This is one great method that I've felt immediate rewards toward improving my tactics.
I'd always felt that performing a tactic in a game is a lucky exercise. That is, if I managed to pull a tactic on someone, it felt like I didn't really aim for that tactic and that it just appeared out of nowhere, by mostly luck.
Recently, I've improved upon that; now, I no longer feel as "lucky" when I do a tactical maneuver. In fact, I think now I'm getting better at building up to a position where I can play a tactic. Instead of stumbling into a tactic, I now feel the power to create one. Mind you, I still have lots to go and that sometimes I get burnt trying for a tactic but missing a strong defensive response.
In the past few weeks, this is the easy yet impactful training method that, I'm convinced, should be tried by all novice and intermediate players:
Focus on a theme (I began with the Pin theme in lichess).
Set the difficulty to Easiest.
Grind the thematic puzzle by doing a few dozen per day, for a few days.
I've started with the themes Pin, Capture the Defender, and Discovered Attack. Try to only do one theme per week.
There are many learning methods in chess whereby I feel like the immediate rewards do not get felt until a long, long time after; however, the rewards from this method have felt immediate. In every game, I'm constantly looking for these types of tactics, instead of stumbling upon them by chance (this purposeful play includes "quietly" building up a position whereby I can pull of the tactic).
I still do "Mixed" puzzles of Normal difficulty on Lichess. In my opinion, the Normal Mix puzzles are optimal for improving calculation. The method I outline above is specifically for training the tactical eye--yes, the combinations are easy to figure out, but what is being taught by the exercise is the ability to quickly commit certain patterns in the mind.
Try it and see if it works for you, if you haven't done something similar!
