Can someone explain the tactics trainer rating system?

It's easy. Draw!

Some of the tactics puzzles continue to confuse me even after solving. Can anyone explain puzzle puzzle # 495998?

Check the analysis, there is a button that reveals it after you attempt the tactic. There is pretty much always a refutation of that clear line to mate that you didn't spot. That's the whole point of tactics trainer, to analyse different solutions and find out which one works and which one doesn't. 

Your tactics rating is in the 800s which is quite low. If you want to improve as a beginner then your default mindset to most things concerning chess should be that you don't know and are willing to learn - not that you know better. 

Hubris gets you nowhere. 

As for the points, it scores you based on the result. There is no fair or unfair in the scoring system because there is no opponent, only yourself. The rating is only there for you to track your own improvement so try not to think about it. There's no point in resetting it.

It's in the 800s because it started me at 400 and I only get about 2-4 points on average for the ones I solve and lose 10-15 points if I make a single mistake. The reason I reset it is because it should have started me at 1200, not 400.

It's in the 800s because that's the level you solve tactics at. The end. 

You have attempted 267 tactics since your last reset. 70% correct and 30% wrong. If you get 3 out of 10 tactics wrong at 800 level then that is your level. With several hundred tactics done it doesn't matter what rating you started from, that's more than enough for the system to find your level. It could have started you on 2000 and you would still fall to your current rating after that many tactics.

This is a list of your previous tactics. As you can clearly see the stuff you say about getting +2 for a right answer on average and -15 for a wrong answer is incorrect. 

When I originally posted this yesterday, I was definitely seeing larger quantities of 10+ point losses vs 1-4 point correct responses, so my question was why are lost points higher than earned points per problem. I don't think that warranted a being cursed at, albeit censored. Regardless, it still stands that resets are supposed to be at 1200 and it's resetting me at 400 and I would like to know if there's a way to fix that.

You should not take so long to move--your tactics rating moves up so little. When I do tactics, I gain 8-14 points. Move in under 20 seconds. Also, you will get better over time. Tactics are easy.

I think it should take a person as long as necessary to get the tactic right. There is no point in moving in under 20 seconds if the answer is wrong. Which is a part of his original question. Jkh, the reason the reward for a right answer is so low and the penalty for a wrong answer is so high is because that's how chess works. One really good move is to be expected, and maybe wont improve your situation much. But one wrong move and you might lose immediately. Also, tactics are not easy, they take time and practice. Every time I get one over 2200 I struggle. They are not easy for me, that's for sure.

Its early days for you, only a member since August 18th.

With unlimited tactics you can get to your strength pretty quickly. My last reset was in late May after they had modified some things from the changes made in late April. I was able to get to 2000+ in a couple of days. They have changed the selection algorithms some since since then but for the most part, you should be able to get to your strength range in a couple of good sessions. (with unlimited tactics -- 5 a day would take forever from 400 )

Here are a couple of developer updates for how it works on v3.

https://www.chess.com/blog/News/chess-com-dev-update-april-28-2017

and some changes:

https://www.chess.com/blog/News/chess-com-dev-update-may-26-2017

Well, the first moves were pretty straight forward but that is a bit of a harder tactic in my opinion (and based on the pass rate, other people have problems with it too). I got it but mainly just because I couldn't see any better line. Black has a lot of weaknesses in the position, with three pawn islands and the king isn't very secure. So a line has to be found to stop white from taking advantage of those weaknesses.

White also has a weakness, in in that the king isn't very secure either, and many moves will cause the loss of material. That leads to the idea of a draw by triple repetition (perpetual checks).

If you are on the website and you have it stop after completing each tactic, you can see the tags that have been given and it will give hints on what you could have looked for, in the case you missed it.

Yeah, that rating system is unfair like MMOPRG online! The poor get poorer and the rich get richer. With this trend I am pretty sure that your rating will be close to zero by the end of this year and some top player's (like Nakamura) rating will be close to 10,000. 

You are certainly a better player than I am, based on your OTB rating, but as the saying goes, tactics flow from superior positions. 

The thing is that it is easier to see a tactical shot when you know there is something there. There is a big difference in seeing a postion in a game and recognizing a tactical theme may exist and having the calculating ability to determine if it really does.

Yes, it is the whole point of that tactic. If you take the knight first, you end up down a pawn after Bxg5. Yes, the knight can take on g5 but it also gets captured by the queen, leaving white down a pawn still.

By taking the bishop first, you are up two pawns: that is, you are up a bishop and knight for a bishop and a pawn.

I don't know how I didn't see that.  Maybe I'm not cut out for chess.  I've gone downhill tremendously since the 90s when I played a lot more often.