Idiot Chess Puzzles

As a newbie (playing for about four months) I use the Chess.com Puzzles (blue icon) almost daily. I would subscribe to unlimited puzzles BUT I find that the puzzles fall into one of four categories - each roughly 25% of the many thousands of puzzles I've solved:

Category 1 - Instructive and insightful. Demonstrate subtle but important chess strategies.

Category 2 - Overly Simple - I totally get it - back-rank mates are super! But better opponents RARELY leave the back door wide opened. Why so many back-rank puzzles?

Category 3 - Kinda stupid - here's a couple of samples (below). The first puzzle (black to move) is easy - queen to h6. Should the white queen block, take it and continue the black queen to h2 with support from the rook on h8 - I don't care that the black rook on b8 is threated - it's check and mate. So how does the computer see this puzzle solved?  Rook to h2, which is taken by the king and THEN bring the second rook to h8 - sure it's "valid" but then again, so was mine - without sacrificing a piece. The second idiot puzzle, black to move, shows the rook on a8 under pressure from the rook on a1 - sure I could take the white rook but since the white queen is right next door why trade rooks for no strategic advantage??? So I move the a8 rook to b8 - ERROR! Why? The right way to play this is knight to b6, then bishop to g4.  Depending if  the white knight moves or not it's mate in two or three - BUT again the puzzle gods don't see this.

Category 4. Just dead wrong. This happens occasionally when moving a knight - often the correct move is obvious BUT the puzzle says it's incorrect. So then you try EVERY legal move with the knight and the puzzle says they are ALL wrong. SO press the "hint" again and the knight is highlighted - press "move" and you guessed it - the puzzle moves the knight to the first square you tried - FRUSTRATING! 

I wish there were a better puzzle site - anyone know of one?

Category 3 - Kinda stupid - here's a couple of samples (below). The first puzzle (black to move) is easy - queen to h6. Should the white queen block, take it and continue the black queen to h2 with support from the rook on h8 - I don't care that the black rook on b8 is threated - it's check and mate. So how does the computer see this puzzle solved?  Rook to h2, which is taken by the king and THEN bring the second rook to h8 - sure it's "valid" but then again, so was mine - without sacrificing a piece.

/ Your rating is still below 1000.  Things get much more interesting when you get your rating a bit higher.

It is good that you are taking the time to look at these puzzles after you have failed to solve them.  I understand that it is difficult for new players to always figure out why a move is correct.  Please feel free to post other examples where you are unable to figure out why  some result is favored by the Puzzle Gods... 

And if you have an example of Category #4, the ones that are "dead wrong",  please post it. 

Here's another beauty that I ran across this morning - apparently the black knight is invisible...

Do you have a link to that puzzle?

/ Did you read my comments on the two puzzles you posted previously? Do you understand now why the solutions work better than your suggested moves?

Yes I read your replies - and thanks again. On the first puzzle with the King on h1 I agree that your analysis is superior to mine however on the second puzzle both solutions have their merits - and leaving an opposing queen unchallenged on the open a file is a license for hurt as she would enjoy feasting on my bottom two ranks. So in answer to your question about information on the puzzle with with the invisible black knight, I tried getting the link but all I get is the general https://www.chess.com/puzzels/rated link - nothing more specific. As I have mentioned earlier, the puzzle bot has problems with knights - have never seen an illegal move by any other piece. Thanks again for your responses - and BTW where do you access the graphic for the individual chess pieces. Also, I have a very low 400 rating because as a newbie I only play bots. Yes, I understand from many serious players there is a big difference between playing vs people but I don't want to embarrass myself in front of a real person. I do however beat most bots with ~1200 ratings so I feel that I have made some progress this way.

In the forum, you can add a diagram or game using the little chessboard icon.  There are full instructions in Help. https://support.chess.com/article/316-how-do-i-put-a-game-or-puzzle-in-a-forum-post

yo consulto you should play more online and get your rating stable then go to in person tournaments and yeah

This is a skill issue not a puzzle problem

Qd8 is the correct move as Qd7 is met with Bxd7. After 1) Qd8 Rxd8, 2) Rxd8#

And I have now demonstrated my 83 IQ... Thank you I went blind on that one..