How to Calculate Variations | Chess Middlegames
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
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The first example position is the game Boleslavsky vs Flohr, 1950, used as an example in Alexander Kotov's "Kako razmišlja velemajstor", Zagreb 1989 p. 25-29. I have used it as an example because I am trying to utilize Kotov's idea of "pure calculation" and, disciplined candidate move choosing, which he teaches through the book.
Disclaimer: I believe such technique can never be perfectly applied, and that it is somewhat utopian. Why I still try to do it is because coming closer to that "perfection" makes you a better player.
Calculation is one of the most important traits of a successful chess player. Most of the time, if you calculate deeper than your opponent, you will win!
I have attempted to break down the process of calculating variations during a real chess game into 5 steps. Following them will not make you a grandmaster, but it will improve your calculation, your visualization, your ability to correctly choose candidate moves, and your speed. It will also make you less prone to making one-move blunders or missing a move which could have won the game.
In chess, practice is everything, and training will make you stronger. It’s as simple as that. Nowhere is that as important as when it comes to bare calculation. Calculating every day will make you calculate better, same as making pancakes every day would make you great at making pancakes!
Most lower-rated players have the same issue; they either waste time thinking about the position without doing any real calculation, or they calculate in a disorderly fashion, which ultimately leads to mistakes.
Here is the process of choosing candidate moves, assessing the position and calculating it broken down into steps:
1. Choose candidate moves - look at checks, captures and forcing moves first. Always consider your own and your opponent’s weaknesses (watch this video on How to think in Chess for help: • How to Think in Chess ... ).
2. Consider your clock time - how much time do you have to calculate? If it’s a critical position you may decide to take a long time because it’s a win or loss move. In any case, divide the time you plan to spend to each candidate move accordingly. This way you will restrain yourself from wasting too much time.
3. Divide the candidate moves into forcing and non-forcing moves - calculate the forcing moves first. They are easier to calculate because they don’t branch out as much! When you check, your opponent doesn’t have 20 options.
4. Calculate the first candidate - visualize the “variation tree”. Imagine the position, come to a conclusion and don’t look back! Do this for every candidate move and come to a conclusion - is the move good or bad? Once you have done so, reject the bad moves and proceed to step 5.
5. Final check and decision - briefly check all the candidate moves you calculated and came to a conclusion that they work. Choose one! This part is intuition. You may be wrong (and, trust me, you often will be), but wasting any more precious clock time won’t help one bit!
#chess
Just as he said: " After spending some 10, 20 minutes calculating some lines or some variations i play none of those and play another move without thinking at all" ;D;D really got me there.
It's always either that or your opponent plays some random move that makes no sense and you burn your entire clock trying to understand why they played it
The blunder of the queen is my most common I tell myself no moving the queen then I blunder the queen get mad quit take a bong hit and start a new game
I also have that that problem
So true...
its called the kotov syndrom, where you evaluate your chess situation carefully just to go for the less likely, riskier move in the end, cause u created an illusion in your mind of "i understand the board position so well know, i can risk something". its a very common psychological trap
Calculating all complex moves
Enemy : moves pawn b3
So true lol
And yet whenever I take my opponent for a fool, I lose.
sukul handa 😂😂 this is fucking true
It's a pain in the ass calculate good defensive moves and the opponent makes the foolish move ever can.
Leeel
Especially the openings. You do all the good moves and opponent does weird moves.... And then you ask yourself why are they called bad moves again... And you find out you have no idea how to punish bad moves.
You and agadmator are my favorite chess channels
Thanks! I'm very happy to hear that:)
You & John Bartholomew are mine
@@tsonus :) Thanks
Stjepan, JB does a Climbing the Rating Ladder series where he gives his thought process during a game with a lower rated player. I find this helps me the most, listening & learning from what he's saying & playing along mentally with him. I know you're really busy now for a few months with your present series but I'd appreciate you maybe giving some thought to perhaps doing something similar in the future? Many thanks for all the time & effort you put into your channel.
I will try to record as many training games as possible. I agree that it would be a great series. Thanks for the advice!
You are providing a valuable quality content to the internet, very very thank you and please dont stop!
Thank you Sedylon:) I won't!
thanks for your help Elon Musk
Haha:D This is the fifth time
😂😂😂
omg! I laughed so hard when I saw this comment coz it instantly hit me how similar he looks to Elon.
@@_sidvash It's the way he dresses like him too
Patrick Fingerhut dude fucking literally is lol
This guy is a global treasure! we should preserve him at all costs
Great video mate!
But the worst is when you play with someone who is an average player and usually you can’t calculate what they do because they have weird moves
You need to consider all cases that may do harm to your position and pieces. Easier said than done, but yeah.
Yeah man , those people are like stock fish . Mostly their moves make no sense and at the end they beat me ..😂😂
If you can't outplay someone, just because their moves are so bad that they are unanticipated, then you aren't higher rated.
LoL :D
When playing against average players who are rated less than you and play wierd moves, it's best to play risky traps which are more complex and require more calculating to get out of safely and usually they all fall from there.
I started watching you from your Sicilian videos and now I have discovered that your channel is one of the best chess channels there is. It's very helpful.
Great instruction: well organized with clear examples.
Your videos are terrifically helpful to me, an aging adult improver hoping to foster an interest in chess in American school students.
Calculation can be complicated and frustrating. I empathize with the donkey's dilemma.
Schrodinger's cat. LOL.
Thank you for another wonderful comment Sir. I'm very happy to hear that my videos come in useful! Yeah.. I often feel like Buridan's donkey myself during a game.
@@HangingPawns Don't forget the 'Gordian Knot' - approach to solving problems.
Yeesh! Some really smart guys on this thread.
Dude, he literally described an experiment which has nothing to do with the actual one
I seriously enjoy this channel. I feel like I don’t deserve this without paying for it. Thank you very much! I recommend your channel to all players trying to get better, or are curious about chess.
All of your videos, John Bartholomew’s “climbing the rating ladder” series. Gotham chess’s “rating climb with e4 only”. People who take beginner chess very seriously are so appreciated. I’m only rated 1350 in rapid but I love the game. Thank you so much.
This is the first of your videos I've seen. Really enjoyed your analysis and learned a lot from it. Thank you for sharing. You now have a new subscriber. :-)
I'm happy to hear that Preet:) Thank you!
What's your elo now?
@@Poatanmafia nobody ever replies to this question 💀
@@luisp.3788 real,what's your elo btw?
💀
Right on point! Good video! Of course, you've first shown the ideal (presuming we are visualizing all of these moves without moving pieces).
I was freaked out until he said GM’s would have a rough time calculating this position
I was freaked out exactly when he said that, shit i have to become super GM to defeat Carlsen now.
I just started getting into chess seriously a few months ago. This is one the most useful video's I've come across. Thank you!
Happy to hear that! Good luck in your chess career!
@@HangingPawns I have been playing for 2 weeks and my score on chess.com is 700-800 is it good?
Really very nice and smart. I made these mistakes you notated on the video, but now I developed my skills of calculation and I feel my self better than before. Thank you a lot for your help.
No problem Moses! Glad it helps!
Great video. I see you caught up on some reading and "How a Grandmaster Thinks" was probably te best book you could choose. I like how you thoroughly explain complex positions with honesty in presenting your own candidate moves.
***SPOILER ALERT***
I looked at 4 moves after 1...gxh5 2.Qxh5 Re8:
A) 3.Qxh7+
B) 3.Rg3+
C) 3.Qh6
D) 3.a4
and concluded the latter to be winning
OMG, from 1:21 to 2:25 it was like he's been in my head!
He described EXACTLY how I think/play, talk about spooky!
second most helpful video for chess i have found on the internet...thank u very much....please make a video on how higher rated players reacts on the common moves played by lower rated players...it helps a lot..thanks once again.
What is in your opinion the most helpful one if you don't mind me asking?
this is excellent, youve got a new subscriber
Thanks David!
you and john bartholomew really help me to improve in chess
This channel is like a pirate finding treasure for me! Thanks a lot for your awesome content and keep up the good work:)
Wow, this is actually really practical help. Even though I typically play bullet or 3+2, I think this will still be helpful for developing my opening game. So thx.
You are the best coach..
I liked your dialogue, we don't have to play well, we have to play better than our opponent
Informative and practical tips on "The art of chess calculation". Hope more video to come. Thank you.
This was one of the most helpful videos yet, thank you 😊👌
i had a existential crisis when you said 'i should not do any of those tihngs and just move my bishop and do it without calculating' cuz thats me
Thanks for another very positive video. I hope to improve using all this advice. I'm just under 1000 on lichess so there's room for improvement... I also use the technique of visualisng to play the piano...
No problem Rachel:) Great idea to try it out for piano too!
you are just the best of the best!!! glad to say i was a follower from the beginning, you simply amazing
Thank you for supporting me from the start:) I really appreciate that!
Cool combination of quantum physics and chess ;)
He literally said something that couldn't be more wrong. How is that an explanation of quantum physics?
@@ErmisSouldatos in q. Physics, the outcome of an experiment are affected by the observer. However I agree that it had no relationship to chess because one move is better than the other before and after it's observed
this video is somehow uplifting to players like me who are trying become stronger. can you give us ways to improve step by step. thank you so much.
Nice example of the paradoxes
Thanks:)
Your explanation is really good. Thank you.
Great process to find a good move.......Thanks.
No problem!
Once again thank you very much Sir for making a great video, with nicely and easily explaination...
Glad to hear you like it Vikram! Thanks for watching.
It works! I'm cracking some exercises from lichess that I wasn't able to crack yesterday!
thanks man!
He makes many good points and demonstrates how easy it is to simply "not analyze" a move that looks good ... and makes many important related points, such as your time on the clock matters ... and one should give a bit more time when possible for analyzing when it appears a move your analyzing may completely win the game. I believe when you get to 1. ... Kf7 2. Rxf6+ gf 3. Qh5+ Kg7? 4. Bh6+ Kg8 5. Rd7 Bxh6 it "looks" like it should be met with 6. Qf7 Mate, but Bxh6 is check! ... which is why you have to take on h6 first. :) But ... in any case after the line he concludes with 3. ... Kg8 4. Qg4+ Kf7 5. Qc4+ Kg6 6. Qe4+ Kg7 7. Be3 which he says is "... it's not that clear ...", but it is easily winning by a mile as there is no reasonable move for Black that saves the game, and he unfortunately is not showing any analysis for this move at the end of his variation(?). I do appreciate his approach to analysis, but he needed to finish it after 7. Be3 ... such as with candidate moves of 7. ... Bc5, 7. ... c5, and 7. ... Qc7. If 7. ... Bc5 8. Rd7+ Kg8 (8. ... Kf8 9. Bh6+ Kg8 10. Qe6 mate, or 8. ... Be7 9. Rxe7+ Kf8 10. Bh6+ Kg8 11. Qe6 mate) 9. Qe6+ Kf8 10. Qf7 mate. If 7. ... c5 8. Rd7+ Be7 (or 8. ... Kg8 9. Qc4+ Qe6 10. Qxe6 mate) 9. Rxe7+ (and we have the same idea as after 9. ... Kf8 in the 8. ... Be7 line) 9. ... Kf8 10. Bh6+ Kg8 11. Qc4+ Qe6 12. Qxe6 mate. If 7. ... Qc7 8. Qg4+ Kf7 9. Rd7+ Qxd7 (9. ... Kg8 10. Qe6 mate, or 9. ... Ke8 10. Qe6+ Be7 11. Qxe7 mate) 10. Qxd7+ and white has a Queen and Pawn for a Rook so with no threats for Black and King running around there is now no need to analyze further. There were lines he misses with 7. ... f5?! when I like the response 8. Qe6 cutting off all of the squares for the Black King and threatening both Bh6 mate, Rd7+ and Bxb6 with no reasonable responses other than 8. ... Qxe3+ 9. fxe3 with 10. Rd7+ as a threat with no candidates for Black (although the computer software finds a mate in 5 with 8. Qe5+), and he also does not analyze 6. ... f5 7. Qe6+ Kh5 (7. ... Kg7 8. Bh6 mate) 8. Qxf5+ Kh4 9. Qg5 mate. Because he was so good at analyzing tactics, I suspect that GM Salo Flohr did analyze the position after Rxe6+ correctly.
This is a fantastic position for strong players to analyze also! There are many twists and turns here and it is important to learn where you can get your compensation from when Black tries to escape by sacrificing their queen ... for example, if you are in a variation where you are left with the bishop and rook can you skillfully win the endgame? Can you take the right pawns before Black activates their bishop/rooks and usher the pawns properly to win? Can you skillfully pursue the enemy king in each situation to ensure the win?
Thank you sir ,you explained it so clear
Enjoyed you content, very well presented, I am a subscriber now, and as somebody else already wrote it, as good as Agadmator with a different focus
Thanks very much, Arnaldo! That's really great to hear!
your videos help me tremendously in my chess games. thank you very much for the time and effort you put into them. it really shows ☺️
First video to watch aftet learning the piece movement for a beginer.
Good luck progressing from here!
you deserve way more subs ....and a suggestion - light your face up more
Thanks. Yeah...my office is busy in all other corners where the light is better:D I'll try to figure something out
I agree with both :)
serious face is the bedrock of Slavic body language ; |
@@vibovitold the lighting lol
I think this position had explained by kotov in his book THINK LIKE A GRANDMASTER....
And once again U ROCKS!!
When he says “Opa” he’s basically saying “wow”
Had an old engineer friend from Kazakistan that taught me that one.
Heh, it's a slavic thing :D
Very useful Lecture. Thanks Sir.
No problem Naveed. Thanks for the support mate:)
Very fond of this channel. Extremely good training.
great tips stephan! thanks!
definitively gonna try them
This man is a gift to society
This was awesome, analytical approach, thanks for the video.
this video is freakin gold
The Keres-Smyslov position discussed by Stjepan is a great example for a lecture on calculating. It might be helpful to know that after the game, according to Bronstein in his book on the Zurich 1953 tournament, Smyslov said this about his thoughts while considering his next move: "I thought for a long time over whether or not I should give in and accept the rook -- the more so, in that I was unable to see how White would be able to win here". Bronstein goes on to note, "Calculating all the variations over the board is obviously not possible; all one can do is to examine the main lines and trust in oneself".
I have problems visualizing more than a few moves ahead. I'll try this variation tree method for sure, and I have a feeling this will help me improve. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. Very interesting and useful. I just subscribed and look forward to more of your content.
Thanks very much Mark:)
First position I think I've seen it before. Is it in Kotov's book?
Yeah! It's a great position!
@@HangingPawns nice :-) haven't looked at the book in years. One of the first I got, Icelandic translation. But felt familiar, I was sure it was from Kotov!
@@TheChessViking By the way. You have the Zagreb set, and I have the Rejkjavik set:D That's fun isn't it
@@HangingPawns hahaha good one :-)
It was Kotov who described the syndrom @Hanging Pawns talks about; the so-called "Kotov effect" (whereby you keep on analyzing a position only to play some move out of the blue)
Keep up the excellent work bro, I am impressed by the clarity of your thought
I am learning a lot watching your videos
This channel has very interesting content!!! Good job!
Thank you!:)
Can you actually show how you build the tree, branch by branch? What exactly is at each node? How do you keep track of discaded branches? Ignore time and speed up issues for now, but just the mechanical part would be instructive. From this we should also get an idea of how deep do you normally go. Thanks.
Hmm. ok. I will try to make one from one of my real games during the weekend and post it in the community tab!
@@HangingPawns Did this visual example come to pass? I may have missed it in the Community tab. Having only heard criticisms of Kotov's visualized tree in the past, I'm intrigued by this method and wonder if it might be a helpful addition to my training. Thank you for your wonderfully lucid and instructive videos!
Thanks for the video. It's the first time I'm seeing a video for a method of calculation. Very interested in how I can apply that.
at 14:14
move white bishop to h6 (check)
black king to h6 (kill bishop)
white queen to f4 (check)
king to g6 or g7
queen to g4 (check)
king to f7
rook to d7 (check)
king to e8 (only option)
queen to e6 (checkmate)
Can you do a video on how to force draws in a losing endgame?
I will, but in the endgame series:)
if your end game is losing you cant force a draw.
@@mcpartridgeboy Sure you can ! .. Logic dictates if you are losing, how could you be able to force anything? but sometimes, when your opponent is winning, he may "relax" and if things go right (Somehow) for you, you can enter a diagram when you can draw by repetition or getting stalemate. It has happen to me several times when I was "Winning" and took victory for ganted.
That theaches me that you have to be relentless in chess, specially in finnishing your opponent ! (the most sadistic aspect of chess lol)
@@alejocayon8525 that's crazy talk, your confusing the word force with no possibility, you cant force a win were there isn't one, you can obviously trick someone into making a mistake, but then that's obvious because that's chess, your new to the game right ?
@@mcpartridgeboy Oh yes sir, couldn't be more true .. I've been playing since childhood and still feel like I do know anything about this game! The day I take chess for granted that will be the day I'll quit playing since I will get no fun from it! .. so yes Mr. . I am new to chess. .
OMG: You are talking about me: The chronic problem: Look at the board look at moves find a move which looks great and ignore the other guys moves, with absolutely no calculation :) That is me:)
This channel is truly underrated
Really well explained. Thank you
Excellent videos!
Thanks Lars!
Great video which helps me a lot with my chess game, Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, I found this helpful to give me an idea of where I should be heading (a long way from where I am!). I'm very much a beginner (about 1200 at most), so I'm not sure to what extent I should be doing all this scary stuff! Seems overwhelming, and I should just go lie down!
You must be near 2000 now😮.
I remember the flohr position from the book how to think like a grandmaster by Alexander Kotov
Wonderful instruction......thank you! I heard the story as a donkey between two equally far distant bales of hay and because he couldn't pick which one, he stayed where he was and died. Moral: Sometimes you just have to have faith that God directs your steps.
You just murdered schrodinger's cat
Great video though
Thank you very much for wonderful topic
Could you also make video about visualization
Thank you a lot
Hmm. I will consider that. And no problem, thanks for watching:)
i came for the chess and stayed for the philosophy and physics lesson
you are a great teacher and helping me improve my chess, i am very grateful and appreciate very much the amount of hard work and dedication you put in your videos
A great lesson. Thank you so much. Your videos are excellent.
yea that's cool, but what happens with me is i get unsure like "WHAT IF, the opponent has any other move which leads to any brilliancy?", so how do i get intuitive of my opponent's moves? so that i dont have to calculate my opponent's moves all the time
You should practice to make sure you dont miss moves. Even GMs sometimes have trouble when trying to predict the opponnent's movement but that's just chess
Excelent video instruction!! Very clear and encouraging!! :)
2:19 I shedded a tear
This is so much like me
I really needed this, thanks
good video I now know some of what I was doing wrong
Very methodical approach. Great video!
And it's funny how correct you are: you don't have to play well - you just have to play better than your opponent.
Thanks John! It's easy to say those things. Much harder to apply them. Practice is needed:)
Thanks for your help!I just watched this vid and I now know exactly where I am going wrong!
Ngl you have the most beautiful tumbnail on chess videos!
Thanx for such a nice suggestion
Your description of what we do is so on target.
Very helpful. Thanks.
One of the best chess videos I've ever seen.
Great video, thanks!
Thank you!
After Kf7 in the first example white can play Qh4 and force a draw
helpful thanx
No problem Mahmoud!
Thanks for sharing
12:18 Instead of Qxh6, Qf7 is mate on the spot. Otherwise well presented, thank you
Nahh, Bxh6 comes with check so Qxh6 is forced
...Bxh6 is check (White king is in check) so Qf7 is an illegal move.
@@oscaro.172 Ooops...You are right, thank you!
@@Philidor64 No problem :)
Amazing video!!
instructive free material
Thank You for such good guide lines
but calculating three or four moves ahead not knowing your opponent next move for a GM ok , but for a beginner seems like a Mountain.
Great help !
I think visualisation of pieces is a skill and a tool of writing it down is a good idea.. i will try it out
i love u man ,u're my onlyy hope, as i share with you the same dream and same obstacles, i also started playing chess very late(10earlier than you but still not that early),and i see ur videos as the most helpful tool for me to chase my dream ,as i can't afford hiring a coach! lol.! i hope u'll succesfully reach ur goal asap!!
Excellent content, keep doing the great good.
Great vidéo thank you
great video thanks!
Very helpful! Thank you!
You're welcome!
thanks to your two videos on moves I can calculate better.
Thank you sir