What does "to calculate" mean in chess anyway?

It's NOWHERE to be found on the internet and here I'm having no luck either.

All I can find all over the 'net is info on HOW to calculate.  I can't learn HOW to do something (better) if I don't know what that something MEANS ...

Thanks.

PS:  year after year, internet search engines seem to be getting dumber and dumber.  They increasingly don't give a straight answer to a straight question and if I put it in brackets I always get "no results".  Or I must be getting smarter and smarter. 😆

If you know HOW to calculate obviously you know what it is ?

You simply construct the position of the chess board after a couple moves in your mind and look for problems there.

I really like this question so I'll do my best to answer. VoteChess often exemplifies how calculation typically happens (but it's sometimes difficult to find a good VoteChess game where people discuss candidate moves).

To calculate (as it relates to chess) means to calculate (or analyze) candidate moves. Although this was a common practice by experts for a long time, it was GM Alexander Kotov that formally wrote about in their book Think Like a Grandmaster.

You may select 4-6 candidate moves and then systematically calculate (or analyze) them one-by-one.

1. Pick a move that might be good (this is your candidate move). Pattern recognition is often used to narrow down possible moves to feasible (i.e. candidate) moves.
2. Do all your "what if" scenarios... checks, captures, threats, etc.
3. Repeat 1 & 2 until you have what you think is the best move
4. Play the best move and win the game!

"First, how to sac my queen, then rook, then bishop, then knight, then pawns." - Mikhail Tal (on how he calculates)

"When you see a good move, look for a better one” - Emanuel Lasker

CM Can Kabadayi often talks about 3-Ply Calculations. I created this meme after watching some of their YouTube videos. The more you practice this systematic approach the better and faster you will get at it. As Kabadayi says... start with calculating a depth of 3-ply.

It's very difficult to explain and it's very intuitive to understand. Have you tried watching any video or reading any article that came up? It will become clear very fast what the guy is talking about.

Check out this youtube playlist on calculation from Can Kabadayi (link)

Quite simply for you, it’s working out what you think your best move is by working out the possible responses. The better you are at calculating, the more accurate your analysis is and the longer the sequences you can work out.

A good way to start is by looking at forcing sequences - that is, lines where your opponent is severely limited by how they can respond. Practically, this is checks and captures.

Thank you all, I'll check out the options you've given me.

I usually literally go: "that move: dead, that one: dead, that one: maybe, I'll be safe, nothing's hanging, find another safe one that creates a problem for the opponent". And memorizing openings, attacks or defenses is not chess to me, it's being a robot. I'd hate that.

Maybe chess is not really for me then since I have almost zero attack strategy and have a need to play on instinct and seeing what's possible on the board. Players (ELO 500-600) usually quickly develop their queen and I try to block it by putting up a pawn. Try to block all their future attacks and see if I can find a weakness to counter-attack.

You’ve been calculating all this time and don’t even know it! Some methods are better than others. That’s why I like vote chess because players would opening discuss candidate moves and you can see the strategy.

checks… captures… threats is how I do it.

chess can be for everyone. If you’re having fun that’s what matters.

daily games give you lots of time to calculate. So does playing a bot. They don’t complain if you take your time.

To calculate in chess means to mentally visualize a sequence of moves and responses before making a move, without physically moving the pieces.