ABSTRACT
A chess problem is a prototypical example of a well-defined problem, in which the starting state is given by the layout of standard pieces on the standard board, the goal is well-defined and the means available are specified by the legal moves of the pieces in the game. Knowledge rich problems, such as problems arising in running a nuclear power station, diagnosing car problems, flying a passenger plane or treating a rare disease, can only be tackled by very small numbers of highly trained individuals. The classifications into “insight” and “ill-defined” tend to overlap in that ill-defined problems need initial structuring and often re-structuring, and so tend to be classifiable as “insight” problems. The Gestalt approach to problem solving led to a strong focus on problem re-structuring and insight. The “Insight” solution to the X-ray task was generally not immediately apparent, and typically the problem was solved only after a number of approaches had been tried.
