Puzzles are really annoying me.

@Craze But the themes come from users. At chess.com i only use the puzzle rush and review the wrong ones and often wonder about themes. E. g. today short on time i failed www.chess.com/puzzles/problem/501006/practice

The only theme i see is battery ?! I suggested skewer.

I think the chesstempo-users are much better on that but still could fail. You get what you pay for...

@Chuck_Fess : It depends on ones goals. To collect or refresh chunks a selection of themes or a limited set with a good distribution of important themes is better than a large random set.

Many belive that the best set is CT Art / Combinative Motives by Maxim Blokh. Many other human selected collections are good as well.

Your summary is a good one. I also am a big fan of the CT-ART set and related problem sets on Chess King Learn, and used them extensively in my own training.

Choosing to do puzzles where you know there is a skewer on the board helps you improve in situations where you know there is a skewer on the board. It is much less helpful in actually identifying whether there is a skewer on the board, unless something very similar to the position of a puzzle you have memorized emerges in a game.

What percentage of all chess games involve a skewer?Identifying the best tactic yourself is applicable in every single game you ever play. I didn’t say your method was useless, only that it was less useful. Because it is.

Puzzles where you know that there is a tactical solution and either a great advantage or a draw are generally not the same than a real game. And if i do 100 skewers, i will likely find skewer no. 101 on board. The same for mate nets, forks, and so on. And then, if there is a good base, also problems where one don't know the solution or maybe where there isn't a tactic.

Where is a good place to study mating puzzles?

Chesstempo with premium, some bunch of software and lazlo polgars "chess 5333+1" book.

@Karpfenkopf

Thanks. Looking for something free.