How to Play a Practical Game in Strategy?

Unlocking the Grandmaster's Mind

How GMs actually think?

How GMs actually think while playing the game of chess? What makes a Grandmaster a master at chess? Is it his training or just psychology? – Indeed, very interesting questions to ask one and even greater to know the answers directly from the Grandmasters' mouth.

What can YOU learn from this course?

* Limitations of Grandmasters.

* Extraordinary skills a Grandmaster possesses.

* Ability to often win games against weaker opponents.

* How a Grandmaster survives bad positions.

* Secrets of handling a wide variety of games, ranging from rapid to standard.

* Practically orientated training, aimed on specific skills and its application.

                       Link >> Unlocking the Grandmaster's Mind

The course contains the following video lessons:

1. Grandmaster’s ability.

2. Are assumptions good?

3. Winning made easy.

4. Rapid – the right way.

5. Bad is not necessarily worse.

** The course contains a practical part in pgn format for chess skills training and lesson reinforcement.

You can watch the powerful introduction video (short version) of the course.

P.S. I did enjoy watching this abridged introductory lesson! One thing is for sure, i'll consider myself a raving fan for this new course by the 29th of January.

Grandmaster's Chess Thinking

Thought Protocol

          "The better players did not examine more possibilities, only better ones." — J.R. Capablanca

During the famous 1938 AVRO International Tournament in Netherlands, professor Adriaan de Groot conducted an experiment about the thought process of various players from amateurs to that of masters.

In one critical experiment, professor de Groot presented an isolated pawn-position (shown in diagram) taken from an analysis of a game between Lasker and Capablanca.

Lasker - Capablanca

White's turn

In this test position, chess players were asked to find the best move and to "think out loud" at the same time. Good players were able to focus on better moves and much more in agreement about the evaluation of the position as almost winning for the first player.

As a practical task, i suggest you examine and write down in words what you think about the test position. Support your analysis with short variations while also keeping time spent to complete the exercise. 

In addition... 

The boxed image below is an illustration of some of the experiments performed by Chase, Simon and Gobet, in which players of different chess skill have to "reconstruct chess positions" from memory with the pieces located properly or randomly on the board.

The image shown is taken from "The Expert Mind " by P. Ross

To conclude, the results suggested that the expert mind's representation of the chessboard is not organized based on the real distance between two or more pieces, but it is instead governed by the chess relationship ("chess patterns") between them – known as the "chunking theory".

Secrets of the Expert Mind

Experts are made, not born.

During the year 2006, when i was busy doing things in my other life, an article

written by Phil Ross (www.sciam.com) entitled - "The Expert Mind" struck my curiosity about how our mind works.

According to the author, studies of the mental processes of chess grandmasters (skill at chess can be easily measured and subjected to laboratory experiments) have revealed clues to how people become experts in other fields as well. He reinforces that chess has served as the greatest single test bed for theories of thinking—the “Drosophila of cognitive science.” 

Here's an overview of the most important ideas discussed:

1. Much of the chess master’s advantage over the novice derives from the first few seconds of thought.

2. Researchers have found evidence that chess grandmasters rely on a vast store of knowledge of game positions. Some scientists have theorized that grandmasters organize the information in chunks, which can be quickly retrieved from long-term memory and manipulated in working memory. 

3. To accumulate this body of structured knowledge, grandmasters typically engage in years of effortful study, continually tackling challenges that lie just beyond their competence. 

4. The top performers in music, mathematics and sports appear to gain their expertise in the same way, motivated by competition and the joy of victory.

5. The 10-year rule states that it takes approximately a decade of heavy labor to MASTER any field. - Herbert A. Simon

6. Effortful study is the key to achieving success in chess, classical music, soccer and many other fields. New research has indicated that motivation is a more important factor than innate ability.
7. The predominance of psychological evidence indicates that experts are made, not born.
(Credits:Philip E. Ross, a contributing editor at Scientific American, is a chess player himself (USCF Expert) and father of Laura Ross, one of the top female US master who outranks him by 200 points.)

Link >> Unlocking the Grandmaster's Mind

Fischer's Horror (the second tale...)

Battle of the Minor Pieces

Capablanca's Advice

"To improve at chess you should in the first instance study the endgame."

"In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else. For whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and opening must be studied in relation to the end game."

To understand better the battle between Bishop and Knight (know more about the properties and how to use other chess pieces), I suggest you learn the excellent chess course "An Endgame Expert". This is the area of the game where you can have plenty of opportunity to improve and outsmart your opponent.

Together with "The Grandmaster's Positional Understanding", you will discover the power of the pieces and pawns, while also learn the important rules that will guide you in coordinating the pieces towards a favorable chess struggle in every stage of the game.

Link >> An Endgame Expert

Link >>  GM's POS Understanding with bonus pack

(The images and links will bring you to RCA's Chess Course overview.)

A Tale of Two Puzzles

Your Winning Move

HERE IT IS...
Your Winning Move!!

If you want to experience how great "real understanding" of a chess game at the Grandmaster's level, then i strongly recommend to study the two main chess courses indicated below. 

Six practical principles that will help you find the best move in any situation...

          Link >> The GRANDMASTER's Positional Understanding

Effective plans in every stage of the game will be your guide to better chess...

Link >> The GRANDMASTER's SECRETS

(The images and links will bring you to RCA's Chess Course overview.)

Winning Chess Annotation