Standard Problem Solving

Find solutions to tactical positions with no time limit. Problems and users are both rated, get a problem right and your rating goes up and the problem's rating goes down.

Benefit

• Improve tactical vision and calculation ability by practicing thousands of tactical positions.

Blitz Problem Solving

Timed tactical problems, the faster you solve the problem, the more rating points you gain.

Benefit

• Improve pattern based tactics recognition by rapidly practicing thousands of problems.

Unrated Problem Solving

Solve problems without the pressure of losing rating points.

Benefit

• Allows users to experiment with different tactics solving strategies without impacting their rating.

Searchable Problem Set

Search the problem set on the following criteria:

• Rating range.
• Number of moves.
• Tactical Motif (Pin, Fork, Skewer etc).
• Mates or Non-Mates
• Problem quality
• Previous Problem Attempts
  • Problems user got wrong
  • Problems user got right
  • Problems user has attempted
  • Problems user has never attempted
  • Problems user never got right (unseen or always wrong)
  • Problems user always got wrong

Benefits

• Browse the problem set based on user specified criteria.
• Save your search as your own personal problem set (see below for details).

Extended Problem Sets

A set of unrated extended problem sets which provide useful subsets of the problem set. Extended sets include:

• Mates - individual sets for Mate in 1, Mate in 2 etc.
• Problems user got wrong
• Problems user has never attempted
• Problems user never got right (unseen or always wrong)
• Problems user always got wrong
• Tactical motif based problem sets (Pins, Forks, Skewers etc).

Extended problem sets include "unsolved" variations where the user's problem history is used to present the user with only the problems they have not yet solved. These sets are dynamic, and as the user solves more problems the size of the problem set will shrink.

Benefits

• Allows targetting specific tactical motifs, if you are having trouble seeing tactics involving a particular motif, extended sets allow you to intensively practice problems with that motif.
• Practice mating tactics in progressively increasing difficulty, start with mate in 1 and move on from there. Great for kids or beginners starting out in chess.
• Thoroughly explore the problem set by choosing to look at only those problems not yet seen.
• Work on weak points by doing only the problems you always get wrong.

Create New Problem Sets

Problem set searches can be turned into permanently saved unrated problem sets. Any of the problem search criteria can be used to define a new problem set. Examples of user defined problem sets:

• All problems rated over 2200
• All problems not ending in mate
• All problems tagged with either pin or fork.
• All problems rated under 1500 the user got wrong.

Highly targetted problem sets can be created by combining search criteria, for example:

• All problems tagged as discovered attacks that do not end in mate, are rated under 1500 and the user has not got correct yet.
• All problems with a 4 star or better quality rating with a rating between 2000 and 2400 containing 4 or more moves.

Problem sets based on previous user attempts such as problem sets only including problems the user has attempted but not got correct are dynamically updated as the user makes more attempts. For example a problem set including only problems the user always got wrong will shrink in size as the user goes through the problems in this set getting previously incorrect problems correct. If the user does other problem sets and gets more problems wrong they will automatically get added to the always got wrong problem set.

Benefits

• Allows users to create problem sets with a particular range of difficulty. Very useful for children and/or beginners who may be otherwise discouraged by getting too many highly difficult problems.
• Allows more precise targetting of areas requiring improvement.

Problem Attempts History

Basic accounts are limited to seeing their last 100 problem attempts. Silver subscribers can view their last 10000 problems and Gold subscribers can view a minimum of their last 50000 problems. Gold users may have problem histories larger than 50000 depending on availability of hard drive space and database query load. Please note that prior to May 21st only the last 1000 problems were kept for all users so the longer history lengths apply to problems attempted after that date.

Benefit

• Longer problem history allows users a more complete record of their performance.

Rating Graph History

Rating graphs show the user's rating performance over time. Basic users have a graph based on their last 1000 attempts. Silver subscription members can see their rating fluctuations over their last 10000 attempts and Gold subscribers are able to view all their stored attempts (at least up to the last 50000 attempts).

Benefit

• Larger time window for ratings graph allows the user a better picture of how they have progressed over time.

View Other's History

Basic and Silver users can only view the last 100 problems of other users and see only their last 1000 problem rating graph history. Gold subscribers are able to see all the problem attempts and a rating graph for all problem attempts on record for other users.

Benefits

• Compare your performance to others.
• Examine performance of your children or students without having to log in to their accounts.

Problem Distribution Graph

The problem distribution graph shows a bar graph representing the number of problems done at different rating ranges.

Benefit

• Provides an overview of the overall difficulty and spread of problems you have been given.

Activity Calendar

The activity calendar provides a monthly calendar showing how many problems were done each day, how many were correct and the percentage accuracy for that day. Totals for the month are also shown. Users can page back through older dates to check their daily problem solving performance over time.

Benefits

• Allows the user an overview of how they are performing in the current month on a day by day basis.
• Allows users who have a goal to do a number of problems each day or each month to conveniently track their progress.

Tactical Motif Rated Performance Stats

See how you perform on problems with different tactical motifs. Performance ratings for blitz and standard problems of each tactical motif are provided which indicate your performance relative to the difficulty of the problems faced. Please note that tactical motif classification of problems is based on user tags and not all problems have a tactical classification yet.

Benefits

• Understand which tactical motifs are a strength or weakness in your tactical abilities.
• In conjunction with extended problem sets, use the performance data to target problems in your weak areas.

Unrated Problem Set Performance

Provide per problem set performance data for all unrated problem sets. Includes data from the built in extended sets as well as any user created problem sets.

Benefits

• Track performance across a range of custom problem sets.
• Allows you to understand when a custom problem set may be too easy and when a harder set may be more appropriate.

See Problem PGN

This feature allows users to see the starting position and opponent's first move in PGN format.

Benefits

• Keep the position to look at offline.
• Cut and Paste the position into Fritz or other computer interfaces. (In Fritz the "Edit">"Paste">"Paste Game" menu option)
• Better understand the problem by using a computer to help analyse the position.
• See why the problem's move is the best.
• If you got a problem wrong, see why.
• Try out other defenses.

View Problem Mistakes

View the mistakes others have made when doing a problem. See the number of times each mistake was made and the average rating of the users making each mistake.

Benefit

• Determine if your incorrect moves are obvious errors or common mistakes for even highly rated players.

View Evaluation of Four Best Moves

View the computer's evaluations of the user's four best moves in each position in a problem. Also see which moves were marked as allowed alternatives.

Benefits

• See how the computer evaluated one move compared to another.
• Help understand the evaluation difference between the "best move" and the three next best moves.
• See all allowed alternatives for a position.

Navigate Lines of Four Best Moves

Gold members are able to view all the moves in the computer evaluation of the four best moves in each position of a tactical problem (currently lines are only displayed for the user's moves, not the opponents moves). The user can click on any of the variations and navigate through the moves on the board.

Benefits

• Convenient analysis of the position without having to load the position into your own chess engine.
• Better understand why the "best move" was preferred over the 3 next best moves.
• Navigate through other lines to see how a potential move was refutable by the opponent.