@LizardWizard I use the engine all the time. What I was saying is that certain problems do not make sense in themselves, or seem so, not the answers. And the rating definitely gets in the way; it's a disturbance.
❝@LizardWizard I use the engine all the time. What I was saying is that certain problems do not make sense in themselves, or seem so...❞
Exemple: today's "puzzle of the day"
lishogi.org/training/KVMSW
I don't dare to click on that link, because I'm too afraid that every little thing I do in that window might affect my Puzzles rating, ha ha! ^^
Unfortunately there's no way to embed it here. 🤭
The solution is childish though, if you see where to look. 😉
Ha ha, omg, I kept looking for some sort of genius sacrifice or a mating sequence (something I would NEVER bother to do if this were a real game) when you could've just taken the rook. See, that's what I'm talking about: Many times you simply don't know what the system is expecting from you. It is, after all, not a real human teacher.
@Capricornis
lishogi.org/training/KVMSW
What exactly about this puzzle makes no sense?
Your opponent threatens Px31+ followed by R-32+. Your king is in grave danger on the back rank, your camp is crumbling, some of your opponent's best moves are powerful sacrifices to deflect the very last of your defenses. The singular check you have R*59 doesn't lead anywhere meaningful, as you don't have any follow up, you are a tempo behind, and your rook would probably get trapped by G-58 anyway.
OR you take the completely free, hanging rook.
@Mining4GldNSlvr
"Many times you simply don't know what the system is expecting from you."
Do you expect to know what's 'expected' of you in a REAL game? Of course not. You have to learn to figure it out. That's part of the difficulty. That's why it's a puzzle.
❝@LizardWizard What exactly about this puzzle makes no sense?❞
A little too obvious? Not much challenging? 🙂
Edit: people come to this puzzle, see the precarious situation of their king and look for mate in 3, 4, 5 moves or more in order to avoid the obvious fate of their king. Exactly what @Mining4GldNSlvr mentioned in comment #15. They'll think the obvious escape is a trap and lose points.
What makes no sense is that you get punished for 'mistakes' which, in reality, lead to the same result as the method prescriped by the computer, which is a flawless victory. At least puzzles should have multiple possible solutions, but maybe that's too much to ask for? (since Lishogi is a free service). I admire the team behind this site, but as long as this issue isnt addressed I can't take the Puzzles which are offered here seriously and therefore I won't get angry over them again.
I made a slight mistake above, there isn't even R*59. I was looking at moves after the end position of the puzzle. But that only proves my point further, as even IF somehow you had an additional rook, taking the hanging rook would STILL be the best move.
@Capricornis
The attack is a complete farce if you think about it for more than a couple of seconds. My thought process on this puzzle literally went like this:
1. My opponent's threat is Px31+, King runs, R-32+ This looks like I'm dead lost. There won't be a way to protect my king and camp after this, and I'm completely on the backfoot.
2. The attacking rook is hanging. Oh okay so I can just stop this attack any time then. If I take the rook, Px31+ is not even scary. I'm up a rook for a silver and my opponent doesn't really have much follow up.
3. I COULD take the pawn with Sx32, but my opponent still has the rook, and could drop a knight attacking both the king's head and the rook. Maybe his rook will escape and all I got was what, a pawn?
5. I don't really have any check that isn't just instantly blocked or sidestepped.
6. So taking the rook seems like the only option.
All in all, I probably spent 10 seconds on this puzzle. The puzzle ITSELF is seeing that your king's so-called "fate" ISN'T obvious.
@Mining4GldNSlvr
What are these "mistakes that lead to the same result?" In the puzzle above, the correct sequence leads to a -9.0 position where your king is in zero danger. There is NO other winning move. Even if you look at the engine, every single variation has Gx34 Px31+ Kx31. If you do literally anything else, the position is like +10 and you lose all of your pieces for nothing.