What is the best advice for chess players? As an independent Chess Coach, I have realized that there are some points to keep in mind, to improve your chess game – especially when you see a Tactic.
On this page, you will find a brief discussion of the useful thinking aids for BEGINNERS – chess tactics.
Read more…
Most of you may have experienced this phenomenon whilst playing chess.
You may have spotted a beautiful combination like say a smothered mate, and you did a quick cross-check.
You realized that this was your moment of glory and that you could after all play like Tal.
Chances are – it may not be the best playable move!
Who knows it may even be an outright blunder!
When you see a Tactic… and rush headlong in it only to realize that it was a mirage, what do you do??
And worse is when your opponent has seen the same tactic that you have just noticed, also knows the refutation, that may either destroy your position and the game.
7 Mistakes In Chess Tactics Training +2 Bonus Training Methods
Table of Contents
When you see a Tactic
Here is one tip that I believe all Chess players must remember to improve their tactical strokes.
Pause. When you spot a tactic, pause and visualize your combination.
I know it sounds clichéd and obvious.
The time spent calculating is worth the wait as you will be playing a winning position if your move was actually a winning one – and if the move is not good then at least your position will not deteriorate further.
As my Guru used to say – There is no Touch-piece rule for moves in the mind.
When we see a tactic and quickly rush to play it, we may have overseen something really basic in the calculations such as:
- The opponent has a subtle intermezzo or in-between move that causes us to fail in our tactical expectations.
- The combination can easily be refuted either by a counter sacrifice or a non-acceptance of the sacrificed piece causing a big change in the expected outcome.
- The move is easily and simply refuted and results in an inferior position, one that is very easy for the opponent to convert to a win.
Round-up:
So when you see a tactic, remember this adage – “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”.
My suggestion is to not rush to play it.
Pause for a moment, and calculate the ramifications of the combination- it is after all a critical moment.
Now comes the other side of the story.
Even though we know what tactics are, you may think…
How do I spot a possible tactic in my Chess Games?
In other words, what are the signals that I should look for?
And why am I not able to find the tactic faster rather than seeing them in the post-game analysis?
Answer:
Because we do not know what are the exact thinking algorithms that we need to pursue every move.
Shortcut to find the tactics in a chess game
I will describe the complex thinking method (yes there is a step-by-step method) in a future post, but one of the initial steps in the thinking algorithms is to “look for forcing moves“.
This search is the most important mantra every chess player should remember.
What are Forcing moves in Chess?
Forcing moves are those moves that force your opponent to reply (predictably).
The different types of Forcing moves
Attacks
Captures
Threats
Sacrifices to win material or checkmate
Pawn breaks
Forcing moves play a major role in chess thinking.
Now, wait.
Don’t rush to follow me blindly before you read my next tip:-
A shortcut to finding the forcing moves is to first look for the active pieces in a position and remove the sleeping pieces from your mind – for the sake of focus.
After reading this article about chess tactics and forcing moves, I truly hope that your tactical acumen will improve.
Remember:
- First look at the active pieces in a position and then shortlist the forcing moves.
- When you see a Tactic – pause.
- If there are no useful forcing moves possible – then we need to improve our piece coordination.
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7 Mistakes In Chess Tactics Training +2 Bonus Training Methods
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