Studying Chess is Funny Business

When I was in elementary school I learned that studying and practice paid off. The more time I spent on my multiplication tables the better I did on the quizzes, and the longer I practiced writing my vocabulary words the easier it was to recall them. This held true for everything I studied until I picked up chess.

Studying chess is completely different from academics. Players never know when, or if, their studies will appear in their own games. The best we can do is learn ideas that are likely to transpire over the board, and hope we will be able to recall that knowledge when the time is right. A lot of the time you may not even realize the idea is there until you need to draw upon it. I had that happen to me a couple weeks ago at the Marshall Chess Club.

It has been years since I've seen this Fischer game. I honestly can't even recall much about it, but the empty square sacrifice of 19. Rf6! was such a powerful move that it stuck with me. The idea is to uncoordinate black's defenses.

Who knew that years later this idea would surface in one of my own games? I was bettering my pieces and looking for a plan when I suddenly recalled Fischer's Rf6.

Studying chess is unlike anything else. If you feel you've plateaued just stick with it. You might not realize how much content you can draw upon until you actually need it!