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Chess Decision Making Process

A succinct introduction to thinking in chess. How to formulate plans, both tactically and strategy-wise.

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pushkar
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407 views1 page

Chess Decision Making Process

A succinct introduction to thinking in chess. How to formulate plans, both tactically and strategy-wise.

Uploaded by

pushkar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chess Decision Making Process 

 
(1) Evaluate 
 
● Has the ​opponent’s move​ changed the position? Was the move a ​threat​ or a ​mistake​? 
 
● Tactical Evaluation 
○ Consider the following first: ​Checks​, ​Captures​, & ​Threats​. (​ Intuition) 
○ Tactics are possible if one of the following exist: 
Undefended pieces  Exposed King  Overworked pieces  Forkable pieces 

Pin or skewer  Weak back rank  Development lead  Restricted pieces 


○ Exposed king​ means he is vulnerable to c​ hecks​ or m​ ating threats.  
○ Tactical motifs and how to spot them 
■ Magnet (decoy):​ Attract king to desired square 
■ Removing the guard:​ Target pieces that guard multiple pieces 
■ Discovered attack:​ Your pieces are in line with enemy pieces  
■ Gain of Tempo​: You can attack the enemy piece while making yours better 
■ Fork (Double Attack): ​Knight forks enemy pieces on same color squares 
■ Pin (& Skewer): E
​ nemy pieces are on same line. Powerful if king is involved. 
■ Others​: ​Pawn promotion, stalemate, zugzwang, counter-play, lifeline.  
○ Acronyms: ​FLU POWER​ for tactical evaluation & D ​ iRe MaTe PiFoO​ for tactical motifs. 
 
● Positional Evaluation 
○ Steinitz’s Elements: 
Material Advtg.  Bad king pos.  Passed pawns  Weak pawns  Squares (S&W) 

Pawn islands  Diag. control  File control  Rank control  Bishop pair 

Pawn center (S)  S = Strong  W = Weak  Weak pawns = Opponent’s 


 
Temporary Advs.  Bad piece position  Advantage in development 

Centralization  Space advantage  Inharmoniously placed pieces 


 
● Select 2 to 4 candidate moves accordingly 
○ Be ​aware of the lines that open up​ on each move, esp. for ​long range pieces​.  
○ Consider the​ checks (or mate threats) that follow​ once you make a move. ​New 
avenues might open up for tactics. 
 
(2) Calculate 
 
● Calculate candidate moves with​ most forcing variations first 
● Do a b ​ lunder check 
○ Are you making a m ​ istake​? 
○ Does the opponent have a good i​ n-between move​ (​zwischenzug​)?  
○ Does the opponent have ​counter-play​, ​losing the initiative​ for you? 
● Evaluate position​ ​again​ at the end of variation!  
○ You must be at least slightly better, better, or clearly winning! 
● Play your move! 

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