How to Choose a Chess Move E-Book

Andrew Soltis

• Herausgeber: Batsford
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 303

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

International Grandmaster Andrew Soltis brings you a foolproof guide to choosing your best next chess move, every time. There are more than 20 moves you can choose from an average position, yet Chess Masters regularly manage to select the best moves – and they do it faster, more confidently and with less calculation than other players. This practical guide, in a fully revised and updated edition of a Batsford chess classic, explains the tricks, techniques and shortcuts Masters employ to find the best way forward, at every stage of a game. Drawing on the wisdom of some of the greatest chess players of all time, with analysis from over 180 games, it covers: • Employing specific cues to identify good moves. • Streamlining analysis of the consequences of moves. • Using both objective and highly subjective criteria to find the right move – from any position. This invaluable book provides a fascinating insight into the way Chess Masters think, and is a must for all players who want to hone their decision-making skills and cultivate a killer chess instinct.

Leseprobe

How to Choose a Chess Move

New completely revised edition

Andrew Soltis

Contents

Chapter 1: It’s Your Move

Chapter 2: Look Smart

Chapter 3: Quiet Cues

Chapter 4: Drawback Detective

Chapter 5: Mini-Phases

Chapter 6: Mars Moves, Venus Moves

Chapter 7: Intuition

Chapter 8: Trees

Chapter 9: How Much Analysis?

Chapter 10: Evaluating

Chapter 11: Tree Tweaking

Chapter 12: The Four Thinking Models

Chapter 13: Reality Check

Chapter 14: The Pragmatic Imperative

Chapter 15: Clock Mastery

Chapter 16: Blunder Check

Index of Players

1: It’s Your Move

Making a decision is one of life’s basic skills. Good decisions bring us almost everything we hold valuable. Bad decisions cost us friendships, time, money and mental ease.

Schools don’t teach us how to make good decisions. But chess can. Some of the first difficult choices we make in life are at a chessboard.

Years later we forget how bewildering choosing a move can be. Here’s a position that masters would call “quiet.”

Firouzja – Mamedyarov

Norway (blitz) 2023

White to play

Quiet perhaps. Yet White must choose from among 42 (!) different moves.

Of course, only a computer considers all 42. Humans quickly learn how to whittle the number down. Even players who have just learned how the pieces move can grasp how truly awful 1 ♕xb4?? is.

As a player improves, he or she learns shortcuts to trim the list further. A “post-beginner” eventually discovers how to rule out pointless retreats, such as 1 ♗h1.

Gradually, that player goes beyond rejecting bad moves, pointless moves, innocuous moves and such to spotting moves that may be good. These are moves that might improve winning chances in some way. For example, 1 ♖dc1 looks forward to a time when the c5-pawn can be safely captured (e.g. 1…♘c6? 2 ♘xc5!).

Masters have a name for moves that survive the trim-down cut. They are “candidate” moves. In a position like this, only a handful of the 42 legal moves could properly be called candidates. That should tell you how hard it is to find a good move.

In this game, White chose 1 e3. It was a good choice because White may want to gain space and expand the power of his queen and d1-rook with d3-d4.

Now let’s switch seats and think about how Black should reply.

Black to play

It is purely a coincidence that Black has nearly as many legal moves to choose from. Once again we can identify blunders. Nine of Black’s 41 moves lose enough material to cost Black the game. For instance, 1…♗xh3?? allows 2 ♗xh3.

Another half dozen or so are pointless, such as 1…♖a8. They could turn Black’s slightly favorable position into an equal or inferior one. So would any of several weakening moves such as 1…h5.

But there are alternatives that improve Black’s chances in various ways. For example, 1…♕d7 develops the queen while making a threat (…♗xh3). Also, 1…b6 protects a potentially vulnerable pawn. A master might consider them and two or three other moves before choosing one to play.

But chess teachers rarely explain how to make that choice. Instead, they provide an avalanche of advice – about pawn structure, material values, and so on. Then they tell students to sort it all out.

“It’s easy,” they say. “Just pick the right move.”

TWO TYPES

It is not easy. But we can make it easier, starting with this:

There are two basic types of candidates. The first are those that improve your position according to “general principles.” Those are the guidelines that all beginners are taught.

Some are very broad: Develop your pieces and improve their range. Protect them and your pawns. Try to control the center squares. Defend pieces and pawns under attack.

Other general principles are more specific. “Improve the range of your pieces” can mean “Put rooks on open files” and “Don’t move knights to the edge of the board.”

The second basic kind of candidate is tactical. Moves that give check or make a capture are tactical. So are moves that threaten to make a damaging check or capture.

Most of the moves you make in a typical game are either “principled” or tactical. If you want to make a move but can’t describe it in one of those two ways, you should take more time to consider it.

Some positions are so tactical, that principled moves take a back seat until the tactics are over. After 1 e3 in the last diagram Black passed up various principled moves and chose the tactical 1…f5.

White to play

White’s reply 2 ♘c3 could also be called tactical. By responding to Black’s threat of …fxe4, it frees him to threaten 3 ♘xe5. Black met the threat with 2…♗f6.

Masters would say the position has become “sharper.” This just means there are more tactical candidates than before. They tend to crowd out the principled candidates and get more of our attention than, say, 3 ♖ac1.

After Black plays 2…♗f6, the tactical candidates begin with a capture, 3 ♘xd5. Masters say such a move is “forcing.” Black would be forced to recapture or accept the loss of a knight.

White has other forcing moves, including 3 e4 and 3 a3, which threaten Black knights, and 3 ♘e2 and 3 ♘a4, which open the way for 4 ♗xe5 or 4 ♘xe5.

3   ♘xd5!

In sharp positions it pays to think of tactics first, general principles second. Now 3…♘xd5 would cost Black the e5-pawn. So would 3…♕xd5 because 4 ♘xe5! discovers a ♗xd5 attack on the queen.

The position has become very sharp. It should be no surprise that more forcing captures and threats followed:

3   …   ♗xd5

4   e4   fxe4

5   dxe4   ♗xe4?

6   ♕e3!

White makes two threats (7 ♖xd8 and 7 ♕xe4) and seeks a growing advantage.

6   …   ♗d5

7   ♘xe5

There are fewer pieces on the board. Does this make it easier to choose a move?

Actually, Black has more legal moves, 42, than in the first position we examined. And the situation is more perilous. More than half of those moves lose enough material to cost Black the game.

Even the forking 7…♘c2 would lose eventually after 8 ♕f4 ♘xa1 9 ♖xd5 ♕-moves 10 ♗xa1, for example.

Nor can Black relax and think about making a principle-based move. Given time, White would win the pinned d5-bishop with 8 ♖d2 followed by 9 ♖ad1 or 9 a3. Play went:

7   …   ♕d6

8   ♗xd5   ♘xd5

9   ♕e4   ♖cd8

10   ♖d2

Black’s situation is critical. After the game it was found that only the forcing 10…♗xe5! 11 ♗xe5 ♘f6! would reduce his plight to the loss of a pawn.

10   …   ♕e6?

And Black resigned when he saw how 11 ♘g6+! and 12 ♕xe6 would win his queen.

PRIORITIES

“I was half right,” a novice might complain about his latest loss. “I centralized my knight. It was a good move. Except I allowed him to take my queen.”

Wrong. Blunders are never “half right.” They are 100 percent wrong. Tactical moves have an annoying habit of making principled moves look stupid.

Beginners feel this makes chess too hard. In fact, it makes it easier. It sets priorities. It tells you that making a good decision begins with watching for tactical moves – both yours and your opponent’s.

Nakamura – Carlsen

Chess.com 2016

Black to play

White threatens ♖xc5. A simple way for Black to avert that is by moving his bishop.

He has three ways of doing that. He can reject 1…♗b5? because it relinquishes control of d5 and allows 2 ♗xd5!. But there is nothing wrong with 1…♗b7.

However the best was:

1   …   ♗d7!

This is not only forcing but prepares to post the bishop on a better square, f5. For example, 2 ♕d3 c4 3 ♕c3? and now 3…♗f5! wins material by threatening …♗xb1.

2   ♕f4

There are several reasons to play White’s last move. The queen remains fairly well centralized. It stops 2…♗f5. It also prepares 3 e4, which would improve the scope of his own bishop after 3…dxe4 4 ♘xe4 or 3…♗e6 4 exd5.

However, tactics once again trumped general principles.

2   …   g5!

The queen is trapped (3 ♕f3 ♗g4). White resigned.

HOW MASTERS REALLY THINK

Tactics can be scary, especially when you see how a world-class player can fall victim like that. But you can become a good tournament player by relying primarily on general principles and elementary tactics.

Unless your opening leads you into a slugfest, you can look for principled candidates for most of a game. The rest will be relatively simple tactical moves. And when you do have to make a move based on calculation, you will rarely have to look more than two or three moves into the future.

A revealing insight into how a great player really thinks occurred when Garry Kasparov played a game against Internet opponents. Anyone could log on to a site and vote for the best move to play against Kasparov, then world champion.

The 1997 game, dubbed “Kasparov versus the World,” began 1 e4 c5 2 ♘f3 d6 3 ♗b5+ ♗d7 4 ♗xd7+ ♕xd7 5 c4 ♘c66 ♘c3 g6 7 0-0 ♘f6 8 d4 cxd49 ♘xd4 ♗g7 10 ♘de2 ♕e6 11 ♘d5 ♕xe4 12 ♘c7+ ♔d713 ♘xa8 ♕xc4.

White to play

Kasparov visualized this position earlier, when he chose his 11th move. He planned to continue 14 ♘c3, a principled move. But when the position actually occurred he changed his mind. He explained his thinking in a book, Kasparov Against the World:

After 14 ♘c3 there would be no vulnerable targets for White to attack. That might not sound important. But once Black captures the trapped a8-knight, the middlegame that follows could turn out very badly for White because he lacks a specific goal.

14   ♘b6+!

Kasparov chose this because it prompted a weakness on b6. He was using very general reasoning, not trying to calculate how he would actually attack that pawn. He looked no further than 14…axb6. “I have to admit I didn’t know what to do next,” he said.

14   …   axb6

He looked at 15 ♘c3 but he foresaw a problem. Black could prepare…b5-b4 and turn the weak-looking b-pawn into an aggressive asset.

So, Kasparov turned his attention to 15 a4. It would prepare ♘c3 when …b5-b4 would be harder for Black to carry out.

But Kasparov saw a problem with 15 a4. Black would have good replies such as 15…♘d5 and 15…♘e4. He switched his attention back to 15 ♘c3. Returning to a candidate you have already rejected was considered a sin by the celebrated Soviet trainers of Kasparov’s youth. But it was a sin widely committed.

15   ♘c3

In the end, Kasparov played this because of another change in his thinking. He realized his winning chances were not as good as he thought a few moves ago. He now felt 15 ♘c3 b5 might be the best position he could get. Having an objective sense of what your chances are is very important in choosing the best move.

The World players voted for:

15   …   ♖a8

This is what masters call a “natural” move. It activates Black’s last undeveloped piece on the best file for a rook.

An equally natural reply is 16 ♗e3, threatening to take the b6-pawn. Black would likely answer 16…b5.

Then White could reply 17 ♖c1. He would have the winning tactics of 17…b4? 18 ♘a4! and ♘b6+ in mind.

But Black has other options at move 17. This meant White faced another basic choice:

Should he analyze the consequences of 16 ♗e3 b5 17 ♖c1 ? Or should he choose a move he could play with little calculation? Kasparov was renowned for his deep-dive calculating ability. But he took the latter path.

16   a4

This discouraged ...b5 for the foreseeable future. By now both sides realized the winning chances were roughly balanced between White and Black. The World decided to force matters with a move that threatened 17…♘xc3.

16   …   ♘e4

Earlier Kasparov had relied on one method of thinking – trusting his instincts – when he chose 14 ♘b6+ and 16 a4. He shifted to another way of thinking when he weighed the benefits of two moves, 15 ♘c3 and 15 a4. Now he adopted a third method, the process of elimination.

The most aggressive reply to 16…♘e4 was 17 ♘d5. Kasparov rejected it when he saw 17…♗d4!. A move like that – parrying a threat and making its own threat (18…♕xd5) – is almost always attractive.

Kasparov didn’t give much thought to the alternative, 17 ♕d5. Earlier in the game he concluded that a trade of queens, however it came about, would lead to an uncomfortable endgame.

Now he could consider the specific 17 ♕d5 ♕xd5 18 ♘xd5 position. Then 18…♖a6 would defend the attacked b6-pawn. That position and 19 ♗e3 ♘c5 confirmed his pessimistic view of his endgame chances.

There were also good reasons to avoid 17 ♘b5 and 17 ♘e2. That left only:

17   ♘xe4

He did not come to a clear evaluation of the position after…

17   …   ♕xe4

…because it was not worth evaluating. The process of elimination told him 17 ♘xe4 should be played.

Again there were candidates that seemed to suggest themselves. Two that stood out were principled moves that also made threats.

One was 18 ♖e1. Then 18…♕d4 would offer to trade queens into the kind of endgame Kasparov wanted to avoid.

Another option was 18 ♗e3, developing the bishop with a threat of ♗xb6. But that required a deep look at 18…♗xb2 and then 19 ♖b1 ♗d4.

18   ♕b3

Instead, he threatened the undefended pawns at b6 and f7. Later computers did not like this move because they felt 18…e6 and 19 ♕xb6 ♘d4 was too dangerous for White. Black would threaten to win his queen after 20…♖a6! (21 ♕b4 ♘e2+).

One of the most revealing points in the game came when the World majority chose a move that surprised Kasparov.

18   …   f5

He had his own international team of advisers and one recommended 19 ♕xb6. “But I didn’t even consider it,” he said. It “went against my chess principles.” Grabbing material while his queenside pieces were undeveloped just seemed wrong.

19   ♗g5

He felt this “had to be the right move.” It connected his rooks and made 20 ♖fe1 possible (20…♕b4 21 ♕e6+).

But though his instincts told him it was “right,” he felt he had to calculate the consequences of 19 ♗g5. He analyzed Black’s aggressive replies (19…♘d4, 19…♕b4 and 19…♕d4) and was satisfied with what he saw. The World replied:

19   …   ♕b4

20   ♕f7!

Young players love to make threatening moves because they can more easily predict how their opponents will reply. Here the threat of ♕xg7 gave Black several reasonable options, such as 20…♗xb2, 20…♕xb2, 20…♗e5 and 20…♗d4. The World opted to close the e-file.

20   …   ♗e5

Kasparov quickly rejected 21 ♕xh7?? when he saw 21…♖h8 would drive his queen away and allow Black to play …♗xh2+.

But ♕xh7 would be safe if White played 21 h3 first. However, Kasparov’s intuition called for something more lively than pushing a pawn one square.

He looked at the forcing 21 f4. That would commit him to the sharp consequences of 21…♗xb2. After he found problems for White in that, he rejected 21 f4.

He turned to another promising tactical idea, 21 ♖ac1. It prepares a sacrifice on c6, e.g. 22 ♖xc6 ♔xc6?? 23 ♖c1+ and wins, or 22…bxc6 23 ♕xe7+.

But after further examination of the sharp candidates, he returned to:

21   h3!

There was no convenient way for Black to stop ♕xh7 followed by ♕xg6. Kasparov changed his previous view of 21 h3 because he now appreciated how it gave him another way to win. He wouldn’t have to mate Black, just promote his h-pawn.

He pursued that plan as the game continued:

21   …   ♖xa4!

22   ♖xa4   ♕xa4

23   ♕xh7   ♗xb2

24   ♕xg6

It was becoming clearer that White has the upper hand. He has good chances of promoting his h-pawn. In addition, Black’s king is much more vulnerable than his. The game was later decided by a Black blunder.

But what is important to us is how White got to the favorable 24 ♕xg6 position:

He relied on instincts and analysis that at times seemed confused and random. He changed his mind about the nature of the position and the quality of moves. Yet he made better decisions than Black. This book is about how this is done.

2: Look Smart

The process of choosing a move begins with a quick look at the board. But it is a special kind of looking. It takes weeks, if not months, for a newcomer to chess to learn how to look properly.

This is a knack called quick sight. It consists of spotting the most powerful potential moves. Typically, they are checks, captures and threats.

Dubov – Piorun

Moscow 2019

White to play

You will find quiz positions like this on web sites. Even some elite grandmasters try to solve a few fresh diagrams each day to keep their quick sight quick.

Here you might begin by noticing 1 ♘h6. That threatens to mate in two ways, 2 ♕g8 and 2 ♘xf7.

Does it win by force? No, 1…♗xh6 defends.

The little secret of many quiz positions is that they turn out to be easy if you look for a check. In this case, just look for one check after another.

1   ♕g7+!   ♗xg7

2   fxg7+   ♔g8

3   ♘h6 mate

But bear in mind: A quiz position comes with an unnatural hint. It tells you there is a single winning solution to find. In the vast majority of positions you face over the board, there will be no hint – and no such solution.

Nevertheless, the time-tested recommendation is: Begin each search for the best move by spotting the candidates that have the greatest force.

Sethuraman – Iturrizaga

Dubai 2019

Black to play

A player with quick sight would almost instantly spot two ways for Black to deliver check. The faster you see moves like that, the faster you can tell whether they are good enough to play.

As a result, you could quickly see 1…♗d4+. You should also quickly realize that it just loses the bishop (♕xd4).

The other check, 1…♖e1+, reaches a dead end after 2 ♔f2 – dead because there are no more safe, forcing moves.

But once you’ve developed quick sight you begin to notice clues to the best move. Black saw one: If it were his queen, not the rook, giving check on e1, it would be mate.

Therefore, he looked for a rook move that cleared the way for …♕e1 mate. What are the ones most likely to succeed? Rook moves that make a threat.

1   …   ♖d6!

The alternative, 1…♖c6, would attack the White queen. But White has a forcing reply, 2 ♕d5+ and the game goes on.

Now if 2 ♖f2 Black would look for another forcing move. Good enough to win an endgame is 2…♗d4. So is 2…♕e1+ 3 ♖f1 ♗d4+.

Fastest, however, is winning the queen with 2…♖d1+! 3 ♖f1 ♗d4+!.

Alternatively, the game could have ended with:

2   ♕f2   ♗d4!

3   ♖xd4   ♖xd4

4   ♕xd4   ♕e1 mate

This is the mating idea Black spotted in the initial position. Instead, White could give up his rook, 3 ♖xd4 ♖xd4 4 h3, and play out a lost endgame.

The value of quick sight cannot be understated. It is “the foundation of chess,” the great Soviet era grandmaster Grigory Levenfish said.

SIGHT TRAINING

Some lucky folks seem to be born with quick sight. But for the rest of us, it needs to be taught.

Fortunately, quick sight is one of the easiest chess skills to acquire. You can train yourself by clicking on a game on a user-friendly web site.

Scroll down 20 or 30 moves to a position. Any position will do. Look at it. What do your eyes tell you?

In the vast majority of cases, the position will be fairly quiet. That is, just a few forcing moves will be apparent. See how many you can spot in the first minute you examine the board.

If you need more time, take another minute or two. Write down what you saw. When you are done, relax for a moment. Then study the position slowly.

Try to see if there were any forcing moves you missed the first time. This is a simple exercise you can conduct several times each day. The goal is to be able to hone your quick sight until you spot all of the forcing moves in that first minute.

Duda – Korobov

Riyadh 2017

Black to play

This position is fairly sharp. How many possible checking moves does Black have? How many captures? Now look for other Black moves that would threaten to capture the queen or a rook.

You should be able to see eight checks and captures. Repeat this kind of exercise until you can spot all of the forcing moves in a position quickly. Acquiring some degree of quick sight is simply the fastest way to improve.

WHAT IS CALCULATING, REALLY?

Only when you’ve spotted the forcing moves can you try to gauge their consequences. That means calculating.

That word is daunting to chess newcomers. It conjures up images of grandmasters peering 15 moves into the future with a mental crystal ball.

It isn’t. Calculating usually means nothing more than looking for future forcing moves.

In a typical position it means spotting the checks, captures and threats available to the player whose turn it is. Once you see them you look for the possible responses to those forcing moves. Then you look to see if there are forcing replies to those moves. You try to do this until you can’t see any more forcing moves.

This is easier than it sounds because most forcing moves are either blunders or innocuous. In the last example, you would look at 1…♕xg2?? until you saw 2 ♘xg2.

Since there are no more forcing moves of consequence, your look-ahead ends there. The same goes for 1…♗xh4??. There is no reason to look farther after you see 2 ♘xh4. Also 1…♘xc4?? 2 ♕xc4.

But you would have to look further at the forcing knight moves. One of them, 1…♘xf3+, is attractive because after 2 gxf3 you might see another forcing move, 2…♘d4 and its threat of …♘xc2+.

Here the strongest move was:

1   …   ♘d4!

You may have mentally blinded yourself because of the reply:

2   ♘xd4

More force to find

But if you kept looking for forcing moves after 2 ♘xd4 you might have seen how 2…♘xd3+ 3 ♕xd3 ♗xe4 skewers the White queen and rook.

Black would emerge ahead in material after 4…♗xb1. In other words, it was a four-move combination. Even many experienced players would fail to see it all.

But the point is it could be found by spotting one forced move after another, 1…♘d4, 2…♘xd3+ and 3…♗xe4, thanks to quick sight.

Magnus Carlsen underlined this lesson when his quick sight failed him.

Nepomniachtchi – Carlsen

AI Cup 2023

Black to play

White had just moved his bishop from d2. Carlsen quickly detected the drawback. The bishop relinquished control of e3. Magnus replied with a knight fork, 1…♘e3.

But White replied 2 ♕e1 and drew. After the game Carlsen realized he had made a basic error in thinking technique: He didn’t look for a better move – a much more forcing move – than 1…♘e3. “That was insane,” he said.

What he missed was 1…♕xg5+!. Then 2 fxg5 ♗xh2+ 3 ♔h1 ♘g3 is mate. Also 2 ♔h1 ♘g3+ 3 hxg3 ♕h6+ mates.

And the moral of the story?

“Always look for captures and checks, kids,” Carlsen said.

THE FORCING TOTEM

There is a hierarchy of forcing moves: You cannot ignore a check. That puts it at the top of the forcing totem pole.

Next come captures. Threats are typically lower down because they are one move away from making a check or capture.

But your eyes can blind you to the most forcing move. That was what happened to Carlsen in the last example. He saw 1…♘e3, one move away from capturing the queen, and not an immediate check, 1…♕xg5+. Another case:

Dai Changren – Lalith

Moscow 2019

White to play

Black just moved his queen from e7 to d6. What do you see?

The first thing you probably noticed is that Black offered to trade queens (1 ♕xd6♖xd6).

The second thing that may grab your attention is that Black’s pieces protect one another. Captures such as 1 ♕xd8?? and 1 ♖xe6?? would lose material and the game.

What about checks? Here White can easily see two of them, 1 ♕b7+and 1 ♕a7+. It doesn’t take much calculation to see both can be safely answered by 1…♕e7.

To spot the third check you may have to force yourself to search.

1   ♗e8+

The bishop can be captured in either of two ways. But 1…♖xe8 2 ♕xd6 costs the Black queen. Then you notice how 1…♔xe8 or 1…♔g7 would allow ♖xe6(+).

In fact, after 1 ♗e8+! Black saw those scenarios – and also 1…♔e7 2 ♗c5!. He resigned on the spot.

FUZZY, FUZZIER

When it is your turn to move the position on the board is crystal clear to you. If you look one move into the future – “if I go here, and he goes there” – the picture begins to get fuzzy. Try to look another move beyond that and it becomes fuzzier.

What helps clarify a murky picture are forcing moves.

Mamedjarova – Paehtz

Warsaw 2021

Black to play

Quick sight tells you White is threatening ♖xg5. It should point out why that is significant. If Black’s queen goes to h4, it allows ♕xg7 mate.

On the other hand, 1…♕h6 protects g7 and also threatens mate on h2. This gains time for Black to win a pawn.

But with quick sight you would also notice a more forcing move.

1   …   ♖xh2+

This might win the game. Or it might be a blunder. At first glance all you can be sure of is that you know White’s reply.

2   ♔xh2

You may see this position clearly when you considered 1…♖xh2+. You would also realize you had better have a forcing move or you will remain a rook down. That suggests a queen check.

A natural continuation is 2…♕h4+. The only legal reply is 3 ♔g2. And since Black still needs forcing moves, 3…♖g5+ looks right.

But if you started back at the first diagram, thinking about 1…♖xh2+, the picture after 3…♖g5+ has become fuzzy.

It takes some skill to see how 4 ♔f1 ♕h3+ leads to two very different results.

One is 5 ♔f2?? ♕h2+ and a quick mate. But the other, 5 ♔e2!, is safe for White.

2   …   ♕h5+!

This is the best move and also the easiest to calculate once you realize the f3-pawn can be captured with check. In fact, it forces mate in two (3…♕xf3+ and 4…♖h5).

From beginning (1…♖xh2+!) to end, that was four moves. But in retrospect it may look simple because White’s only choice was between 3 ♔g2 and 3 ♔g3, both fatal.

THREAT CLUES

Because a threat is typically one move away from a check or a capture, spotting threats requires a more polished form of quick sight. One of the helpful clues is noticing an unprotected enemy piece.

Martin Duque – Berkes

Spanish League 2020

White to play

Black is threatening to capture either the b-pawn or the d-pawn. White found the only way to add protection to both.

1   ♕f2

But Black noticed that this move had drawbacks. One is that White’s queen is now on a potentially dangerous diagonal.

Black could try to exploit that with 1…♖c4. This threatens 2…♗xd4, pinning the queen. However, 2 ♘f3 is more than an adequate defense.

But Black noticed something else about White’s pieces. His rook is not protected.

This suggested:

1   …   ♖c1!

Now 2 ♖xc1 would cost the queen (2…♗xd4). White would also lose after 2 ♕e2♕xd4+!.

Was White lost in the initial position? Not if he had used his own quick sight. Instead of 1 ♕f2, he should look for something of Black’s that is not well protected.

He would have spotted f7 and made his own threat with 1 ♕h7!. Then 1…♗xd4+?? 2 ♔h1 is a winning position for White in light of 3 ♕xf7+ (or 3 ♕g8+ first).

VISION VERSION

We will get to recurring tactical patterns in a later chapter. Discerning them takes a slightly different kind of chess vision. It is based more on memory and recognition than simple seeing.

But as your quick sight deepens you can develop a version of it that allows you to visualize tactical opportunities more than one move into the future.

Topalov – Adams

London 2015

Black to play

White threatens ♖xc6. In such a quiet position, winning a pawn would give him serious winning chances.

Black can protect the c6-pawn with retreats, 1…♘e7 2 ♘d4 ♖4a6. But it made much more sense to keep his pieces active.

1   …   ♖8a6

A natural move – but also one that waves a tactical red flag. Can you see why this creates dangers for Black?

2   ♘d4   ♘e7?

Is it more visible now? There are no White checks. Black’s rooks and knight are protected. All of his pieces seem safe.

3   ♘b3!

Not safe enough. Black cannot avoid the triple fork 4 ♘c5. He was in danger of losing after 3…♕f54 ♘c5 ♖a8 5 ♘xa4.

Computers say Black should have played 2…♖c4!. He would have obtained good play after 3 ♖xc4 dxc4 4 ♖xc4 c5 5 ♖xc5 ♖a4 for example. He didn’t look for this because he didn’t see the same tactical red flag that White did.

COUNTER SIGHT

Quick sight applies to the defender as well as the aggressor. Often he can respond to a threat with a counter-threat that is higher up the forcing totem pole.

Starostits – Kovalenko

Palanga 2018

1 d4 ♘f6 2 ♘f3 b6 3 ♗g5 ♘e4 4 ♗f4 ♗b7 5 e3 e6 6 ♗d3 ♗e7 7 ♘bd2 ♘xd2 8 ♘xd2 d6

The quick sight of White, a grandmaster, pointed out the unprotected g7-pawn.

9   ♕g4

If Black averts ♕xg7 with 9…0-0? he gets into trouble (10 ♗h6 ♗f6? 11 ♘e4 ♗xe4? 12 ♕xe4).

But 9…g6 is playable but passive (10 ♗h6 ♗f8). Instead, he can look for forcing replies to 9 ♕g4.

The first one some masters would look at is 9…h5. Then 10 ♕xg7 ♗f6 11 ♕g3 e5 offers play for a pawn (12 dxe5 h4).

9   …   g5!

But this is better. Black met the ♕xg7 threat by attacking – and trapping the bishop (10 ♗g3 h5).

He might even catch the queen (11 ♕h3?? g4).

In fact, White was lost after 9 ♕g4?? g5!. He resigned after 10 d5 h5 11 ♗b5+ ♔f8 12 ♕e2 exd5.

This mechanism seems to be elementary: One player’s threat is met by a threat that carries greater force. It is elementary – yet it accounts for a remarkable number of blunders by players who should have known better.

They turn off their mental warning system when they make a forcing move and are surprised when their opponent trumps their threat.

SOFT SPOT

The more sophisticated a player’s quick sight, the better he or she is at speedily identifying the weakest points in the enemy armor. Once again, a defender can use this skill as much as his opponent.

Dreev – Esipenko

Yaroslav 2018

White to play

White could safely win a pawn (1 ♕xc6). But he preferred:

1   e4

His point is 1…♘b6 would cost a more valuable pawn (2 ♕xe5!). The c6-pawn would remain vulnerable.

Black could avoid this with 1…♘f4 and then try to defend his weak pawns following 2 ♗xf4 ♕xf4 3 0-0 or 2…exf4! 3 e5.

But he had a more enterprising move. In fact, he had two of them, based on the same idea: White had two unprotected pawns of his own, at e4 and g2.

Black could have seized the advantage by attacking both with 1…♕g6!.

Then 2 exd5 ♕xg2 is fine for Black. So is 2 0-0 ♗h3!, with a threat of …♕xg2 mate.

But Black saw something better than 1…♕g6. He found:

1   …   ♗h3!

This also threatens a forking capture on g2. He had foreseen:

2   0-0   ♗xg2!

3   ♔xg2   ♕g6+!

This would win after 4 ♔h1? ♕xe4, for example. In the game, Black prevailed eventually after 4 ♘g5 ♘f6 and …hxg5.

The key to this example was Black’s recognition of the soft spot at g2. Fully exploiting that square required looking for more than one forcing move – not just 1…♗h3! but also 2…♗xg2!.

FORCE MAJEURE

In a courtroom, “force majeure” is lawyer language for an extraordinary, unforeseen event. In French it means “greater force.” In chess, moves can try to out-force one another and try to prove their threat is the one with more punch. Forcing duels can continue for several moves:

Alekseev – Andreikin

Moscow 2012

1 e4 c5 2 ♘f3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ♘xd4 a6 5 ♗d3 ♗c5 6 ♘b3 ♗e7 7 ♕g4 ♗f6 8 0-0 ♘c6 9 ♘1d2 ♘ge7 10 ♕g3 0-0 11 ♘c4 d5

White to play

Black’s piece-threatening last move would guarantee him equal chances after 12 exd5, whether he recaptures 12…exd5 or 12…♘xd5.

12   e5

This also threatens a piece but does it with greater force. If Black ignores it, with 12…dxc4?, then 13 exf6 poses a new threat, 14 ♕xg7 mate.

Then Black would be slightly worse, after 13…♘f5 14 ♗xf5 ♕xf6 15 ♗e4.

12   …   ♘f5!