Chess for Beginners

Category: Checklist

  • Chess Game Review Checklist

    Chess Game Review Checklist

    One of the best ways of improving your game, is to review your chess games afterwards. You can then use your game as a springboard to additional learning by identifying your weaknesses and any missing concepts that caused you the game. One of the problems I have encountered, is that I haphazardly go over the game, and I always tend to run through it quickly and let my chess engine do most of the work. The problem with this approach is that most of the learning comes from when you ponder over the chess game and come up with questions about moves and ideas that you had at the most critical moments.

    I have created a chess game review checklist that breaks down the analysis of the game and gives you ideas of what to look for while you are reviewing and annotating it.

    I have broken down the review process into three distinct phases:

    • Phase I – Manual review with no engine help. These should be done on a chess board.
    • Phase II – Engine review, or if you have a chess coach or stronger player to review the game with you this is where they would come in.
    • Phase III- Identify Lessons Learned. Identify all of the things you need to work on based on your analysis and the engine / stronger player analysis. You should then add these to your chess notebook or chess database.

    Please feel free to give me any feedback, and I will consider updating the checklist to include your advice.

    If you follow this blog, you probably noticed that I haven’t posted in 6 months. The reason has been that I have been very unhappy with my progress, and I decided that I would not post until I felt that I had “improved”. I have tried new chess training methods as well as committed to older training methods, and I feel that in the past few weeks I have started to make some progress again.

    I have a couple of ideas that I want to write about in the coming weeks, and a tournament in July that should measure the level of improvement that I have attained.

  • Thought Process Checklist

    Thought Process Checklist

    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 exist, then perform a tactical evaluation if none exist proceed to the Positional Evaluation section:
    1. Loose (unguarded) pieces : Loose pieces drop off LDPO
    2. Weak back rank
    3. Pieces that can be easily attacked by enemy pieces of lesser value
    4. Pieces that can be attacked via discovery
    5. Pinned or skewerable pieces along the same rank, file or diagonal
    6. Pieces (or squares) vulnerable to knight forks
    7. Overworked pieces (pieces guarding more than one piece or square)
    8. Inadequately guarded pieces
    9. Falling way behind in development
    10. uncastled King or lost pawn protection with Queens on the board
    11. Open enemy lines for Rooks, Queens and bishops to your King
    12. Pieces that have little mobility and might easily be trapped if attacked
    13. A large domination of one side’s forces in one area of the board
    14. Advanced passed pawns

    Positional Evaluation

    1. What is the material balance?
    2. Are there any direct threats?
    3. How is the safety of both Kings?
    4. Pawn structure questions:
    a. Where are the open lines and diagonals?
    b. Are there any strong squares?
    c. Who is controlling the center?
    d. Who has more space and where on the board do they have it?
    5. Which pieces are active and which are not?
    a. Are there any weaknesses in my position?
    b. Are there any weaknesses in my opponent’s position?
    c. Are there any strengths in my opponent’s position?
    d. What are the strengths in my position?
    e. Which is my weakest placed piece? How can I improve it?

     

    Candidate Move Selection

    1. based on above select 2-4 candidates

    2. Begin analyzing the most forcing candidate first

     

     

    NOTE: When analyzing look for opponent’s best response and look 2 1/2 moves (5 ply ahead).
    If there is a combination, then you need to calculate until quiesence.
    3. Double check that at the end of your analysis your opponent doesn’t have a killer move (deadly in-between move or tactic)
    4. Evaluate the position at the end of your analysis:
    Even, W / B is slightly better, W / B is better, W/B is winning, unclear
    5. Rank your candidate move based on evaluation.
    6. Depending on time constraints and the quality of your recently analyzed candidate move go to step 2.
    a. if your candidate’s analysis weakens your position (leaves you better when winning or even when slightly better, then analyze the next candidate on your list)
    b. If your candidate leaves you in the same position (even when even, winning when winning), then decide whether you want to take additional time to analyze the next candidate on your list. The next candidate might take you from even to winning, so even if you found a good move, look for a better one if time allows.

     

     

     

     

    Blunder Check

    7. Write down your move.
    8. Perform a blunder check
    a. are you leaving a piece en prise?
    b. Are you missing a killer tactic?
    c. Are you missing a killer in-between move?
    d. Are you positionally weakening your position?
    9. PLAY the move

     

     

  • Positional Evaluation Checklist

    I have created a PDF document that is based on Karpov and Mazukevich’s thought process guidelines, and includes Herman Grooten’s modifications. You can download it here. The idea is to use it when going over annotated games, or when performing Stokyo exercises. Hopefully, by using it during your training sessions, the questions will sink into our subconscious, and we will subliminally use ask these same questions during actual play.

    Feel free to leave comments if you have any suggestions to improve the checklist.