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The Beauty of Ugly Moves

The Beauty of Ugly Moves

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Dragondom1
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Ugly Moves.. They have been played for years by grandmasters and engines alike and yet are hard to find, especially of <1600-1800 players. What makes them so vicious yet rare and how to spot them? It's all here..

Why are these moves so hard to play

These moves as from their name are not aesthetically pleasing. This makes it a lot more harder to find them as you visualize calculations and lines. According to cc, about 96% of players are below the 1450-1520 area. This is another reason for why these moves aren't that common as players need to develop a good understanding to play such moves. For example, placing your bishop in front of a central pawn in a fianchetto line may not be aesthetically good, but could be the best move as your other bishop is positioned well. This may not be correct always - which is another reason why humans tend to not play such moves as it is human to ensure that even if we don't get a benefit, we MUST NOT get a loss. That's why these moves are REAAAALLLY hard to play in a practical situation.

Road to Getting Better:

Developing your understanding is the most critical element in playing these moves. The more you understand chess, the more you feel like you don't. Therefore, the BEST way is not to focus too much on understanding as it has too many roads and too many roadblocks. Rather, assess games of top level players either live or after the game. Watching live is better in my opinion as, if you are able to predict a top-player's move, you will receive a morale boost which leads to another point of mine: TRUST YOUR INTUITION. Have you ever felt that you would have played this move but due to some reason, didn't play it but it was the BEST move? I suppose all have felt that. It is a very common feature when you are on your road to improvement. You'll need to have that self-confidence to start finding these moves - Just like you do in life  wink.png . So let's dive deeper with a PRACTICAL example. 

That was a great game by all means! However this is just a trailer of what is to come happy.png

Part 2 to come soon! 

Thanks!