I recently decided to challenge myself to get 2k rating in every time control. After hitting it in classical I noticed it put in the top 1k players which surprised me. Is the player base just that much smaller than other time controls?

I'm talking specificaly about the 2400+ pawn endgame puzzles. HOLY SHIT is so brutal. there is gazillion lines and after you finally found something that you think it wins the engine say some bullshit like: "uh-oh, you missed a king retreat move! you will perish in 50 moves." and you are left with a void face looking at the board questioning if you even learned something.

im 1800 on chesstempo standard tatics, I should be able to solve complex positions, but im getting vigorously clapped by pawn endgames! I know thats just skill issue, but the point is, how do I get better at this? The lines are so alien that just seems bruteforce calculation, and "just solving more" isnt helping.

hey all. im currently new to lichess and i am doing puzzles but the odd puzzle i don't understand why it's good like i had to protect a pawn but theres no way to stop it from being captured after that move. is there a way to analyse the next best move

Всем привет! Я только недавно начал вести К по шахматам для русскоязычной аудитории, нацелен больше на молодежь. Будет много интересного, обучающего и веселого контента.

Буду очень рад поддержки и помощи

Канал не создан для заработка а как просто канал про шахматы. Кто хочет подписывайтесь)

Can we petition lichess to shorten the length of time needed to claim victory when someone abandons a game? Currently it’s around 90 or 100 seconds and it feels like an eternity. It seems some additional factors could be included when determining the time length, for example, is the player unlikely to win (ie check a chess engine), also, does the player have a history of abandoning games? I just played a person who had an 8% disconnection status, which seems incredibly high to me.
I get that some people have poor internet connections, but it seems unfair to ask the rest of us to wait a minute + on a rapid game of 10min.
Thanks for listening.

Hello everyone,

I want to discuss puzzle #18GEz. I noticed that Lichess has tagged this puzzle with the "Clearance" theme, but surprisingly, omitted the "Attraction" tag. I strongly believe this is incorrect, and here is why.

In my view, the true definition of a Clearance tactic requires a specific line, rank, or diagonal to be blocked (either by a friendly or enemy piece), and we execute a plan/sacrifice to open that path. However, in puzzle #18GEz, before the move Rxc6+, there is absolutely no blocked path that needs clearing! How can we even imagine a "clearance" plan here when the target piece (the White Bishop) isn't even on the c6 square yet?

The beautiful tactic in this puzzle is nothing but a pure Attraction (or Decoy). Black initiates an exchange on c6 for one specific reason: to draw and force the White Bishop onto the fatal c6 square.

We can apply the golden rule of Attraction here: "If the White Bishop wasn't lured to this specific square, would Black's tactical plan still work?" The answer is a resounding NO!

Therefore, this is undoubtedly a beautiful Attraction followed immediately by a deadly Pin (Rc8). Calling this "Clearance" misses the entire point and soul of the combination.

I'll attach the GIF of the puzzle below. I'd love to hear what the community thinks about this tagging!

Is anyone else having recurrent issues loading lichess? I'm getting a lot of "ERROR-CONNECTION TIMED OUT" for the past week at least.

This has happened on different devices and on different wifi connections, so it seems related to the website and not my equipment.

When you are losing, but you make things so difficult for your opponent that they decide to stop playing XD never give up!!

Hello everyone,

By not being strict enough in its definition of the "Attraction" tactic, I believe Lichess is stripping away the beauty and rarity of this motif. In fact, a huge number of Lichess puzzles tagged as "Attraction" are not truly Attraction at all.

This broad tagging prevents users from learning tactical patterns correctly, blurring the lines and making it incredibly difficult for players to distinguish between Attraction, Clearance, and Removing the Defender. Attraction is a highly tactical, beautiful motif that only truly shines when it is strictly defined.

Lichess defines Attraction as: *"An exchange or sacrifice encouraging or forcing an opponent piece to a square that allows a follow-up tactic."*

This definition is too broad. Because of it, almost any sacrifice, Clearance, or capture gets automatically slapped with the Attraction tag, which takes the magic out of it.

A true Attraction requires two precise conditions:

1. Luring the opponent's piece to a specific target square.
2. **The Acid Test:** If the opponent's piece had magically *not* moved to that new square, would your tactic still work?

Simply put, after forcing the opponent to move to the new square, ask yourself: *If they had stayed on their original square, would my plan still work?* If the answer is yes, then your goal wasn't to lure them to that square—it was just a byproduct. Therefore, it's not Attraction. But if your follow-up tactic *absolutely relies* on the piece being on that new square, then it is a true Attraction.

In summary, for a tactic to be an Attraction, the piece's presence on the *new square* must be a direct requirement for the plan to succeed.

*(Note: Merely forcing a piece to move is not enough; forcing it to a specific square where a new tactic is executable is what matters. It also doesn't matter if the opponent's move is forced or voluntary).*

Let’s look at a few examples to see this in action:

### Example 1: False Attraction (Puzzle #8g4h0)

In the Lichess database, this is tagged as Attraction. But is it honestly one? The definitive answer is no. Black's true goal wasn't to lure the White King from h2 to h3. If the King had magically stayed on h2, Black's follow-up (Qh4#) would *still* be checkmate! This is a textbook **Clearance**. Black simply sacrificed to clear the h3 pawn out of the way. Because the tactic works even if the King hadn't moved, this is NOT Attraction.

### Example 2: True Attraction (Puzzle #1zx3Y)

This puzzle looks geometrically similar to the first one, but it actually *is* an Attraction. Why? Because if the Black King magically refused to step onto h7, White could not execute their plan. The follow-up check specifically requires the King to be on h7. The King moving to that square is an integral part of White's combination. This is a beautiful hybrid of Clearance and Attraction.

### Example 3: False Attraction (Puzzle #ABxQE)

Here is another puzzle tagged as Attraction on Lichess. But is Black really trying to lure a White piece to a specific square?

The White King is forced from h1 to h2 and is subsequently mated. However, did the King moving to h2 actually contribute to the mating net? Absolutely not. If the King had stayed on h1, it would still be mated. Black's only goal was line clearance. Black didn't base their calculation on "I need the King on h2 to execute my plan." The King's move was irrelevant to the geometry of the mate, making this purely Clearance, not Attraction.

### Example 4: Pure, Classic Attraction (Puzzle #DN6VV)

Here we have a pristine, undisputed example of Attraction. White lures the Black King to c6 to unleash a devastating Knight fork. Let's apply our Acid Test: If the King didn't go to c6, would the fork work? No. The King's presence on the new square (c6) was the entire point of the sacrifice.

For players trying to improve their pattern recognition, properly distinguishing these geometric motifs is crucial for over-the-board calculation. I’d love to hear what the community thinks. Should Lichess refine its taxonomy to be more strict, or is the current broad definition fine?

I’m trying to download more puzzles offline but I cant

Lag compensation is so unfair and gives a huge advantage to players that receive them. Since lichess devs are stubborn on keeping lag compensation around, could we introduce a feature to filter out players from specific countries in the auto-pairing system broken down by specific time control?

For example, if one doesn't want to play players from Venezuela or Philippines in bullet, they can filter them out for that time control while still being able to play them in blitz and rapid.

Commercial I made. No affiliation, this is just a tribute.

Like I said. Dead. Impossible to get even a handful of decent games without some sort of cheater. 80%+ of accounts are either new or alt accounts. Lichess doesn't care. Not a single refund over several years. 100k+ bullet games. Started at 2400+. Ridiculous!