Chess for Beginners

Tag: thought process

  • First Steps as a Chess Beginner

    Queen's Gambit

    So you just finished watching the Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, and you are super excited to start playing chess, but where do you start?

    This chess for beginners roadmap hopes to get you started in the right direction.

    1. Learn how the pieces move.

    2. Start playing on line by joining a chess website

    3. Play online with players at your own level

    4. Start practicing tactics on chesstempo.com.

    5. Consider your thought process . Frequently ignored, but very important part of chess. It helps your play by asking questions that will assist you in finding the right move and not blundering.

    6. Read a chess book for beginners.

    7. Start looking into chess openings. Find one that matches your chess playing personality.

    8. Keep playing. Analyze your games, find out where you made a mistake.

    9. Enter your first chess tournament.

    10. Always keep striving to improve your chess. It takes time to improve at chess, the important thing is to have fun while playing.


      By now you should have been playing chess for approximately six months to a year. You have experienced the joys and pain of chess and you have a better idea if you want to take chess seriously or not. Taking your chess to the next level requires a chess coach to work on your weaknesses. 

  • Chess Strategy

    Chess Strategy

    What is Chess Strategy?

    It is the creation of long term plans that will dictate your next several moves. In order to achieve these plans, you can argue that the chess player will resort to either positional, tactical or endgame devices.

    Aspect of chess playing concerned with evaluation of chess positions and setting of goals and long-term plans for future play.

    Strategic play is the most difficult component of chess to train and learn. By studying tactics, you can improve your pattern database and your visualization skills. Tactical study will lead to tangible improvement in your game.

     
    But when studying strategy, patterns are not as obvious and over the board decisions are more common, making it one of the most complex phases of a chess game.

    Strategic versus Positional Chess

    Positional chess has to do with the positioning of the pieces and their mobility whereas strategic chess has to do with long term planning. A strategic plan in chess can revolve around making a piece more active, and as a result can have a positional component. A strategic plan can also lead to a tactical culmination. And finally, a strategic plan can lead to an endgame.

    For Nimzowitsch in My System the basic elements of strategy were:

    1. The center
    2. Open files
    3. Play on the 7th and 8th ranks
    4. The passed pawn
    5. The pin
    6. Discovered check
    7. The pawn chain
    8. Exchanging

    If you review Nimzowitsch’s list, you can argue that items 1-3 and 7 are positional in nature. Items 5 & 6 are tactical, and 4 & 8 are endgame related.

    The following Venn diagram illustrates the different components of chess strategy.

    Components of Chess Strategy

     

    Strategic Thought Process

    How frequently do you need to rethink your plan? when in my thought process do I think about strategic components and create a long term plan for the position?

    While long term plan is the definition of strategy, you need to reconsider any long term plan based on the situation on the board. The following critical moments are signs that a re-validation and possible modification of your strategic plan maybe in order:

    1. In positions where there are possible exchanges
    2. Transition from opening to middlegame, or from middlegame to endgame.
    3. After a change in pawn structure.
    4. At the end of a series of forced moves.
    5. When there is tension in the position.

    A common chess thought process heuristic is to think strategically during your opponent’s move and to calculate variations during your move.

    chess strategy thought process

    How to Improve Your Strategic Play

     Step one is to go over of master games, starting in chronological order with the games of Emanuel Lasker. This will give you a good foundation of strategic play. This will give you a good perspective of how strategic play has changed over the years. Play through circa 1927, when Capablanca lost the Chess Championship to Alekhine.

     
    Step two is to review Nimzowitch’s My System, study it well and apply it to your play.
     
    Step three is to review Master games starting with Alekhine’s games circa 1930. Review games until you reach circa 1969 which is the end of Petrosian’s reign as chess world champion.
     
    Step four is to read Watson’s Modern Chess Strategy – Advances since Nimzowitch. The key is to identify how play has changed since Nimzowitch’s time.
     
    Step five, is to continue reviewing chess master games, from 1970 to current times.

    I would love to hear your feedback on how you define strategy in chess and what your thought process looks like.

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  • Chess Thought Process Checklist Infographic

    Chess Thought Process Checklist Infographic

    Chess Thought Process Checklist

    Chess Thought Process Checklist Infographic
    Chess Thought Process Checklist Infographic

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  • Chess Tips: Patience at the Chess board

    Chess Tips: Patience at the Chess board

    “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 of your behavior over the chess board. If your improvement has stalled, many times it is due to chess psychology issues. Being impatient at the chess board is one of those chess psychology problems that need to be identified and resolved. Impatience is a behavior that leads to not fulfilling your full potential in chess. Review the games of masters and a common denominator is how they wield powerful yet patient moves whenever the opportunity arises. The virtue of patience must be acquired if you wish to cross the elusive 2000 elo threshold.

    Study and practice increases your internal pattern recognition database, improves your calculation and evaluation skills and increases your knowledge of typical positions. This all adds up to making you a stronger more skilled player, but many times you continue to lose games and improvement seems slow and arduous. Your improvement does does not keep up with your investment in studying and practicing chess because of errors of chess psychology.

    Chess improvement is composed of skill, knowledge and psychology. While skill and knowledge can be trained through books and coaching the psychological component is dependent on finding the weaknesses in your thought process and decision making and addressing them. Many items are not taught to chess beginners who are learning to play chess, yet it is an important component that holds many chess players back.

    The Psychology of Patience

    In evolutionary psychology and in cognitive neuroscience patience is studied as a decision making problem, involving the choice of either a small short-term reward or a more valuable long-term reward This is despite the often greater benefits associated with long-term rewards.

    When you have a strong move available to you, yet you delay to play it and continue to build up your position while leaving the threat on the table, this adversely impacts your opponent psychologically (see Capablanca – Ragozin Moscow 1935). On every move your opponent needs to calculate variations that deal with parrying your threat, yet to their surprise after all their calculation, you play another move that leaves the threat on hold yet makes your position even stronger.

    Patience in chess boils down to thinking before you move. By being patient you are able to play the best move and prevent mistakes in your play.

    Patience Is Required

    Impatience is the leading cause of blunders. Quick thoughtless moves lead to the weakening of your position and they lead to losing a drawn game or drawing a won game. Being impatient at the chessboard prevents you from playing the best move possible, since you are not giving the position the amount of thought it requires. Being inpatient gets in the way of improvement. While patience is required throughout the entire game, there are critical moments during a game where it helps to remind yourself that you need to not hurry and be patient.
    • Tension filled positions (central tension or attacking)
    • Complex positions
    • Won positions
    • Positions where you have a tactic on the board. Don’t get excited, and always ask yourself if our opponent has a killer in-between move, or if it is a trap.
    • Positions where you are defending a strong attack. In these cases there is usually only one move that prevents an immediate loss.
    • Positions where exchanges are imminent.
    • Positions where the pawn structure is going to change.
    "You can't overestimate the importance of psychology in chess, and as much as some players try to downplay it, I believe that winning requires a constant and strong psychology not just at the board but in every aspect of your life." - Garry Kasparov

    Becoming a More Patient Player

    • Remind yourself to be patient throughout the game, especially in the positions described above.
    • Always ask yourself if your opponent’s last move was a mistake.
    • Always ask yourself if the move you are about to make is a mistake. Does it lose to an immediate tactic? Is it a blunder?
    • Implement Blumenfeld’s rule (see below)
    • Always apply Tarrasch’s rule - When you see a good move, look for a better one.
    • Practice mindfulness and meditation
     

    Blumenfeld's Rule

    When you have finished your calculations, write down the move you have decided upon on the score sheet. Then examine the position for a short time 'through the eyes of a patzer'. Ask whether you have left a mate in one on, or left a piece or a pawn to be taken. Only when you have convinced yourself that there is no immediate catastrophe for you should you make the planned move." - Kotov

    Patience in Practice : The Patience of a Master

    Delaying your attack to prevent opponent counterplay

    [pgn height=625 initialHalfmove=0 autoplayMode=none] [Event "Monte Carlo"] [Site "Monte Carlo"] [Date "1903.03.06"] [Round "18"] [White "Pillsbury, Harry Nelson"] [Black "Tarrasch, Siegbert"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C63"] [PlyCount "166"] [EventDate "1903.02.10"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "26"] [EventCountry "MNC"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Bb5 Nc6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. exf5 e4 6. Qe2 Qe7 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. Nh4 d5 9. d4 a5 10. Bg5 Ba6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Qh5+ Kd7 13. Ng6 Qxd4 14. Nxh8 Bc5 15. Qh4 Rxh8 16. Rd1 Qb4 17. Qg4 Kd8 18. Qxg7 Re8 19. Qf6+ Kd7 20. a3 Qb6 21. Rd2 e3 22. fxe3 Bxe3 23. Nxd5 Bxd2+ 24. Kxd2 Qf2+ 25. Kd1 Qe2+ 26. Kc1 cxd5 27. Rd1 c6 28. Qh4 Qxg2 29. Qxh7+ Re7 30. Qh4 Qe4 31. Qh8 Qxf5 32. Qa8 Bc8 33. Qa7+ Ke8 34. Qxa5 Qf4+ 35. Kb1 Qxh2 36. Qc5 Bb7 37. b4 Qe2 38. Rh1 Rf7 39. Rh8+ Kd7 40. Rh6 Rf1+ 41. Kb2 Qe7 42. Qd4 Re1 43. Rh5 Kc7 44. Qf4+ Kb6 45. Qd4+ c5 46. bxc5+ Qxc5 47. Rh6+ Bc6 48. Qf6 Qb5+ 49. Kc3 Qc4+ 50. Kb2 Qb5+ 51. Kc3 Qc4+ 52. Kb2 Qb5+ 53. Kc3 Re3+ 54. Kd2 Re2+ 55. Kd1 Re8 56. Kd2 Qe2+ 57. Kc1 Qe1+ 58. Kb2 Qe5+ 59. Qxe5 Rxe5 60. Rh4 Re4 61. Rh8 Kc5 62. Rc8 Re8 63. Rc7 Kd6 64. Rh7 Bb5 65. Kc3 Ba4 66. Rh2 Re4 67. Rg2 Kc5 68. Rh2 Re3+ 69. Kb2 Bb5 70. Rh8 Re2 71. Rc8+ Kd4 72. Kb3 Bc4+ 73. Kb2 Bd3 74. Kb3 Bf5 75. Rc7 Re8 76. c3+ Kd3 77. Rc5 Rb8+ 78. Ka4 Be4 79. Rc7 Kc2 80. Rc6 Bd3 81. Rc5 Bc4 82. Ka5 Kxc3 83. a4 Ra8+ 0-1 [/pgn]

    Keeping the tension

    [pgn height=550 initialHalfmove=0 autoplayMode=none] [Event "DSB-15.Kongress"] [Site "Nuremberg"] [Date "1906.??.??"] [Round "6"] [White "Duras, Oldrich"] [Black "Chigorin, Mikhail"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C97"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "1906.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Kh8 13. Nf1 Ng8 14. Ne3 Be6 15. Nf5 Bf6 16. d5 Bd7 17. g4 g6 18. Ng3 Bg7 19. Kh2 Nc4 20. Nd2 Nb6 21. h4 Qd8 22. Kg2 Qxh4 23. f3 Bh6 24. Rh1 Qf6 25. Rh3 Qg7 26. Kf2 Bf4 27. Ndf1 Rae8 28. Ne3 Re7 29. Qh1 f6 30. Ng2 Bg5 31. b3 Ref7 32. Be3 Ne7 33. Nh4 Bxe3+ 34. Kxe3 f5 35. gxf5 gxf5 36. exf5 Qg5+ 37. Ke2 Nbxd5 38. Ke1 Qe3+ 39. Ne2 Nf4 40. Rh2 Nxe2 41. Rxe2 Qxc3+ 42. Kf2 Qd4+ 43. Kg2 Rg7+ 44. Ng6+ Nxg6 45. fxg6 Bc6 46. Rf2 Rxf3 47. Rxf3 Bxf3+ 48. Kxf3 Qc3+ 49. Ke4 Qxc2+ 50. Kd5 Qd3+ 51. Kc6 Qxg6 52. Kb6 d5+ 53. Kxc5 Rc7+ 54. Kxd5 Rd7+ 55. Kxe5 Qe8+ 56. Kf4 Rf7+ 57. Kg3 Qe3+ 0-1 [/pgn]

    The threat is stronger than the execution

    The player who has the threat has 2 advantages: the threat and the choice of when the threat will be executed. (1) Having the threat plays against your opponent’s psyche. Every move the threat exists requires your opponent to worry about it and include it in every calculation. [pgn height=550 initialHalfmove=20 autoplayMode=none] [Event "Moscow"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "1935.02.22"] [Round "6"] [White "Capablanca, Jose Raul"] [Black "Ragozin, Viacheslav"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E32"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "1935.02.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "19"] [EventCountry "URS"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 d6 6. Qc2 O-O 7. e4 e5 8. Bd3 c5 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. d5 Ne7 11. f3 Nd7 12. h4 Nb6 13. g4 f6 14. Ng3 Kf7 15. g5 Ng8 16. f4 Ke8 17. f5 Qe7 18. Qg2 Kd8 19. Nh5 Kc7 20. gxf6 gxf6 21. Ng7 { Capablanca leaves the knight on g7 for an incredible 25 moves!} Bd7 22. h5 Rac8 23. h6 Kb8 24. Rg1 Rf7 25. Rb1 Qf8 26. Be2 Ka8 27. Bh5 Re7 28. Qa2 Qd8 29. Bd2 Na4 30. Qb3 Nb6 31. a4 Rb8 32. a5 Nc8 33. Qa2 Qf8 34. Be3 b6 35. a6 Qd8 36. Kd2 Qf8 37. Rb2 Qd8 38. Qb1 b5 39. cxb5 Nb6 40. Qa2 c4 41. Qa3 Qc7 42. Kc1 Rf8 43. Rbg2 Qb8 44. Qb4 Rd8 45. Rg3 Rf8 46. Ne6 Bxe6 47. dxe6 Rc7 48. Qxd6 Ne7 49. Rd1 1-0 [/pgn]

    Patient Build up

    [pgn height=525 initialHalfmove=0 autoplayMode=none] [Event "Dubai ol (Men)"] [Site "Dubai"] [Date "1986.11.18"] [Round "4"] [White "Karpov, Anatoly"] [Black "Ribli, Zoltan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A30"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2585"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "1986.11.15"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "UAE"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1994.03.01"] [WhiteTeam "Soviet Union"] [BlackTeam "Hungary"] [WhiteTeamCountry "URS"] [BlackTeamCountry "HUN"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 e6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O d6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4 a6 9. Rd1 Be7 10. b3 Nbd7 11. e4 Qc8 12. Bb2 O-O 13. Nd2 Qc7 14. Rac1 Rac8 15. h3 Rfe8 16. a3 Qb8 17. b4 Red8 18. Qe3 Ba8 19. Qe2 Ne8 20. Nf1 Bb7 21. Kh2 Nef6 22. Nd2 Ne8 23. Re1 Ba8 24. Nb3 Bg5 25. Rc2 Rc7 26. f4 Bf6 27. Rec1 Rdc8 28. Nd1 Bb7 29. Qd3 Bxb2 30. Nxb2 Qa8 31. Nd1 a5 32. Nd4 Rd8 33. Nb5 Rcc8 34. Ndc3 Qb8 35. Rd1 Ndf6 36. Rcd2 h6 37. Qe2 Ba8 38. Kg1 Bc6 39. Kh2 e5 40. f5 Qa8 41. g4 Qb8 42. h4 Qb7 43. Bf3 Qe7 44. Kg3 axb4 45. axb4 d5 46. cxd5 Bxb5 47. Nxb5 Qxb4 48. g5 hxg5 49. hxg5 Nh7 50. d6 Rc5 51. Rb2 Qc4 52. Qh2 Rxb5 53. Qxh7+ Kxh7 54. Rh2+ Kg8 55. Rdh1 f6 56. Rh8+ 1-0 [/pgn]

    Don't Hurry When You Are Winning

    [pgn height=600 initialHalfmove=0 autoplayMode=none] [Event "Karlsbad"] [Site "Karlsbad"] [Date "1923.05.15"] [Round "14"] [White "Alekhine, Alexander"] [Black "Chajes, Oscar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D64"] [PlyCount "127"] [EventDate "1923.04.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "17"] [EventCountry "CSR"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Rc1 c6 8. Qc2 a6 9. a3 Re8 10. h3 b5 11. c5 Nh5 12. Bf4 Nxf4 13. exf4 a5 14. Bd3 g6 15. h4 Bf6 16. h5 Nf8 17. g3 Ra7 18. Nd1 Bg7 19. Ne3 f5 20. Qe2 a4 21. Nc2 Rae7 22. Kf1 Bf6 23. Ne5 Bxe5 24. Qxe5 Qc7 25. Qf6 Rf7 26. Qh4 Qe7 27. hxg6 Nxg6 28. Qh5 Qf6 29. Be2 Rg7 30. Qf3 Nf8 31. Qe3 Ree7 32. Nb4 Bd7 33. Bh5 Ng6 34. Nd3 Be8 35. Ke2 Kf8 36. Kd2 Rb7 37. Bf3 Ke7 38. Rhe1 Nf8 39. Nb4 Kd8 40. Kd3 Rge7 41. Qd2 Ra7 42. Rh1 Rec7 43. Rh2 Bg6 44. Qe3 Kc8 45. Rch1 Kb7 46. Kd2 Re7 47. Nd3 Nd7 48. Bh5 Ra8 49. Bxg6 hxg6 50. Rh7 Rae8 51. Ne5 Nf8 52. Rh8 Rg7 53. Nf3 Rb8 54. Ng5 Re7 55. Qe5 Qxe5 56. fxe5 Ra8 57. Rg8 b4 58. Rhh8 Ree8 59. axb4 Ka7 60. Kc3 Ka6 61. Nf7 Rec8 62. Nd6 Rd8 63. Rh1 Rd7 64. Ra1 1-0 [/pgn] I want to thank chess coach IM Alejandro Moreno for his invaluable feedback in writing this post. [feather_share]

  • Thought Process Framework

    Thought Process Framework

    Moves are linked with other moves, and we have already looked at the simplest relationship between moves: the relationship between a move and your opponent’s response, but there exists a more complex relationship between moves.  The objective in a game is usually long term, and cannot be accomplished in one move, and it is essential to play two, three or more moves to reach your objective. We must calculate all of our opponent’s responses, and our responses to their response as illustrated below.

    1. Our move
    2. Opponent’s response
    3. Our response

    This second thought process should be added to the first. Together they both form chess thought process the framework. Remember that a move can be:

    a) Attacking
    b) Defensive
    c) Neutral
    d) Blunder

    Our moves are intended to be either attacking, defensive or neutral, since a blunder is an unintended result of a move we thought to be one of the first three.

    When trying to analyze our opponent’s response, it is important to know in which category our move belongs.
    If we are attacking, we know that our opponent must defend. If we are defending, we know that our opponent will try to reinforce their attack. If our move is neutral, we know that our opponent will prepare an attack, or if they are already attacking, they will then try to strengthen their attack.

    source: Tratado General del Ajedrez: I: Rudimentos

  • How to play chess

    How to play chess

    Playing chess is based on putting a series of moves together. At its most basic it revolves around a thought process that takes into account our move and our opponent’s response.  We must always keep in mind not only our plans and ideas, but also our opponent’s plans and ideas. Based on this concept, below is a categorization of moves and responses.

    A move can be:

    a) attacking
    b) defensive
    c) neutral
    d) a mistake

    Based on the above, we can establish the following move response pattern:

    Attacking move:
    Response (generally): defensive.

    Defensive move:
    Response: attacking (or preparation of an attack).

    Neutral move:
    Response: attacking (or preparation of an attack).

    Move is a mistake:
    Response: Take advantage of mistake.

    Source: Tratado General de Ajedrez I. Rudimentos by Roberto Grau pg. 40

  • 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

     

     

  • Threats in Chess Pt. 2

    I wasn’t planning on making this a series of posts on threats, but I feel I’m on to something. My chess has improved since I have restructured my thought process to incorporate threat analysis .

    Threat Based Evaluation Process

    1. What are my opponent’s threats?
        a. Is there a mate threat?
        b. Is there a threat of material loss?
        c. Is there a tactical threat?
        d. Is there a positional threat?

    2. Do I have any threats I can execute?
        a. Is there a mate threat?
        b. Is there a threat of material loss?
        c. Is there a tactical threat?
        d. Is there a positional threat?

    3. Based on my threat analysis I need to compare both my threats versus my opponent’s and come up with a plan based on:
        a. ignoring opponent’s threat
        b. creating a counter threat
        c. stopping opponent’s threat

    4. If neither I or my opponent have any threats, then I proceed to a positional evaluation of the position which can be based on either Silman’s imbalances or Karpov’s method.

    [The evaluation method for sub 1800 players  might be simplified to focus on piece activity and harmony…but I need to look into this further.]

    Threats in Chess Pt. 1

  • Threats in Chess

    I have been away for a few months, in which time I have been through a long plateau and a bout of chess related self-doubt. The reason for the self-doubt is that I feel that I should be at a different playing level than that which I am (1300 USCF), and I am a bit frustrated that my chess improvement efforts have reaped little fruit in the past few years. In a way, this self-doubt has caused me to rethink the way I play and study chess, and hopefully these changes will cause real improvement in my playing strength. I have several posts that I have been working on that address some of my doubts and how I plan on addressing them, this post is the first of a series.

    We make a mistake when we think of bishop pair advantages or of knight outposts before we consider all of our opponent’s threats. The result is our knight getting to a wonderful central outpost, but on the next move our opponent forks our Queen and King and we lose yet another game. While positional knowledge is important and required, particularly at the +1800 level, recognizing threats and having good tactical vision is more important to winning games at the <1800 rating level.

    This does not mean that you need to spend your entire game reacting to your opponent’s threats, this will only cause you to play a dull defensive game dictated by your opponent’s moves. What this means is that on every move you need to ask yourself, “What is my opponent threatening?” and “What is the consequence of my opponent’s last move?”. Once you identify your opponent’s threats and plans you need to decide how you are going to react to your opponent’s plan and how it relates to your own plans.

    According to Dan Heisman, there are three things one can do against a threat:
    1. Ignore it
    2. Create a bigger counter-threat (counterattack), or
    3. Stop it.

    The point is not to play your game based on your opponent’s moves, but to always be very aware of what your opponent is trying to do, and to either prevent it or continue with a more threatening response of your own. What you cannot do is not consider the threats your opponent is making, and then end up playing a positional move or a rule of thumb move which causes you to lose the game. Hopefully, by simplifying our thought process we can play better chess.

  • Think Like a Chess Engine

    In Kotov’s great book “Think Like a Grandmaster” he taught the average chess player the inner workings of how a chess master thinks about a position by creating a tree of candidates and then proceeding along the tree. While there is much to learn from Kotov’s work, I have always been facinated how computers can evaluate positions and how their positional play is derived from these material evaluation algorithms. I believe that the way chess engines derive material evaluations might help the lower rated amateur improve their evaluation skills.

    Below is a combination of the Crafty chess engine algorithms as well as Larry Kaufman’s material evaluation processes which is used by the Rybka engine.

    Pawns

    Pawn = 1

    isolated pawn penalty based on file:
    a-pawn : -.12
    b-pawn : -.14
    c-pawn : -.16
    d-pawn : -.20
    e-pawn : -.20
    f-pawn : -.16
    g-pawn : -.14
    h-pawn : -.12

    Doubled pawn (and not also isolated) penalty of -.12 plus add isolated pawn penalty

    Backward pawns -.06 penalty +.04 bonus for attack on backward pawn on semi-open file.

    Pawn advance in center +.04 / rank increasing to about +.08 / rank in the endgame
    Development

    Rook pawn is worth 15% less than a regular pawn (.85 of a pawn) (L.Kaufman)

    Knights

    Knights = 3.25
    Centralized knight: +.30
    In outpost : +.08

    Unpaired knight is worth approximately 3.14 pawns (worth less) (L.Kaufman)

    Bishops

    Bishops = 3.25
    Bishop in endgame +.10
    Bad bishop : -.04
    Corner bishop : 0.0
    Center bishop: +.3
    Attacking / good bishop: +.18
    Attack against King: +.05

    The Bishop Pair

    Bishop pair: +.50  Bishop pair is worth .50 more if not pieces exist to exchange them (L.Kaufman)

    Bishop pair is worth less than .50 a pawn when most or all of the pawns are on the board, and more than .50 pawns when half or more of the pawns are gone (L.Kaufman)

    If you have the bishop pair, and your opponent’s single bishop is a bad bishop (hemmed in by his own pawns), you already have full compensation for 1 pawn (L.Kaufman)

    Unpaired bishop is worth approximately 3.14 pawns (worth less) (L.Kaufman)

    Rooks

    Rooks = 5
    Attacking on open-file: +.20
    One semi-open file: +.10
    On open-file: +.14

    Rook and Bishop is better than the Rook and Knight. (L.Kaufman)

    Queen

    Queen = 9.75

    Queen and Knight is slightly better than Queen and Bishop

    King
    Centralized in opening: -.24
    Centralized in endgame: +.36
    On open file in opening: -.23
    No adjacent pawns: -.08

    Special Cases

    Hanging pieces: -.10

    Exchanges favor the side with a material advantage

    Minor pieces lose their value as the endgame approaches

    In endgames with no other piece the bishop is worth about 2.5 and the knight 2.25 with other pieces the minors are worth about 3.25

    Rooks gain value as the endgame approaches

    Note: I have modified the Crafty point values to reflect the Kaufman values.

    Resources

    Evaluation of Material Imbalances in Chess

    GNU Chess Positional Heuristics

    http://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Evaluation

    http://www.chessvariants.com/d.betza/pieceval/index.html