Playing chess requires regular practice and training so that your mind remains alert and active always. So, you can think about solving chess puzzles no matter if you are a beginner or a dedicated player. But, you may ask now how many chess puzzles should you solve to keep yourself active and alert.
In general, you should solve 20-30 puzzles a day. If you are a beginner in chess it is ideal to solve 10-15 puzzles a day. Solving chess puzzles will help to increase the calculation skills and helps to improve tactical skills.
So, you can play the right amount of puzzles depending on your situation. This will keep gaining knowledge on how to decide on the right move and right position. In this article, you can get an idea about how many puzzles you can solve depending on the level of playing.
I have made three categories of players depending on the level of playing, beginner, players with time constraints, and dedicated players. I have also recommended the number of puzzles that each player should solve regularly to become a pro-chess player.
Chess puzzles for beginner players
If you want to learn to play chess and solve chess puzzles as a beginner then I will recommend you to solve 10-15 puzzles regularly, which is an ideal number for a beginner player. This will help you learn how to solve puzzles and will also not take a lot of time of yours. You can dedicate 1 hour to solving 10-15 puzzles a day as a beginner. However, this number can be increased if you are good at solving puzzles. But initially, you should solve fewer puzzles and increase your level gradually. This will not let you get irritated or overburdened while solving puzzles.
Gradually, you can increase the number to improve your tactical and thinking skills. As a beginner, it might be a huge task for some people. But, believe me, you can solve one puzzle in 3 minutes even if you are a beginner player.
Online puzzle websites offer you different types of games. These games are improved and way better than those puzzles that you find in newspapers in old days. Newspaper games usually take a long time to get solved, which is completely different from online puzzle games. You can easily solve 10-15 puzzles a day within 1 hour. This will never stress your brain and never let you get irritated while solving puzzles on online websites. As a beginner, you can improve your tactical skills and learn how to decide on positions and moves with 1 hour of practice every day. If you have just started learning how to play chess then you are not recommended to practice for 1 hour. You can reduce the numbers as per your convenience.
However, if you know the chess rules and how to play chess but are not experienced enough to play a big-level game then you can solve 15 puzzles a day with 1 hour of practice. If you are such a type of player then you come under this category where you are advised 1-hour play session.
Chess puzzles for Players with time constraints
If you are a serious player and want to increase your level of playing 20 puzzles can be an ideal number. However, if you want to learn tactics and moves but you have time constraints then I will recommend you to solve at least 10 puzzles initially. This will keep you motivated and interested in a chess game. Additionally, you will not become lazy if you practice every day for 1 to 1 ½ hr. keeping in touch with solving puzzles online will also keep your brain sharp and smart. So, if you have taken a break from chess or taken a leave then you will not become idle with even solving 10 puzzles a day.
This number can be effective and time-consuming at the same time. So, you will not feel like wasting time playing or solving puzzle games. At the same time, you will keep yourself active and aware of the new moves and tactics in chess games.
You can also gradually become fast in solving puzzles after some time and start solving more than 10 puzzles within your available time. With regular practice, you can gradually improve your speed and level of solving puzzles.
If you are trying your hand at puzzle-solving for the first time then also 10 puzzles can be a good number. You can take your time to solve each problem to learn the basics of a puzzle game.
Chess puzzles for Advanced players
If you have become a high-level player and want to improve your speed and game then you can increase the number of puzzles that you want to solve a day. If you think you lack tactical skills then you can improve them by solving more and more problems daily. It is ideal to solve 20-30 complex puzzles every day so that you can learn new ideas and plans to solve critical positions. If you think you want to solve more problems then I will recommend you to increase this number.
There are lots of players who solve hundreds and thousands of puzzles a day on online platforms. While solving chess puzzles it is very much important to solve them correctly. Advanced chess players usually try to solve complex chess puzzles which usually require relatively good time and calculation.
Solving more than 30 puzzles can make you efficient in a chess game. People who are comfortable with this range can go with it without any second thoughts.
Advantages of solving chess puzzles daily
Here are the main advantages of solving chess puzzles:
- Helps to start spotting the tactics faster than ever
- Make you more imaginative
- Improves calculation skills.
- Your mind becomes sharp
- Puzzles make you learn new patterns.
- You can easily recognize the patterns.
- You start visualizing things in a better manner
- You become intuitive
- It will make you learn positional play.
- Enhance your knowledge.
➥ Helps to start spotting the tactics faster than ever
If you solve puzzles regularly then you can start spotting them easily. You will start identifying the possible targets as soon as you come across a puzzle. You can also spot ways you can make them convenient for you. Additionally, you can spot different motifs like double attacks, pins, overload, etc. in a very short time.
➥ Make you more imaginative
You will become more imaginative in building the puzzles if you solve chess puzzles regularly. You can find hidden tactical ideas in a few positions, which will help develop your imagination. Moreover, you can think about deep tactical ideas by setting clever traps with regular practice.
➥ Improves calculation skills.
You also become calculative by solving tactics daily. A player can become familiar with finding the active moves and searching for the best possible ways to defend the opponent.
➥ Your mind becomes sharp
Solving puzzles can keep your brain alert. If you are a chess player and you have taken leave then you might face difficulty playing chess when you make a comeback. So, in such cases, you can solve puzzles to keep your brain sharp and alert so that you will not face difficulty in deciding your moves when you start playing chess after a break.
➥ Puzzles make you learn new patterns.
If you solve different puzzles then you can get new ideas, new patterns, or new plans that you haven’t seen before. You can get familiar with a few new moves and ideas if you solve puzzles regularly. Moreover, you can incorporate these tricks into your chess game if you practice solving puzzles daily or regularly.
➥ You can easily recognize the patterns.
Your mind can recognize the patterns easily if you solve puzzles. In a very short time, you can start understanding patterns and solve them easily if you solve puzzles regularly.
➥ You start visualizing things in a better manner
But, you will have problems in visualizing lines. With more practice and training, you can visualize the lines and patterns easily. So, keep practising daily to become a successful player.
➥ You become intuitive
If you want to become a successful chess player then you have to be intuitive. As a player, you have to develop feelings for certain moves or positions to gain benefits. This will help you decide on how to make a few sacrifices so that they can give you long-term benefits. So, if you solve puzzles regularly, you can become intuitive about certain moves or positions, which will help you assess the situation better.
➥ It will make you learn positional play.
Positional puzzles are equally beneficial as tactical puzzles. So, you can include positional puzzles in your training so that you can make the right decisions on how to select the positions. So, by solving puzzles you can learn the positional play so that you can make the right moves and choose the right positions.
➥ Enhance your knowledge.
Solving puzzles can enhance your knowledge of learning different types of structures. It will also help you identify the merits and demerits of a certain position.
Conclusion
If you are a fun-loving person then solving more chess puzzles will not be a huge task for you. However, if you are a beginner and want to learn tactics and skills then you should not start with great numbers. Always try to solve less number of puzzles, which will not irritate you in the process. If you choose to solve more than your capacity then you might get bored and lack interest in the game. So, start with less and gradually increase the numbers if you want to learn chess skills from puzzle-solving games.
Related Questions
Can tactics improve your playing skills?
Tactics improve your chess-playing skills by helping you win material, gain space, or achieve an advantageous position. Moreover, you can also avoid losing material or ending up in a bad position with it.
Do Grandmasters solve chess puzzles?
Grandmasters also solve puzzles. However, they do not solve all puzzles. Typically, they like to solve puzzles that are familiar to positions they might encounter in a game, which enhances their chess playing quality and makes their mind sharp.
How long should someone spend on a single chess puzzle?
One should spend approximately one minute on a single chess puzzle, which is more than enough for a chess player to get a solution. However, beginners might take more than a minute to solve the puzzle. So, if you are a beginner then you should practice more to enhance your playing skills.
