“Lack of patience is probably the most common reason for losing a game, or drawing games that should have been won.” – Bent Larsen Patience in Chess This is the first entry in our chess tips series. Winning and losing in chess is many times a result not of what you do not know, but…
You see a tactical combination on the board and you have the opportunity to play it…you become excited, after all this is your moment to play like Tal, but chances are that you do not play like Tal. While you have spotted a tactical opportunity, it may not be the best move, it might even be…
According to Dan Heisman in his great article Bootstrapping Analysis Skills The following are what make you a good analyst: Will to analyze the position correctly, move after move. Patience to analyze the position thoroughly (but keep in mind the clock – see “g”). Analytical thought process to know what steps to take. Board vision…
1. Look at the whole board.
2. Look for immediate opponent threats.
3. Narrate tactical themes (Hanging bishop, skewerable or forkable pieces, etc.).
4. Look at more than one candidate (when you find a good move look for a better one).
5. Calculate at least 6 ply (3 moves) deep.
6. Look for in-between moves.
7. Examine forcing moves first in the order of checks, captures and threats.
8. When all seems lost, look for stalemate possibilities.
9. If you feel you are on the right track, but your are not finding the winning move, then try to reverse the move order.
10. Blundercheck.
In the diagram White has an outpost on e5, but Ne5 can always be met by …Nxe5 and after recapturing with the pawn, White’s outpost is gone. White needs to bring another piece to bear on e5, so White to move would play 1.Bg5 and follow it up with Bh4 and Bg3. If on…
Core Evaluation 1. How has the opponent’s last move changed the position? Has your opponent made a blunder? 2. What is he trying to achieve? 3. Has he weakened his position (positional concession, piece en prise, open to a tactic) ? 4. Are there any threats? Tactical Evaluation If 1 or more of the following…
Best Chess Books by Rating Chess Rating: 1200-1400 1) Chess Tactics for Students by John Bain 2) Logical Chess Move by Move by Irving Chernev 3) Back to Basics: Tactics (ChessCafe Back to Basics Chess) by Dan Heisman 4) Winning Chess Tactics, revised (Winning Chess – Everyman Chess) by Seirawan 5) Silman’s Complete Endgame Course…
