...

Thanks to everyone here who has tried to help... 😊👍🏻

I'm getting some higher values on Hard. Haven't switched to Extra Hard yet.