New Year's chess puzzles | Can you solve it without making a mistake?

Hello, dear readers! I thought for a long time about what to write in my new blog and decided that since everyone is in a festive mood, the blog should be like that too! I present my New Year's blog!

Imagine that a magical New Year's Eve is coming, and instead of the usual Christmas tree decorations, the chessboard sparkles with festive lights. Reading this blog, you have a unique opportunity to become part of an exciting chess adventure, where the main characters will be familiar and beloved New Year characters - chess players. They have prepared interesting chess puzzles for you, so that the holiday becomes not only fun, but also intellectually rich. Well, today you will find:

• How to learn to solve chess puzzles without mistakes?

• Top 5 New Year's chess problems. Can you solve them without mistakes?

Remember: the more puzzles you can solve without making mistakes, the more gifts await you under the New Year tree.

How to learn to solve chess puzzles without mistakes?

To effectively learn how to solve chess problems, it is important to combine regular training with the right methodology.

1. Look at the puzzle and determine its type. This is not difficult at all and you have probably encountered many of them more than once.

Solve problems of different types:

- Checkmates in 1-3 moves and more.

- Tactical combinations.

- Problems related to the endgame.

Why is this necessary? Understanding the topic helps you find solutions faster.

 2. Train regularly.   Devote at least 5 minutes a day to solving problems. This is not much, but this way you can develop intuition and tactical thinking.

3. Analyze the solution. Analyze your mistakes. If you were unable to solve the problem, look at the solution and try to understand which ideas you missed.

4. Difficulty level. Start with problems that match your current level. Gradually make them more difficult.

5. Live game. After solving the problems, apply the tactical ideas you have found in real games. This reinforces the skills. My coach told me this method a long time ago and we use it all the time because it works!

6. Analysis of games. Analyze classic games in which combinations occur. This will help you see ideas beyond the educational puzzles.

7. Working with books. I know that in the modern world, when everyone has a smartphone, you don’t really want to take and flip through the pages of books. Reading this blog, you are already improving your skills, but I want to offer you my favorite books that will help you learn to solve puzzles well. Recommended books:

✓ 303 Tactical Chess Puzzles Book

The best way to improve is to study tactics and these puzzles will enable you to improve your skills so that you can move up to the next level.

✓ 1001 Deadly Chess Puzzles

“The study of chess tactics is the single most beneficial activity for most chess-players. From beginner to grandmaster level, players are confronted with tactical decisions on almost every move of every game. I have spent the past five months reviewing games played within the past year between players with a rating of 2200 and above with the goal of selecting 1001 of the most instructive tactical puzzles.” - James Rizzitano

✓  Garry Kasparov’s Chess Puzzle Book, by Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov’s Chess Puzzle Book, a fairly slim tome of 90 pages, was written by the World Champion with the intention of testing the reader with combinations from (at the time) recent tournament praxis. I find it interesting that he splits chapters up by the piece delivering the final blow (e.g. Queen or Rook), and finishes with an all-inclusive test.

✓ Pick of the Best Chess Problems

These problems obey explicitly the rules of chess and, if you know the moves of the pieces, solving them will be well within your capabilities. That is not to say they are easy to solve - they vary. The pleasure of problem chess lies not in the difficulty of solution, but in an appreciation of how white wins. There are no dull draws here, only exciting mate finishes! The author, Barry Barnes, is an international Master and Judge of the FIDE for Chess Composition, its ex-Ist Vice President and Honorary Life Member. He edited the two-move problems in the specialist magazine "The Problemist" for 26 years.

✓  100 Headachingly Hard Mate in Two Chess Puzzles Composed by Sam Loyd

This book might cause a headache! Warning! The book contains 100 really hard mate-in-two puzzles by one of the best chess composers to have lived. You might get severely challenged while solving these puzzles.

Remember the main thing: patience and regular practice will improve your chess problem solving skills.

Top 5 New Year's chess puzzles. Can you solve them without mistakes?

Now let's move from theory to practice! I present to your attention the Top 5 most interesting chess puzzles. Try to solve them using all your knowledge. Good luck!

1st place 

Thank you for reading this blog. Sorry if I didn't live up to your expectations about this blog. It's not that grand, but it contains useful information that I share with you. I already have a little experience in solving puzzles. I hope you found it a little interesting.

Congratulations to you, dear readers, friends, colleagues, on all the New Year holidays! Let 2025 be the year of new victories and brilliant games. I wish you to always find the best move, see combinations several steps ahead and never be afraid of difficult positions.

Let every game bring joy, and mistakes become lessons leading to new heights.

Happiness, health, inspiration and new chess heights in 2025!

Until next time!