Friday 22 July 2011

GENERAL/THOUGHT PROCESS:




"If you see a good move, look for a better one - you are trying to find the BEST one."
"In 'Real Chess' you make sure you can meet all of your opponent's threats before he makes them; otherwise, it is 'Hope Chess.'" (See Feb 4 2011 Tweet of the Day)
"*Hope Chess is not when you make a threat and you hope your opponent does not see it.  Hope chess is when you make a move, wait for what your opponent does, and then hope you can meet his threats.  Players that play Hope Chess will never get very good because some threats cannot be met."
"Always assume your opponent will make his best move. Never make a bad move and hope your opponent will make a worse one."
But...When your opponent makes a move you have to assume it might be a mistake. So check to see if your opponent's previous move is safe, whether it no longer guards a piece, etc.
"If you play a bad move and hope your opponent plays a worse one, that is not Hope Chess - that is bad (or "hopeful") chess!"
"*Playing chess is primarily a series of puzzles, move after move, where you have to take your time and solve the puzzle: 'What is the best move?'"
"The primary goal of most moves is to make the best move you can find, given the time constraints."
"The final, main part of a good thought process is proving that the move you think you are going to make results in a better position (assuming opponent's best play) than any other candidate move does!"
"Write your move down before you make it and then take a fresh look around to look for the most obvious errors."  This is called a Sanity Check.
Pace yourself to use almost all your time every game." - this is an underrated and VERY IMPORTANT skill!
A major time management goal is to identify critical moves and allocate more time to these. 
It only takes one bad move to lose a game. So be careful on every move!
One move is only better than another if, considering your opponent's best replies, it leads to a position that is better than the position to which the other move leads.
Never play a bad move fast! (Unless you are in time trouble)
In general, the more tactical the position, the more critical it is, the more precise analysis is required, and slow play is required. Alternately, the less tactics in a position, the less critical it likely is, the more general principles can be used, and you can play relatively quickly.
***NEW*** *"They just don't get it" - What I say about players who do all kinds of studying but still play way too fast without learning to differentiate between candidate moves.
Your judgment won't improve in 10 minutes but your analysis should, so save your time for critical/tactical moves.

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