Thinking process

Hi, I've been trying to improve my chess for several years with meager results. My main mistake was focusing too much on books and theory compared to practical games and tactics. The other area, that I feel get way too little attention in training, is the thinking process. Just going through 1) what is my opponent trying to do, 2) what should I try to do, 3) calculate some alternatives and 4) quick blunder check for every move is something I believe should be taught at beginner level. Ok, so you can only calculate 1 move ahead maybe, but that is WAY better than none AND you're building a solid foundation. Likewise, I spent too many years considering only MY plans and not my opponents. And the blunder check... how many games have been lost because it was not done... Now I have to unlearn bad habits before learning it the correct way...

My question is: why are there barely any lessons and drills on correct thinking process? Shouldn't this be a category up there with tactics, strategy etc.?

My guess is because every person's play style is different. You cannot simply train every mind to think alike, the idea of openinings are there for reference but its nearly impossible to assume that we can 100% control the way we think in the game.

 

@runaldur -

I recently discovered an interesting, rather unique book - "The Six Power Moves of Chess" by William G. Karneges.  It is written for the improving chess amateur, primarily the beginner-novice.   Even though you are not a beginner-novice, based on your comments above I believe you might find the book helpful.  In fact, I found a few things in the book which helped to improve, organize my own thinking process, relevant to choosing chess moves.

The goal of the book is to provide a concrete framework, or set of guidelines, to be considered before making a chess move.  While the title leads one to believe that the book is about six chess moves (the author calls them 'Power Moves'), it goes far beyond that.  The power moves are just the starting point.  The majority of the book is primarily about how to evaluate a chess position from which a strategy, i.e., a plan of action, can be arrived at and executed based around the power moves, in concert with relevant chess principles and guidelines which are also discussed at length.

While Amazon's online "Look Inside" feature/tool (on the book's webpage) is essentially useless, as none of the "meat" of the book is available for viewing, you can get a sense of what the book is by checking out the reader reviews.  My only criticism of the book is that it appears to be self-published, in the sense that the author's writing tends to be overly verbose and repetitive, and the content is, arguably, not as tightly organized and presented as it might have been; thus, the book could have used the talents of an experienced, professional editor. 

However the substance of the book is, in my opinion, very instructive in terms of how to organize one's thinking process with a view towards arriving at a plan of action.  It also contains lots of diagrams which are helpful in following the examples.  As I said, I learned a few things from it, related primarily to organizing my thinking process.

Otherwise, you might discover something of interest in my blog....

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

https://support.chess.com/article/437-how-do-i-get-better-at-chess

 

Studying tactics will help you from blundering and missing tactics (which is probably the main reason there are not a lot of books on thinking). One way to assess your game is to learn why you lost or why you won. You did note some healthy thinking processes. One other hint from your text is finding the right move. When does this happen; the opening, middle game, or endgame? This will determine what area you need to study about. Lastly it may also be part of who you are. What I mean is, some people need to do things perfectly to feel accomplished. Losing can make this worse. I was once in that boat as well. Sometimes you have to a) learn by doing, b) learn by getting out of your comfort zone, c) study. 

Thanks for all the answers! @RussBell I will check out recommended book and your blog. Dan Heisman has written several books and articles on the topic, which I have read. It's just that there is a difference between theory and practice as @swarminglocusts points out. I learned chess as a grown up, which I believe is a huge disadvantage, and I've heard small children are taught to sit on their hands to force them to think through their moves before moving pieces. Likewise I believe kids more easily can learn visualization and pattern recognition, wich takes longer for a "mature" brain.

But let me take an example. As many have said: tactics is probably one of the best ways to improve in chess. I have done thousands and practice them almost every day. But there are no/very few courses/drills on "stopping your opponents tactics". In my opinion there is a vital difference on always looking for your own tactics and spotting your opponents. Such a drill would teach the student to consider your opponents play more - which I believe many begginners don't do enought. You can sau the same about mate+2. Stopping your opponents from mating is different from finding mate+2.

Am I the only one thinking this is a topic chess.com does not give enought attention?

"how to reassess your chess" by jeremy silman teaches a thinking process.   🙂

On that note. The "Insight" functionality, which is I recently discovered on Ipad is excellent. By reviewing my last 100 games together I discovered some interesting things about my thinking process.
1) I lost way to many games on time - which made me change from 5|0 min games to 5|5 games
2) I lost too many games by resignation (e.g. When loosing a piece). Now my opponent must prove he can win with an extra piece - which often does not happen on my level
3) I lost too many games on Fridays, being tired from work. So I stopped playing when tired.

Just by adjusting these things my rating has climbed steadily the last months. Just wanted to say that chess.com has several excellent tools too :-)

"Think Like a Grandmaster" by Kotov explains the thinking process.
Who was Kotov?
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1084375 

@runaldur -

The more I read your comments, the more I believe you will find the Power Moves book useful.  It is not a panacea, but it is a unique book, one of the very few I have come across which attempts to teach, rather successfully in my view, not only WHAT to think and do, but HOW to do it.

Interesting you should mention Dan Heisman.  He has written several excellent books which I believe you might find addresses many of your concerns at length.....where he focuses not only on WHAT, but just as importantly for most amateurs, HOW...

• Back to Basics Tactics
• Elements of Positional Evaluation
• Looking for Trouble (where the focus is on defensive chess)

Silmans book is excellent, but too advanced for my level. I think it's recommended for 1500 and above...

@RussBell I just ordered it :-)

Isn't Kotovs book for players rated 1800 and above...?

I assume you mean the Six Power Moves book.  If so, I would be interested to hear what you think of it (once you've finished it).

Silman's "How to Reassess Your Chess" is a rather advanced book.  Suitable primarily for those players rated 1600 Elo and above.  For those below that level, his book "The Amateur's Mind" is very good.  On the other hand, "Silman's Complete Endgame Course" is excellent and appropriate for all levels up to and including Expert level.

 

It is certainly advanced, and would be extremely "challenging" (to say the least) for players who are rated below 1500 Elo.

Can't believe I missed "Looking for trouble" by Heisman... sounds spot on...

Yes.  It's another one of the very few unique chess books - focused on a generally overlooked aspect of chess - defense.  At least, as a separate topic of its own.

Dan Heisman is a very good teacher.

@runaldur -

re The Six Power Moves book...

In the book the author indicates that there are available, for those who have purchased his book, online training videos - "Spot The Power Moves".  Buried on p. 95 of the book he reveals how to go about accessing these videos.  There he also says you would need to provide proof of book purchase to get access.  (I have not tried to access the videos, so don't know any more about it than that).

In the following blog article, see the section Play Longer Time Controls...

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

second nature thinking is the easiest way to learn chess.