5 Things I Learned From A Grandmaster
Eugene Perelshteyn stars in the new official YouTube Series "Grandmaster Teaches Grasshopper," as the Grandmaster, with MikeySlice as the Grasshopper. We just finished lesson 2, and I learned way more than I was expecting. I learned more from that lesson than I did my entire senior year of high school! Had they taught me how to solve problems the way Eugene did, I'd be a lot better off right now.
Lesson 1: Solve tactics more efficiently. I learned how to solve tactics in a way that's so easy I don't know how I never thought of it. Well maybe not that easy, but it makes solving tactics less of a headache. Not only did I learn how to solve tactics puzzles, but also learned the Hyper Accelerated Dragon opening. I'm super excited to tell you all about it!
Solve tactics faster with the CCT approach:
- Checks
- Captures
- Threats
Doesn't even have to make a move....
Step 1: Checks. When a new tactic pops up look at all checks on the king. Then from those checks see if there's a (forced) mating sequence. If there isn't, move on to the next step.
Step 2: Captures. Look at all possible captures, no matter how silly they look, including pawn captures. If there's no winning combination yet it's time to move on to the next step.
Step 3: Threats. Can you threaten a mate in one? Is there a pinned piece that you can attack again to win it? If so then there's your answer! Use the CCT's during your next tactics training session and be wowed. It's so simple! Try this one out. Don't forget to use your CCT's
- Checks: By using the CCT's you were able to see that there was only one check.
- Captures: We already know about the capture with the fork on d4 so we can move on to the other captures. While looking at captures we see a way to remove the knight from the defense of that pawn on d4, brilliant!
- Now calculate which piece to take with and you've got it! No need to move on to threats, if you already have a winning move sequence.
