After repeating exercise 1 for the first 2-3 sessions you can then move on to exercise 2.
Board Visualization Exercise #2
Same concept as in exercise #1 but this time you do not look at the board.
- note where the four knights normally develop
- note where the four bishops normally develop
- note the four squares for the fianchettoed bishops
- note the squares where the King and rook are placed after castling
While many claim that improved board visualization leading to the ability to play blindfold chess is the result of playing chess over a period of time, some people need to work on this ability through a board visualization exercise regimen.
Board visualization training will improve your ability to calculate long variations. Training should take place 3-4 times per week in 5-10 minute sessions.
Board Visualization Exercise #1
Arrange the pieces on a board and look at the normal developing move for all the pieces. The White knights develop to c3 and f3, while the Black knights develop to c6 and f6. The light squared bishop develops to e2,d3,c4,b5, etc. Once you have studied the knights, bishops (regular and fianchetto positions) the castled King and rook and the four central squares (e4,d4,e5,d5) you remove all of the pieces and point and name out loud all of the normal developing squares for the pieces.
Here’s a fun exercise to determine your estimated skill and knowledge chess rating. While this is just for fun, it can prove helpful in determining how you should focus your chess training. If your knowledge rating is much higher than your skills rating, then you you need to focus your training towards skill building where if your skill rating is much higher than your knowledge rating, then you need to focus more on book learning. You should strive to have your knowledge and skill ratings at no more than 100 points apart.
Here’s how this works.
Formula: (Skill + Knowledge) / 2 = ELO
You need to plug in two of the numbers, and the two best to plug in are ELO and Skill. Ideally, you would use your USCF rating, but if you don’t have one, you can use your ICC of FICS rating, just remember to subtract 150 from your ICC or FICS rating so that it approximates an official USCF rating.
For your skills rating, I would use Igor Khmelnitsky’s Chess Exam and Training Guide to test your skills and get a rating approximation.
Example:
Skill rating: 1138 (based on Khelmenitsky’s book)
USCF ELO: 1340
Knowledge rating = K
(S+K) / 2 = ELO
(1138 + K) / 2 = 1340
1138 / 2 + k/2 – 1340 = 0
569 + K/2 – 1340 = 0
k/2-781 = 0
K=781 * 2
K= 1562
So my knowledge rating equals 1562, while my skill rating is approximately 1138 giving me an ELO of 1340. This means I have to focus on getting my skill rating to par with my knowledge rating in order to play at an estimated 1562 ELO rating.
The goal should be get my skill rating within the same ballpark as my knowledge rating (+/- 100 elo points) before focusing on adding more chess knowledge.
You should repeat this process every three months, but you will need to take the skill’s test again as well as play in a tournament in order to update your USCF rating and get an accurate reading.
I would love to hear feedback on this, especially if you actually try it out.
A frequent issue confronted by amateurs is wishful thinking when calculating combinations. This propensity to fabricate beneficial scenarios in our analysis is very typical throughout an amateur’s game, but it is most dangerous when calculating combinations.
You see a pretty combination worthy of Tal, and you analyze it over and over, after you have finished your analysis you are sure that the move is a winner. You make the move and you lose a piece, or it initiates a series of exchanges that cause you to lose your initiative and perhaps the game. Unfortunately, you have failed to see the refutation or you simply missed a defending piece that you have conveniently kept out of your analysis. This very common oversight causes you to lose material and / or the game.
If only you had realized that there was a defending piece all you usually need to do is to combine that information along with the combinational theme to make the winning move. In most cases by adding the bothersome piece to your analysis you can easily spot a sacrifice or deflection that will get the piece out of the way and lead to a winning combination.
Getting rid of this faulty thought process will lead to more accurate analysis and an improved ability to calculate. Here are a few ways you can improve by eliminating this error in your thinking process:
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