The rough split: one minute to read the position, two to calculate candidates, one to commit and play the line, and one to work out what the puzzle was trying to show you.

Minute 1: read the board

Before searching for a combination, orient yourself. Whose move is it? Where are the kings? Which pieces are undefended? What did the opponent’s last move probably change? Look for alignments along files, ranks, and diagonals.

By the end of the minute you should be able to say something concrete, such as “the king has no flight square” or “the knight on d5 is loose.”

Minutes 2–3: calculate candidates

List checks, captures, and direct threats. Choose the most promising candidate and calculate the opponent’s strongest response. If it fails, return to your candidate list rather than trying to rescue the move.

Keep your hands away from the board while calculating. If the cursor starts hovering over pieces, move it off the board. That small pause is the habit this routine is for.

Minute 4: commit

Make the move only when you can explain the line. If you are still uncertain, choose the move supported by your calculation—not the move that merely looks most tactical. Complete the continuation with the same care.

Minute 5: keep one lesson

If you solved it, identify what made the tactic work: an overloaded defender, an exposed king, a pinned piece, or a forcing sequence. If you missed, find the first move or reply you failed to consider. Say the lesson in one sentence.

“I looked at the check, but I did not notice that the defender was pinned.”

That sentence is the part worth carrying into your next game.

What if the puzzle takes longer?

Let it run. The timer is there to make you start, not to make you guess at 4:58. A hard position may deserve ten minutes. An easy fork may take thirty seconds and leave time for another one.

Make the routine easy to start

Attach it to a pause that already exists: the first coffee, the train, lunch, or the awkward gap before a call. TacticBar was built for those gaps, but the routine works with any puzzle source.

For a deeper method, read how to get better at chess puzzles. If you want to scale the habit, see how many puzzles to solve each day.