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While I'm not debating the difficulty of the obstacles presented in the Philospher's Stone, it would seem to me that it would make more sense to just guard it.
In the cases of the potions, the keys, and the chess, why present solutions to the user? Why not simply present a wall of fire, an enchanted door that's nigh on impossible to unlock, and some stone guardians one has to fight?
I think the most likely answer is that the obstacles are meant to delay people, not to stop them. Providing a solution means that people will take the time to try to figure out how to solve them, and potentially proceed undetected, rather than to brute force the obstacles in a smash-and-grab that might succeed before help could arrive.
