Puzzles
Puzzles are a great way to improve your rating through practice and pattern recognition. The number of puzzles you can do depends on your membership type:
Membership type |
Puzzles per day
|
Basic | 3 puzzles per day, plus one Puzzle Rush and one Battle each day. |
Premium | Unlimited puzzles, Puzzle Rush, and Puzzle Battle! |
To solve a puzzle, you can click 'Puzzles' in the left-side menu on any Chess.com page. If you're on your homescreen, you can click on 'Puzzles' from the top features to try solving the Puzzle of the Day!
Here are the different types of puzzles you can choose from:
Rated Puzzles
Rated puzzles are a great learning tool, but keep in mind that your puzzle rating may not accurately reflect your chess rating!
Playing these puzzles will give you a puzzle rating similar to a chess rating. Your rating increases when you solve a puzzle correctly and decreases when you don't. The change in your rating depends on the puzzle's rating compared to yours.
If you make one or more correct moves before asking for a hint, youāll earn progression points for that puzzle (no rating points). If you make your first correct move after using a hint, you wonāt earn any progression points.
Check out this article to learn how to adjust your puzzle difficulty: How do I manage my Puzzle settings?
After completing a puzzle, you may see a stats panel on the right side of the screen showing details about your performance. Depending on your Puzzle settings, this panel can display information such as:
Puzzle Rating: If the puzzle rating is lower than your puzzle rating you will earn fewer points. If itās higher, you will earn more.
Target Time: This is the suggested time to complete the puzzle, based on your current puzzle rating.
Speed Bonus: This is awarded based on how close you get to the target time.
Pass Rate: This shows how often chess.com users successfully solve the puzzle.
Attempts: This is the total number of times the puzzle has been played by all users.
Themes: These are the categories the puzzle is tagged with.
You can make practicing rated puzzles more dynamic and fun by enabling Puzzle Points. Learn how to do it here: What are Puzzle points on Chess.com?
Puzzle Rush
Puzzle Rush is an exciting and fast-paced feature designed to help you sharpen your chess tactics. In Puzzle Rush, you have either 3 or 5 minutes to solve as many puzzles as you can. However, be carefulāif you get three puzzles wrong, the game ends, regardless of how much time is left.
Your puzzle rating wonāt be affected by your performance in Puzzle Rush, so aim for that high score without worrying!
Puzzle Rush - Survival mode
If you prefer a more relaxed pace, try Survival Mode, where thereās no time limit. In this mode, you can continue solving puzzles for as long as you likeājust make sure to not get three puzzles wrong!
After completing a Puzzle Rush session, youāll see a summary of your stats, showing how your performance in that round compares to your past scores.
On the right side of the screen, you'll see a list of all the puzzles you encountered. You can click on any puzzle to open it in a separate window for a closer look or to try solving it again if you got it wrong.
When you enter Puzzle Rush, your top score and leaderboard position will be displayed on the right side of the screen. You can see how you rank among your friends by clicking on the 'Friends' tab, or see a list of your personal best scores under the 'Personal' tab.
Your best Puzzle Rush score will also be displayed on your profile, alongside your chess and tactics ratings.
Puzzle Battle
Puzzle battle is a 3-minute puzzle rush, but played against another player! See who can get the most right in 3 minutes!
Ā Check out this article to learn more about Puzzle Battle: What is Puzzle Battle?
Daily Puzzle
The Daily Puzzle is available to all members starting at midnight Pacific Time. After solving it, you can scroll down to view and engage with comments left by other members.
Ā Check out this article to learn more about Daily Puzzles: How do I find the Daily Puzzle?
Custom Puzzles
Custom Puzzles, formerly known as 'Learning mode,' offer a personalized way to practice chess tactics. In this mode, you can choose the themes and rating range of the puzzles you want to work on, allowing you to focus on specific areas of your game. Thereās no time pressure and no impact on your rating; just an opportunity for pure learning!
The panel on the right side lets you choose an area to focus on and shows the percentage of problem types you have solved correctly. These statistics are based on your rated puzzle scores.
Select the themes you want to practice by checking the corresponding boxes. You will then be presented with puzzles tagged with those themes.
Additionally, you can opt to include all puzzles or only those you have previously failed and set a specific rating range.
Check out this article on Chess.com to read more about some of the many possible themes and types of tactics: Chess Tactics | 38 Definitions and Examples
My Puzzle won't load. What should I do?
If a Daily Puzzle, Rated Puzzle, Puzzle Rush, or Puzzle Battle isn't loading correctly, try these troubleshooting steps:
Refresh the page or completely close and reopen the Chess.com app.
Make sure you're signed in to the correct account. Your puzzle ratings, streaks, history, and daily limits are tied to your account.
If you're using the mobile app, check that you're running the latest version.
If the issue only occurs in the app, try opening Chess.com in your mobile browser.
If you're using the website and the board is blank or doesn't display correctly, perform a hard refresh. If that doesn't help, clear your browser cache or try a different, up-to-date browser.
If the puzzle loads but the board appears incorrect, pieces are missing, or the controls don't respond, it may be a temporary display issue. Refreshing the page or reopening the app will often resolve it.
Check out this article for additional troubleshooting: What can I do if the Chess.com app won't open or freezes?
FAQs
Why isn't my Daily Puzzle loading?
Why isn't my Daily Puzzle loading?
Refresh the page or completely close and reopen the app. If you're using the mobile app, make sure it's up to date. If the puzzle still won't load, try opening Chess.com in your mobile browser.
If the problem continues, contact our Support Team.
Why does Puzzle Rush say I need Premium even though I haven't used my free run today?
Why does Puzzle Rush say I need Premium even though I haven't used my free run today?
Basic members receive one free Puzzle Rush each day. Daily limits reset at midnight based on your account's time zone. If your limit doesn't seem to reset at the expected time, check your time zone in Settings.
Why am I limited to only three puzzles per day?
Why am I limited to only three puzzles per day?
If you're using a free Basic account, you can solve three rated puzzles per day, plus one Puzzle Rush and one Puzzle Battle.
Premium members have unlimited access to rated puzzles, Puzzle Rush, and Puzzle Battle.
Why didn't my Daily Puzzle streak increase?
Why didn't my Daily Puzzle streak increase?
To maintain your Daily Puzzle streak, each puzzle must be completed within 48 hours of its release. If you miss a day, use the Daily Puzzle Calendar to complete any puzzles that are still within the 48-hour grace period.
Once that period has expired, Chess.com Support can't manually restore your streak.
Why did my Puzzle Battle score show 0?
Why did my Puzzle Battle score show 0?
Puzzle Battle scores are based on the number of puzzles you solve correctly before the match ends or before you make three mistakes.
If none of your correct answers were counted, the match may not have completed correctly. Contact Chess.com Support and include the Puzzle Battle link and screenshots, if available.