How do I learn from puzzles 2400 rating and above?

Hello, and this will be a long reply. I didn't expect this to have a detailed dive, so I left this topic after seeing the first two comments. Really big thanks to everyone who gave deeper insights about the puzzle section.

I see there's a reoccurring answer in this post, which is "Understanding opponent's counterplay". I would also agree this may be the part I need to pay more attention to. I notice a little bit that higher difficulty puzzle is no longer as simple as "how to take a piece from a fork", but rather "how to take the piece without inviting a strong in-between moves (zwischenzug) from your opponent". That's only one example, and I'm sure there are more other cases that relates to thinking like an opponent.

Another thing is that I'm aware that in the puzzle sections, you can choose a specific theme/motif, and also choosing a specific difficulty range (- 600 ~ +600). I admit I didn't spend a lot of time experimenting this section, and my reason was I agree from the general puzzle description that "I don't know what to expect, so I need to remain ready for anything. Just like in real games". But now I see that there are merits to train consistently on one single theme alone, so I'll give them a try based on the advises here! I will also try on sharpening easier puzzles first so make sure I have a solid base on understanding fundamentals.

Thank you @Falkentyne for bringing in a good point, which is that lichess puzzle might not be the best practices due to strictly computer evaluated and less cohesive compared a human-designed set of puzzles. Personally I don't believe I'm qualified enough to engage in this point further, but I can understand that there are non computer-based practice sources that I can look into. Thank you also for bringing up other sources as recommendations, I'll give them a try!

Last question from @AlexiHarvey regarding the opening themed puzzles. Personally I have not tried them a lot before, I only recognize a few generic patterns (e.g. queen check + forking a hanging minor piece in the center, or defending a fried liver-ish attack). I think it's fine for an occasion, but I wouldn't focus on too much in the name of "doing tactics/puzzles". Usually a set comprehensive sidelines/tactics/traps are already baked into books or courses that specifically teach openings, so I'll just look into these instead of focus puzzles. But I don't believe there are downsides to practice them in puzzles, so feel free to try them out and let us know how you feel about them in the future!

@facevisi10 said in #1:
> I have solved puzzles around 2100~2300 for a long time. This range of puzzle focuses on tactics/trading that helps you win a piece or threatening to checkmate. But as I tried to go upward I was completely stuck. Often times the moves are very subtle and confusing, and even with the analyzer I was not able to understand why. What is something that I'm missing out?
Captures , checks and forcing moves are not the best move often. Instead, look for quiet but aggressive moves.

Yeah and also play some real games "p

@facevisi10 said in #11:
> I will also try on sharpening easier puzzles

I got useful advice from @aescht:

> So my suggestion was to set the difficulty on "easier" and look until you find the correct solution. The occasional miss will reduce your rating significantly and again you can start solving the puzzles with good confidence.
>
> If you cannot solve a puzzle with 100% confidence, you will always stay in a blurry bubble of uncertainty. It looks good, but you will never develop that sense that you are completely sure it will work out. It's a completely different ball game when you develop that. You can play against a Grand Master and will still be 100% certain that it will work out when you find a winning tactical variation. Even in a non-forcing line you want to know exactly how things can turn within a couple of moves. For that you need precision.

and @cosmic4z:

> I think this is super important too. If I'm solving puzzles, I try to be mindful of the degree of certainty I have. Closer to 100% is better. Big difference between knowing something will work, and thinking 'that looks about right' lets go for that.

(lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/what-do-you-think-i-need-to-improve-to-be-2200-in-lichess-classical--rapid?page=3#23)

@facevisi10,

Another tip which may or may not help is only do a fixed number of puzzles a day - very subtle psychology. This forces you to think longer and deeper on any difficult puzzle instead of drifting towards 'rolling-the-dice' practice. Sometimes less is better in the long run! Maybe worth a try?!

I only do 5 LiChess puzzles a day and am prepared to spend 30mins doing so - people, differ of course. But I found that if I vary the number I had a tendency to lazily skip through the 'difficult' puzzles often with a bit of 'wishful thinking' to boot. The other side-effect was that maintaining tactical ability is as important as increasing the ability as it does degrade fairly fast if you take a few days off.

"Nice"

wow nice bro

I am glad many of us put the shoulder to the wheel on this one.