Puzzle tilt

Is puzzle tilt even a thing? My puzzle rating has consistently been at 2400 for the last couple of months until two weeks ago when my puzzle solving accuracy started plummeting. As far as I know, I haven't been doing anything different in the past two weeks, apart from drinking a lot of energy drinks, but I doubt that's the reason. I don't really care about my puzzle rating, but it just annoys me how bad I've gotten at solving them. Maybe I've just gotten dumber... lol.

Of course puzzle tilt is a thing!!! It's even more a thing than bullet tilt! Nothing gets me more tilted than solving puzzles! The mechanisms are punishing you so hard that you lose much more points than you gain by solving something. That is why I stopped going for a high puzzle rating. I had 2400 myself too, but 2200 is much more chilly and relaxing <3 :D

Currently I have 2246 and sometimes I lose rating, sometimes I gain it. I am writing an article about puzzles right now, will publish it today. My approach is to rather go for the hardest puzzles and only solve them instead of playing them as a game of chess. Maybe you will find it interesting.

ofc caffeine can make you a nervous wreck.

not all people tolerate it in the first place.

theres receptors for it which would normally be used by normal stuff in your sytem like dopamin/adrenalin (just to name something, i dont know exactly where it binds). those being occupied will decrease normal levels of production for such substances, so longterm you might lack focus, feel sleepy, etc.
caffeine is worst in the morning, dont drink it before breakfast (this will screw with your melatonin levels/sleep rhythm). wait like 3 hours after your awake before you take caffeine, so normal production of melatonin did set in and you get a normal day/night rhythm. and drink coffee, not expensive sugarwater with too high levels of caffeine and sugar (never drink sugar in drinks except small amounts of juice in at least 9 parts water in summer after exercising - no sugar in coffee either - use stevia if really need be, but dont overdo it, sweeteners can like sugar also mess with your brain and digestion - they might even make you eat too much if the sweet taste doesnt get followed up by increased energy levels).

@TeenageDimwit said in #1:

Is puzzle tilt even a thing? My puzzle rating has consistently been at 2400 for the last couple of months until two weeks ago when my puzzle solving accuracy started plummeting. As far as I know, I haven't been doing anything different in the past two weeks, apart from drinking a lot of energy drinks, but I doubt that's the reason. I don't really care about my puzzle rating, but it just annoys me how bad I've gotten at solving them. Maybe I've just gotten dumber... lol.

You do realize that with so many puzzles around, with small difference, and sometimes important details, you can be "lucky" or "unlucky" on some days ?

A few years ago a well known GM used to stream with puzzle solving on Lichess (I will not mention the name of the GM, but it is a GM I like for his chess games). He would sometimes shout "Gimme the points!" (rating points) and he would go TILT sometimes after doing too many puzzles, wanting to score, and not stopping. That was a good example about how not to solve puzzles.

If you really want to improve with puzzles and also be more relaxed about it :

• Consider using chesstempo site for puzzles, besides Lichess.
• Use the Replay option for puzzles on Lichess
• Use ZEN mode when solving puzzles, focus on the chess, not the "dead" numbers
• Figure out your strengths and weaknesses with puzzles. Then work on the weaknesses, and profit from your strenghts in your chess games.
• Consider doing the Woodpecker method to up your puzzle solving skills.
• Consider also solving puzzles on blitztactics site, just for speed, results (not rating) and fun. (See my blog post with the title "Beat me in chess !"
• Consider doing Puzzle streak on Lichess daily, just as concentration and patience exercises (but not rating).
• Share nice puzzles that you liked when you come across them.

Please note that on Lichess both correspondence chess ratings and puzzle ratings do not go into the statistics of Leaderboard for "obvious" reasons, so perhaps that is one more reason to not care so much about puzzle rating.

I'd say care about your real chess progress as in skills and understanding, and care about your passion for the game of chess and enjoying beautiful or fun puzzles you come across. --- The world needs more happy passionate chess players !!! :)

GL & HF !

p.s.

• Avoid any added sugar in products, it is very bad for health in the long run.
• Cut down on coffee and other caffeine intensive drinks. Try green tea. At least 3 cups of green tea per day is recommended in several books (Including in a book by a world famous oncologist).
• Avoid energy drinks, it is bad fashion among people nowadays. Work on your own energy, go for balance of body and mind in healthy ways. And take rest when you need it. Respect your body and listen to it carefully.

@achja said in #4:

He would sometimes shout "Gimme the points!" (rating points)

Sounds a lot like the german GM Jan Gustafsson :3

@cheerupchess-Youtube Haha, glad I’m not alone. I will make sure to check out your blog :)

@Rookitiki I agree with what you are saying but I really don’t think Caffeine is the problem here cause I drink quite a lot of coffee regularly and have kind of developed caffeine tolerance. Apart from my ability to solve puzzles, I haven't noticed any changes in my chess, and I doubt that neural transmission affects such specific cognitive skills.

Actually, now that I’ve written that out I feel like my argument isn’t that convincing. Maybe I should cut down my caffeine intake...

@Achja Thank you for your post.

You can be “lucky” or “unlucky” on some days?

Speaking of luck, I do think the healthy mix system is skewed against me lately. It seems to always select puzzles I’m bad at e.g rook/pawn endgames. I was looking at my puzzle history the other day, and 20 out of 30 puzzles I had on that day were endgame ones! I guess this is good for my chess in the long run as I get to practice areas I’m bad at lol.

Consider using chesstempo site for puzzles, besides lichess

I’ve heard a lot of good things about it and will check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

Use Zen mode when solving puzzles, focus on the chess, not the “dead” numbers.

I don’t like Zen mode. It doesn’t make me feel zen. I like to know the difficulty of the tactics I’m doing and see my progression so the numbers are useful to have.

Consider doing the woodpecker method

Are you talking about Axel Smith’s book? If so how did you find some of the intermediate/hard puzzles in there? I’ve heard from a couple of people that a lot of the puzzles in there are IM/GM level and are not worth doing.

Consider also solving puzzles on blitztactics site

Alright, I will try doing puzzles on that site :)

Both correspondence chess ratings and puzzle ratings do not into the statistics of leaderboard for obvious reasons.

Yes, I’m aware. Like I said, I don’t really care about my puzzles rating itself but I think numbers are an objective measure of progression so it annoys me a little that I haven’t been able to solve puzzles to my normal standard lately, but I’m over it now.

Share nice puzzles that you liked

I’ve a study where I’ve saved cool puzzles I’ve come across in the healthy mix section. I could share some of them if you are interested.

Thanks for the health related tips - I appreciate it! All of that is much easier said than done though ;)

@TeenageDimwit said in #6:

@Achja Thank you for your post.

Welcome!

Speaking of luck, I do think the healthy mix system is skewed against me lately. It seems to always select puzzles I’m bad at e.g rook/pawn endgames. I was looking at my puzzle history the other day, and 20 out of 30 puzzles I had on that day were endgame ones! I guess this is good for my chess in the long run as I get to practice areas I’m bad at lol.

Good that you mention that. In the past I saw that with Lichess puzzles version 2 it has several pawn endgames which are "not human". If you let Stockfish run to look for the clues of the solution you may see that it is clueless, sometimes for long.
Only thanks to Tablebases the right answer is there quickly. So I'd say that in those cases there is nothing to regret for the human solving these hard puzzles.

Are you talking about Axel Smith’s book? If so how did you find some of the intermediate/hard puzzles in there? I’ve heard from a couple of people that a lot of the puzzles in there are IM/GM level and are not worth doing.

I've done the Woodpecker method via Chessable with the Axel Smith book. That book has loads of puzzles, and I find them worth it, especially because I am interested in chess history (and chess anecdotes). Seeing big names blunder, e.g. Steinitz blundering vs. Blackburn is something I remember.
But - the main point here - the Woodpecker method is about the method, not so much about the puzzles. In fact the authors of the book say so themselves in the book. You can compile your own set of puzzles, and apply the Woodpecker method on it, to improve your tactical skills.

Yes, I’m aware. Like I said, I don’t really care about my puzzles rating itself but I think numbers are an objective measure of progression so it annoys me a little that I haven’t been able to solve puzzles to my normal standard lately, but I’m over it now.

My opinion is that rating, either for chess games, or for puzzles is just a number which temporarily gives an indication where you are at given the pool of player, or the certain puzzles you went through.
On chesstempo you can create custom sets, and you can go through puzzles you got always wrong, or wrong at least once and so on. When I do puzzles on chesstempo I always got wrong, I noticed that the chess position on the board confuses me for some reason. I find it interesting to figure out why, and perhaps notice some progress later.
So ... measure your real progress, do you see tactics better (deeper) and faster in your own chess games ?
For example, after doing countless puzzles since years I can say about myself that I love pin tactics, desperado tactics, zwischenzug (btw, Mikhail Tal was a zwischenzug star!) tactics and I usually spot them fast.
These tactics also make my chess games more joyful.
See for yourself which tactics you like and are good at, and which ones leave room for improvement.

I’ve a study where I’ve saved cool puzzles I’ve come across in the healthy mix section. I could share some of them if you are interested.

Yes, please, thank you.

Thanks for the health related tips - I appreciate it! All of that is much easier said than done though ;)

Good luck! And have fun! :)

@achja said in #7:

Good that you mention that. In the past I saw that with Lichess puzzles version 2 it has several pawn endgames which are "not human". If you let Stockfish run to look for the clues of the solution you may see that it is clueless, sometimes for long.Only thanks to Tablebases the right answer is there quickly. So I'd say that in those cases there is nothing to regret for the human solving these hard puzzles.

I would love to blame it on the puzzles being inhuman but most of the ones I get wrong are pretty straightforward. I got them wrong simply because I lack patience to calculate sometimes and I find the puzzles with more pieces on the board a lot more interesting to solve than than endgame ones with two or three pawns. I lose focus when I’m bored lol. Here’s an example of a puzzle I really shouldn’t have gotten wrong but did https://lichess.org/training/PPJ0J

But - the main point here - the Woodpecker method is about the method, not so much about the puzzles. In fact the authors of the book say so themselves in the book. You can compile your own set of puzzles, and apply the Woodpecker method on it, to improve your tactical skills.

Thanks for clarifying. I thought it only had simple to advanced puzzles lol. Anyway, found an interesting blog on lichess about it https://lichess.org/@/CheckRaiseMate/blog/the-woodpecker-method/m4cW82R0
The chessable course looks interesting. I might start working on it in the summer.

So ... measure your real progress, do you see tactics better (deeper) and faster in your own chess games ?For example, after doing countless puzzles since years I can say about myself that I love pin tactics, desperado tactics, zwischenzug (btw, Mikhail Tal was a zwischenzug star!) tactics and I usually spot them fast.These tactics also make my chess games more joyful.
See for yourself which tactics you like and are good at, and which ones leave room for improvement.

Yes, doing more puzzles in the last couple of months have definitely helped with my tactical awareness. I like doing puzzles on lichess because the puzzles dashboard highlights my strengths and weakness in solving tactics. At the moment it shows that I’m good at middle game, pin and defensive move puzzles but struggle with finding “quiet moves” and “advanced pawn” puzzles which is useful to know. I’m not fussy about puzzles. I like any puzzle that looks interesting and I find a lot of positions interesting :P

Yes, please, thank you.

@TeenageDimwit said in #8:

Thanks for those puzzles, a nice collection, cool.

Doing the Woodpecker method on Chessable is quite tough imho, but I think it was an interesting tool to play with for myself. Of course YMMV.

i fail to see the advantages of woodpecker method when it comes to puzzles that arent mate in X.

i would fear three things:

• missing out on volume of tactics (better to know 60% of patterns half the time than to know 30% of patterns 90% of the time)
• it doesnt help with calculation at all
• applying the tactics in game - potentially with time pressure - when the situation is tilted by 90º or 180º. imo tactics are memorization, pattern recognition, calculation, visualisation. if your just trying to hammer in the memory effect, surely there will be shortcomings?

puzzles means systematically evaluating the position to determine the minimum benefit that needs to be gained, then crosscheck that with the counterplay available for the other side, then look for a better move (mate/more material). you can look for mate first ofc if your really good with mating patterns, but id advise against it. some puzzles will tell you that a forced mate is required (e.g. you cant block the enemy mating attack and then you already have an additional info that every move needs to be forcing and no quiet moves are allowed - ofc in game you need to look for the checks and mating patterns first!
i think that IF you do mate puzzles specifically more positions probably still trump repetition and the puzzle dashboard with its improvement areas and option to repeat failed puzzles should have you covered quite comfortably without repeating the same positions too often.