KIMPLODES! Cogito ergo sum: An Explosive Analysis Approach
KIMPLODES! is an acronym to guide you through the process of analyzing a chess game.
Okay, it's time to wrap up this 11-part series on KIMPLODES! I revisit my reasoning behind why you might find my approach useful. I provide a recap of key insights from every individual blog and provide a link to each. There are also multiple, original pictures included to break up the brief chunks of words.
Next, for your reading pleasure, I considered a few questions that will probably never be asked, the Never Asked Questions (NAQ).
Then I attempted to wrap up all the piece parts and synthesize some overarching statement regarding the value of KIMPLODES! Given that I still won't have convinced all readers to adopt KIMPLODES!, after all independent thinking is a critical chess skill, there are some references to other source material on "how to analyze" that can be found on chess.com.
Finally, I closed with some casual thoughts and a few last photos for your viewing pleasure.
My Fundamental Proposition
I believe it enhances one's ability to evaluate and analyze if you have a systematic way to consider all individual aspects of a position. In this series, I offered my systemic approach for your consideration. But everything you do in chess should be tailored to your individual strengths, weaknesses and preferences. So, this approach may not be for you. In which case I hope it sparked some creativity on your part regarding what would work for you! And if you said "engines", then there are a lot of coaches out there who will be beating their head against a wooden chessboard. Better than them beating your head with a wooden chessboard, I say.
A Recap, Blog by Blog
The blog that introduced this series. And a KIMPLODES analysis of Paul Morphy's famous Opera game that offers a peek under the hood before delving into the details of each facet of KIMPLODES! in subsequent material.
Always a good place to start since an unsafe King is often the precursor to an untimely end. King Safety is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the essence around which all other factors revolve. His Majesty is the weakest piece on the board, unable to approach other pieces too closely. Even in an endgame His forward progress is often akin to rock climbing without ropes as the opponent can often simply check Him away...or into his grave. (Do King's have graves, or only mausoleums, pyramids, or other grandiose final resting places?) Lose track of your King's safety and it is game over, baby.
If my opponent is reacting to my plans and threats, then I have the Initiative. But, if I am reacting to their threats, then they have the Initiative. If you do have the Initiative, be aware that it can peter out. It can even switch to your opponent if you do not continue to play actively. If that happens it is extremely beneficial to have transformed your Initiative into some other imbalance that grants you an enduring edge. Or at least allows you to blunt any untoward effects if your opponent has suddenly seized the Initiative. Should you opponent have the initiative, then you need to seek ways to snuff it out. Finally, it is possible that both sides are fighting for the Initiative on opposite wings of the board. Think of a KID where White focuses on the Queenside for long-term strategic gains while Black attempts to mate White on the Kingside. Of course, if both of us are doing our own thing then the question of who is creating the greater threats gets all tumbly-turvy...and we may both be confused. But as long as both of us think it is the other player who is confused, that's OK with us 😜.
Am I ahead or behind in material? The more insightful question is whether a material deficit or surplus matters. After all, material is simply a coin for bartering. It can be given away to gain the Initiative, to gain access to a key Square, to ruin a Pawn Structure, to open key Lines, to remind the enemy King that He is not safe, and so forth and so on. But Material becomes irrelevant in the face of stalemates that cannot be lifted, perpetuals that cannot be evaded, and mates that are imposed.
Pawn structure is largely about the alignments, or lack thereof, of each side's pawns and how the opposing pawns interact with each other. Just as bone structure determines the overall, general outlines of an individual, so Pawn Structure can often define a relatively limited set of plans that flow naturally from the very complexion of the structure. And that often simplifies the task of finding a good plan. You disregard the bones at your own risk. Bend them too far and they may break. Intrinsically aligned to the question of Pawn Structure is the notion of Space and Squares.
Files, ranks, diagonals...are they open and who controls them? Can that control be retained or contested? Are there penetration points or is it just a vein of fool's gold; bright and shiny, but not worth a tinker's damn. Or have you got IM Silman's "hogs rooting on the 7th"--HOOAH!! Control critical Lines and then create threats that your opponent cannot match. That generates an Initiative that may lead to a sparkling victory. And the Snoopy Victory Dance...far better than the Chicago Bears Super Bowl Shuffle, in my opinion.
The minor pieces. Who has the better Bishops and Knights. Is the position open or closed; is it an endgame with pawns on both sides of the board; is the side with the Bishops ahead or behind in Development and is the position stable or unstable--and do you know what constitutes stability or a lack thereof? Do the Knights have unassailable outposts? Was everything you ever learned about the relative value of minor pieces based on ludicrous propositions, such as a good Knight versus a Bishop that is not only bad, but locked forever behind its own pawns, with no compensating features anywhere else on the board? So many questions, so many cliches, so much truth in the phrase, "It depends." Would that I could offer some blinding epiphany here. Instead, if there is one generality that I think hews closest to truth, it is the either mundane or extraordinary observation, or perhaps oversimplification, that Pawn Structures determine much of the value of the Officers. This is frequently tied directly to, and who has better access to, Lines and Key Squares or Outposts, as determined by the Pawn Structure. Plus, whether the Officers can target certain pawns. Without ever overlooking King Safety.
Analyze with KIMPLODES! D = Development
Grossly oversimplified, you have more pieces out sooner. The next layer is to have them on good squares where they support some coherent plan of action. Development can be a decisive factor, but often it is merely the difference between a slight advantage and equality. It is also a factor that can quickly leak away and even turn in the opponent's favor. For Development to be a decisive factor requires energetic play that converts the Development lead into other factors, for instance a slowly building Initiative that leads to Material gains.
Sometimes the owner of the pieces with less Space enjoys tremendous latent energy, just waiting to explode in retribution for the opponent's audacity in trying to squeeze the other side. At the lowest level you can think of the tension on a compressed spring and the forces generated when that tension is released. Mentally imagine your chess prowess moving from an old-school watch spring to nuclear fusion, unleashed at your direction. If positions such as encountered in the Hedgehog Structure are entered willingly, with a knowledge of standard plans, the willingness to maneuver quietly despite less Space, and the patience to await an advantageous moment to strike, then positions like the Hedgehog may be for you. But before you jump on that horse and ride off in all directions, I would advise you to explore games where White has countered Black's methodology.
Oversimplified, as pawns advance, they gain a spatial advantage, but frequently leave behind holes the other side will try to exploit. I once read a comment from a super-trainer who suggested that if all else fails in evaluating a position, just count the number of squares your pieces have contact with, and then compare that to the number of squares your opponent's pieces contact. If your pieces are influencing more squares, then you may have an advantage. But sometimes an entire game revolves around one Square, not just a color complex. Space is looking at the same coins from a different perspective. To wit, if your pieces have more room to maneuver, and use safe squares effectively, then you may have an advantage. But please remember that the prior blog on Energy offers a partial refutation of the statement just made about extra Space necessarily providing an advantage.
First, let me clarify that the NAQ should not be confused with The Knack, a popular rock band whose biggest hit was My Sharona in 1979. Nor is it shorthand for the acronym NASDAQ, an electronic marketplace for trading securities. Were it either of those, I would presumably be wealthy beyond compare and have comfortably retired to beachfront property somewhere in the world...a place with no taxes.
Can KIMPLODES! be applied to Chess960? Yes, it can! But that's a topic for another blog. I've already downloaded some illustrative games from the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge that I'll be examining from a KIMPLODES! perspective another day. Or you can do that yourself. In the past I have found KIMPLODES! a particularly useful organizing principle for leisurely examining initial positions in Fischer Random, aka Chess960, aka Freestyle Chess. I'm thinking Vote Chess in particular where the team has agreed to discuss general plans and specific candidate moves before voting. An early discussion that offers recognizable discussions of Lines and Officers, not to mention luft for Her Majesty, often provides particularly compelling evidence of how best to proceed when the common landmarks of standard chess openings are missing.
Can KIMPLODES! be applied during bullet chess? If you incorporated all the tenets into the very chess fiber of your being, then sure, I suppose. Why not? I'd be thrilled to meet that person and learn from them!! As long as they could explain their process. As for me? At bullet I've found my focus is first on the clock, second on King Safety and third on tactics. Material is quite often inconsequential. Except that if I am winning in an endgame but short on time, then my primary focus is eliminating all my opponent's pieces, unless I luckily spot a standard mating pattern. Barring the known mating pattern, the elimination of my opponent's every piece at least ensures that when my clock goes to zero (a frequent occurrence) then I at least record a draw for posterity because my opponent had insufficient Material.
Can KIMPLODES! be applied to CrazyHouse? Uhm...well, the factors obviously all still exist. But Material turns into a wild card in this variant. I'd suggest that the Arkham Asylum Joker could easily apply KIMPLODES! to CrazyHouse, but anyone else would be nuts to make the attempt.
If you didn't have KIMPLODES! as an all-purpose tool, then what one word would you use to key your chess decisions? Activity.
