Chess for Beginners

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  • My Thought Process

    Update: 10/17/2009

    I modified the process based on conversations with FM Charles Galofre, I have merged the tactical and strategic scans into one. His point is that even if you find a strong tactical move, you should still look at the strategic aspects of the position since the game might be won with a quiet positional move which you would not have considered if you cut your search short once you had found a tactic.

    The following is the thought process I have decided to employ during long games. The idea is to drill these questions in during practice, so that they become second nature when playing an regular game.

    The idea is to create your own thought process checklist and make it your own.

    It is highly recommended that you also check out Chessplanner by Blue Devil Knight, since it is more thorough than my checklist.

    1. Threat Scan

    I. What is my opponent threatening?

    II. What are the consequences of my opponent’s last move? (how has the position changed?)

    III. Do I have any checks, captures or threats (CCT)? Consider forcing moves as possible candidates

    2.  Move Scan

    A. Tactical Scan

    I. Is there likely to be a tactic in the position?

    a. Tactical Motifs: hanging pieces, weak back rank, discovered attack, pinned or skewerable along same rank, overworked pieces, lack of development, poorly guarded pieces, overworked pieces, forks, weak king position (uncastled King), large accumulation of pieces on one side, in-between moves.

    Even if you find a strong tactical scan, if time allows do a positional scan. If you find a good move look for a better one.

    B. Strategical Scan

    (If there are no tactics, you need to come up with a plan)

    I. Material balance

    II. King safety

    III.  Pawn structure

    a. Who has the better pawn structure (look for doubled pawns, isolated pawns, and hanging pawns)
    b. Are there any open lines or diagonals?
    c. What are the strong and weak squares?
    d. Who is controlling the center?
    e. Who has more space and where on the board do they have it?

    IV.. Activity
    a. which pieces are active and which are not? (how can you make them more active)
    b. Who has better development?
    c. who has the initiative?

    V. Minor pieces
    a. Bishops (bishop pair, bad / good bishop, good diagonals for bishops)
    b. Knights (outposts, strength compared with bishops)

    VI. misc questions
    a. what stage of the game are we in?
    b. If we removed the Queen’s off the board, who has the better endgame?

    4. Select your candidates     (based on scans above)

    5. Analyze candidates (start with the most forcing)

    6. Select move based on analysis

    7. Blundercheck

    8. Write down your move

    9. Blundercheck again

    10. Make your move

  • Chess Evolution

    I played in the U 1500 section of the Miami Open a few weeks ago, and it was not a good outing. I only won one of 5 games against a much lower rated opponent. While devastated, it has only made me work harder on my chess. The week following the Open, I immediately started taking face to face lessons with FM Charles Galofre.  I have decided to stop trying to find my path on my own, and to work with a strong player that can guide me in the right direction.  I have two lessons under my belt, and I have been very pleased with the direction my chess improvement process has been taking.

    I will begin posting more frequently in the coming days, but I wanted to document some of the things I have been doing differently in the last couple of weeks.

    1. Started taking chess lessons

    2. Narrowed the focus of my chess study (50% of study time is on tactics)

    3. Focusing on my thought process

    4. FM Galofre recommended that I start playing open game as White

    5. Taking every game as an opportunity to learn (annotating and reviewing afterwards)

    Failure is not getting knocked down, it’s not getting up again

    – Vince Lombardi

  • Tactical Position for Study

    borovsky1g0_22White to move

    Highlight below for answer:

    15.Rxf6 gxf6 16.Bh3+ Rd7 17.Bxd7+ Kxd7 18.Qg4+ Ke8 19.Nd5 Qd8 20.Qe6+ Kf8 21.Bh6#

  • Chess Visualization Exercise #8

    It is very important that you have mastered exercises 1-7 before starting on this exercise. For exercises 1-7 visit the chess exercises page.

    Without looking at the board, tell all the squares controlled by:

    – a knight on c6
    – a knight on f3
    – a knight on b2
    – a knight on c5
    – a knight on h7

  • Karpov & Mazukevich's Chess Thought Process

    (adapted by Herman Grooten)

    The following thought process which is recommended by Karpov and Mazukevich is used to detect the important features of an arbitrary position in order to devise a plan that conforms to the positional assessment derived by using this thought process.

    This thinking process is based on 7 criteria in which the White position is compared with the Black position.

    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 many 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?

    Training applications:

    Go through the questions out loud while doing middlegame positions based on  Stoyko Exercises. The idea is to practice “talking out loud” with the list in front of you so that when you are in real game mode the questions will be asked subconsiously.

    Source: Chess Strategy for Club Players pg. 37.

  • Chess Visualization Exercise #7

    It is very important that you have mastered exercises 1-6 before starting on this exercise. For exercises 1-6 visit the chess exercises page.

    Without looking at the board, tell all the squares controlled by:

    – a knight on c3
    – a knight on e2
    – a knight on f6
    – a knight on d4

  • Steinitz's Elements

    Permanent advantages

    1. Material advantage
    2. Bad king position
    3. Passed pawns in the middlegame
    4. Weak pawns for the opponent
    5. Strong and weak squares
    6. Pawn islands
    7. Strong pawn center
    8. Control of a diagonal
    9. Control of a file
    10. Bishop pair
    11. Control of a rank

    Temporary advantages
    12. Bad piece position
    13. Inharmoniously placed pieces
    14. Advantage in development
    15. Concentration of pieces in the center (centralization)
    16. Space advantage

  • Annotated Game: Szabo v.Geller Zurich 1953

    [Annotator: Bronstein, David]

    A weakness of the dark squares is also a weakness of the pieces and pawns on the light squares. Light-square weaknesses are also possible, resulting in a weakening of the enemy pieces on the dark squares. The point of an attack on the dark squares is that by placing my pawns and pieces on the dark, I attack my opponent’s pieces and pawns on the light. This game provides a clear example of the method of exploiting dark square weakness; and the combination which was possible after Black’s 24th move begs to be included in a textbook, taking place as it does entirely on light squares.

    1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 d5 4.d4 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Nf3 a6 7.Qxc4 b5 8.Qc6 Diagram

    zurich_1g1_16
    Having hatched a plan to weaken the enemy dark squares, Szabo undertakes a delicate maneuver aimed at bringing about the exchange of the dark square bishops, which will further strengthen his grip on the dark squares.

    8…Rb8 9.Bf4 Nd5 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.0-0 Bb7 13.Qc2 c5 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Rc1 Rc8 16.Nc3 Nf6 Diagram

    zurich_1g1_17
    A small but serious inaccuracy; Black removes this piece from the main theater of operations.[16…Nb6 much better for Black. Increases control of c4 and makes it more difficult for White to play b4.]

    (more…)

  • Position for Study #1

    Chess Position 1White to move

    1. Material: White is up a pawn, that is about to Queen. But White cannot defend it.

    2. King safety. White’s King is pinned to the light squared bishop. Black’s King is in no immediate danger.

    3. Activity: Black’s rook is more active, and his bishop is not pinned like White’s.

    4. Pawn structure. White has the better pawn structure on the Kingside, and has a passed pawn on the Qside.

    Biggest threat for White is 1…Rxa7 losing the passed pawn and heading into a draw.

    Problem is that White cannot defend the pawn with the rook since the rook is lost with either 1.Ra8 or 1.Rc7.

    Candidates:

    Highlight text for answer:

    1. Rxc6+ {the most forcing move} Kxc6 2.a8=Q Rxa8 3.Be4+ {Wins the Black rook due to the skewering of the King and the Rook}

  • Improving Chess Analysis Skills with Stoyko Exercises

    This content was buried in a post for Kotov’s Method for Chess Improvement, and since it is such an important chess improvement tool, I figured I would promote it to its own post.

    Stoyko Exercises

    from Dan Heisman’s Exercises page

    A summary of Stoyko exercise:

    1) Find a fairly complicated position

    2) Get out a pen/pencil and paper

    3) You have unlimited time

    4) Write down every (pertinent) line for as deep as you can see, making sure to include an evaluation at the end of the line. This will likely include dozens of lines and several first ply candidate moves. Evaluations can be any type you like:

    a) Computer (in pawns, like +.3)

    b) MCO/Informant (=, +/=, etc.)

    c) English (”White is a little better”)

    5) At the end state which move you would play and it’s “best play for both sides” line becomes the PV

    6) When you are done, go over each line and its evaluation with a strong player and/or a computer. Look for:

    a) Lines/moves you should have analyzed but missed

    b) Any errors in visualization (retained images, etc.)

    c) Any lines where you stopped analyzing too soon, thus causing a big error in evaluation (quiescence errors)

    d) Any large errors in evaluation of any line

    e) Whether the above caused you to chose the wrong move
    etc.