Solving begins by reading the stipulation and genre before calculating. Different genres require different search logic: a twomover solver studies flights, set mates and defenses; a helpmate solver can construct the final mating picture backward; a retro solver treats the position as a constraint system.
Competitive solving adds formal answer-writing, scoring and time management.
Read Stipulation First
Before calculating, identify objective, side to move, move count, solution count, twins and fairy conditions. Many solving errors come from solving the wrong task.
Inventory Diagram
Inventory kings, checks, flights, batteries, line pieces, pins, promotions, missing material and unusual units/conditions before generating a key.
Identify Phase / Structure
Ask whether the problem is threat, block/zugzwang, help-play construction, study, retro or fairy. Genre structure guides candidate search.
Candidate Key / Mechanism
Generate candidate keys from the structure: flight changes, line openings/closures, sacrificial squares, waiting moves, batteries, tempo or thematic intersections.
Enumerate Defenses
For direct/selfmate work, every relevant defense must be answered. A line omitted because it looks unimportant can be the refutation or cook.
Verify Full Solution
A solve is complete only when the required variations/solutions reach the stipulated endpoint under every relevant defense and notation requirements.
Look for Theme
For Look for Theme, turn the genre's structure into a solving procedure: read stipulation, inventory the diagram, generate candidates/constraints, verify the full required solution, then record the answer in the format required by the relevant solving rules.
Solve #2
For a #2, inspect set mates and flights, identify threat/block structure, test candidate keys against all Black defenses and verify exactly one mate after each thematic defense.
Solve #3
For a #3, first find the key and threat structure, then identify Black's first defenses and White's second moves that create the final mating layer.
Solve Moremover
Moremovers often demand logical-plan reasoning: identify the desired mainplan, why it fails now, and the preparatory foreplan that removes the obstacle.
Solve Helpmate
Helpmate solving often works backward from possible mating pictures, then routes Black/White pieces cooperatively to make that exact final geometry possible in the move count.
Solve Selfmate
Selfmate solving identifies which black mating move White wants to compel, what Black can do to avoid it, and how White progressively removes Black's alternatives.
Solve Study
For studies, calculate with practical best-defense discipline but look for constructed paradox: stalemate, underpromotion, domination, geometry, mutual zugzwang or precise promotion race.
Solve Retro / Proof Game
Treat the diagram as a constraint system: account for captures/pawns/promotions/rights, derive forced routes and tempos, then verify a complete legal history.
Solve Fairy
First restate every fairy piece/condition in plain language, then calculate only after replacing orthodox assumptions with the declared rules.
WCSC / ECSC
WCSC and ECSC are WFCC solving championships for national teams and individual solvers. The current rules page states a six-round, two-day structure and was accepted on 1 November 2025.
Team and Individual
For Team and Individual, turn the genre's structure into a solving procedure: read stipulation, inventory the diagram, generate candidates/constraints, verify the full required solution, then record the answer in the format required by the relevant solving rules.
Six Current Rounds
The current WCSC/ECSC six rounds are: twomovers, threemovers, studies/endgames, helpmates, moremovers and selfmates—three problems per round.
3 Twomovers — 20 Minutes
Current WCSC/ECSC Round 1: 3 twomovers in 20 minutes.
3 Threemovers — 60 Minutes
Current WCSC/ECSC Round 2: 3 threemovers in 60 minutes.
3 Studies — 100 Minutes
Current WCSC/ECSC Round 3: 3 studies/endgames in 100 minutes.
3 Helpmates — 50 Minutes
Current WCSC/ECSC Round 4: 3 helpmates in 50 minutes.
3 Moremovers — 80 Minutes
Current WCSC/ECSC Round 5: 3 moremovers in 80 minutes.
3 Selfmates — 50 Minutes
Current WCSC/ECSC Round 6: 3 selfmates in 50 minutes.
Writing the Solution
Competitive answer-writing is genre-specific. Current WCSC rules require only the key in twomovers, longer direct/selfmate variations to specified depth, all helpmate moves, and study play until the win/draw is obvious.
Partial Credit / Scoring
A complete correct solution/cook currently scores 5 points; incomplete solutions can receive partial credit under a predeclared distribution, while incorrect required variations/extra incorrect solutions can score zero for that component/problem.
Time Management
For Time Management, turn the genre's structure into a solving procedure: read stipulation, inventory the diagram, generate candidates/constraints, verify the full required solution, then record the answer in the format required by the relevant solving rules.
No Computer Assistance
Current WCSC/ECSC rules forbid electronic or technological aids that can assist solving. This is competition procedure distinct from computer-assisted composing/testing.
Solver Rating
WFCC maintains a separate solving rating system. It is not an OTB FIDE rating and should be presented with its own current rating rules/list date.
Solver Titles
WFCC/FIDE composition structures award solving titles such as GM, IM and FM, plus women's solving titles under their own norm/rating rules. They are not OTB player titles.
Competitive-Solving Practice
For Competitive-Solving Practice, turn the genre's structure into a solving procedure: read stipulation, inventory the diagram, generate candidates/constraints, verify the full required solution, then record the answer in the format required by the relevant solving rules.
Change Your Search Method With the Genre
There is no universal “checks, captures, threats” solver for composition. A twomover asks you to understand defenses and mating changes; a helpmate asks for cooperative construction; a selfmate asks how White compels a hostile mating move; a study asks for exact win/draw resources; a retro asks which histories are possible; a fairy problem first asks whether you understood the rules.
A strong solver therefore begins with task classification, not candidate moves.
Competitive Solving Adds a Writing Skill
In formal solving, knowing the idea is not enough: the written solution must satisfy the event's notation and completeness rules. Under the WFCC WCSC/ECSC rules accepted on 1 November 2025, the championship still uses six rounds over two days: twomovers, threemovers, studies, helpmates, moremovers and selfmates, with three compositions per round and genre-specific time limits. The rules also specify how much of each solution must be written.
That means training should include two separate abilities:
- discover the solution;
- record exactly what earns credit.
Post-Solve Review
After solving, do not stop at “right/wrong.” Record where the decisive clue came from, which candidate was seductive, which defense or retro constraint you missed, and whether your error was notation, rule reading, visualization or thematic understanding. Solving skill improves faster when failures are classified by cause.
Candidate Generation by Genre
A practical genre-aware candidate order can look like this:
- #2 — examine flights, set mates, likely block structure, paradoxical keys and defenses;
- #3/moremover — identify the apparent mainplan, then search for preparation when it fails;
- helpmate — work backward from plausible mating pictures and cooperative piece routes;
- selfmate — identify the desired black mating mechanism and ask how White can compel it;
- study — search forcing resources, exact geometry, stalemate, promotion and best defense;
- retro/proof game — inventory historical constraints before proposing a past sequence;
- fairy — rehearse the altered rules before generating moves.
This is not a rigid algorithm. It is a way to stop importing the wrong genre's instincts.
Accuracy Before Speed, Then Speed Through Structure
Competitive solvers eventually need speed, but raw speed comes from structural compression: recognizing that a position is a block, seeing a familiar mating matrix, identifying a proof-game tempo bottleneck, or spotting the likely study mechanism. Train accuracy first, then reduce time while preserving complete solution writing.
Verify the Refutation You Did Not Want to See
Solvers naturally invest in attractive keys and elegant study moves. Deliberately search for the move that would make your candidate fail. In direct problems, test every legal defense; in studies, search the defender's most unpleasant resource; in retro, try to construct an alternative history. This adversarial habit is one of the strongest bridges between solving intuition and technical correctness.