Positional Chess Puzzles • page 1/2 • General Chess Discussion • lichess.org

I've done a lot of lichess puzzles in my day and I can testify that they have single handedly improve my tactical knowledge and intuition. I want to know if there are any positional chess puzzles that I can do to improve my positional understanding. I'm looking for some puzzles like lichess's puzzles which have a lot of them and I don't have to worry about running out of puzzles. Are there any places where I can find these positional puzzles?

Walking_Blunder

#2

There is an app called "Chess King".

NM MrPushwood

#3

Many a position is a positional puzzle. :)

MAXIMILIANO_DONOSO

#4

According to my teacher this is an exercise application
It is called: ct art 4.0

According to my teacher this is an exercise application It is called: ct art 4.0

RamblinDave

#5

You might find the Guess the Move games on (sites like) Chess Tempo help? Essentially playing through a master game, trying to spot the best move in every position, so covering all aspects of the game.

The difficulty is that if you get a tactical puzzle wrong then you can generally look at the solution or check with an engine and see what the right move is and why. If it's a positional decision then it's typically a bit more subtle - even if you're told what the right move is it might not actually improve your understanding much. I guess this is where a book is good...

You might find the Guess the Move games on (sites like) Chess Tempo help? Essentially playing through a master game, trying to spot the best move in every position, so covering all aspects of the game. The difficulty is that if you get a tactical puzzle wrong then you can generally look at the solution or check with an engine and see what the right move is and why. If it's a positional decision then it's typically a bit more subtle - even if you're told what the right move is it might not actually improve your understanding much. I guess this is where a book is good...

Dario19503

#6

You can take a look at Aagaard's book on Positional Play, where his exercises focus on creating a plan.

CM Sarg0n

#7

Random puzzling:

Open db, select random game and random move number. Just try! Later compare with the actual move played and the engine suggestion.

Random puzzling: Open db, select random game and random move number. Just try! Later compare with the actual move played and the engine suggestion.

IM jposthuma

#8

I recently picked up a book called "Strategic Chess Exercises" by Emmanuel Bricard. It's full of nearly 100 "puzzles" where you need to find the right plan. A great book for 1600-2200 level players!

NM ZugAddict

#9

Mark Dvoretsky has a book called "Positional Chess" which seems almost deliberately designed to demoralize anyone under, I dunno, 2400.

comfortable

#10

I figure for strategic chess it's good to start with some kind of instruction. It's never perfect , but we have to start somewhere so that we can group the ideas we put into a framework to help us remember them long term.

My favorite pre-strategic puzzles book is "Simple Chess". Lucid explanations throughout. Probably the first book that gave me the real tools to deal with a space advantage or a space deficiency.

depending on your playing strength it's hard to go wrong with a course on pawns. ( though it is possible to wrong with a course on pawns.)
Of the top of my head from easiest to hardest,

There is one pawn power for post beginners

Um Soltis has" pawn structure chess"

And probably the best but most challenging one is of these few is Chess Structures by Rios.

I don't know the best method but I find for guess the move in master games or positional exercises it helps to have a language framework that I understand.

As opposed to tactics puzzles I often get middlegame strategic exercises wrong. With a frame work of 'dark squared strategy" " positional pawn sac to open a line long term" it helps me remember the new to me ideas.

There is a course "Chess strategy for kids, that is too wordy for my liking but it does cover a lot of classic strategic thinking with hundreds of examples.

Very strong and likely geared towards players 1700-2300 is Nunn's understanding middlegames. Though I do think it's better to have a grounding in strategy before taking on this book.

I figure for strategic chess it's good to start with some kind of instruction. It's never perfect , but we have to start somewhere so that we can group the ideas we put into a framework to help us remember them long term. My favorite pre-strategic puzzles book is "Simple Chess". Lucid explanations throughout. Probably the first book that gave me the real tools to deal with a space advantage or a space deficiency. depending on your playing strength it's hard to go wrong with a course on pawns. ( though it is possible to wrong with a course on pawns.) Of the top of my head from easiest to hardest, There is one pawn power for post beginners Um Soltis has" pawn structure chess" And probably the best but most challenging one is of these few is Chess Structures by Rios. I don't know the best method but I find for guess the move in master games or positional exercises it helps to have a language framework that I understand. As opposed to tactics puzzles I often get middlegame strategic exercises wrong. With a frame work of 'dark squared strategy" " positional pawn sac to open a line long term" it helps me remember the new to me ideas. There is a course "Chess strategy for kids, that is too wordy for my liking but it does cover a lot of classic strategic thinking with hundreds of examples. Very strong and likely geared towards players 1700-2300 is Nunn's understanding middlegames. Though I do think it's better to have a grounding in strategy before taking on this book.