The Importance of Calculation, Visualization, and the Thinking Process
This past weekend I played in a local tournament with long time controls (40 moves in 2 hours, and then a one hour sudden death). Longer time controls show more clearly the strengths and weaknesses of your chess because you have sufficient time to think. In my first game, which I won, I incorrectly calculated several variations. This failure was a result of a combination of board visualization and thinking process shortcomings. In the game, I failed to see why 12...Bxf2 does not work for black. I also missed the superiority moves 22. exd5 and 25. Rd7. Although I played the excellent 18. Nd5, I did not understand its full value until I saw my opponent struggle to meet it. Improving my chess will require seeing more of these moves that I missed. My calculation and related thinking process and board visualization skills need work. Click on "move list" to see variations and comments.