A thought process in chess
Submitted by
RichardHayden on Wed, 07/25/2007 at 8:06am.
In response to a question on what you should think about before you move ...
As an experienced player, here is my ten-step thought process when playing over the board ...
1. Did I lock the car?
2. I wonder if there is any food for sale?
3. What IS that smell?
4. Is there anything good on TV tonight?
5. How does this opening go again?
6. This joker doesn't think he can beat me, does he?
7. Where did that piece come from?
8. Am I really going to lose to this guy?
9. Why do I play this game?
10. What time does the bar open?
More seriously, here is what I hope is a more useful response:
The thought process has to be tied to the level of play you currently are at and the stage of the game. Once you reach a certain standard your thinking should be about evaluating whether your PLAN is going to work, based on each new move. You have a PLAN, right?
If you don't have a plan you are really just 'pushing wood' to see what happens, and trying to avoid blunders. That's OK, as until you can avoid blunders most of the time a plan isn't much use.
For less experienced players, a thought process ought to include the following items: (Once you have a certain level of ability and experience some of these questions don't require too many brain cycles to answer!):
1. what did my opponent just do?
2. was it legal?
3. am I in check?
4. can I force checkmate?
5. can I take the piece my opponent just moved?
6. is it safe to take the piece my opponent just moved?
7. did the piece my opponent just moved leave others unprotected?
8. why did my opponent do that?
9. can my opponent take anything?
10. what is my opponent trying to accomplish next?
11. if I had threats before my opponent's last move, do they still work?
Once you can answer these questions, you are ready to think about more complex tactics. You are also ready to analyse the position to determine the relative strengths and weaknesses of both White and Black, and what you should do about it. This is planning. It takes time and effort. But when you can create a plan and execute it, reacting and modifying it in response to your opponent's best efforts, then you are really raising the standard of your play and will provide a challenge to strong players.
'How to reasses your chess' by Jeremy Silman does an excellent job of helping you analyse the position and come up with a suitable plan.