Joe Learns Chess with Relationships, Part 2
CHESS LESSON 1 TEACHING RELATIONSHIPS
For GM Levenfish tactical vision was a "gift of nature." Some players develop this skill more quickly than others. It might take two or three months to fully develop it after learning how the pieces move - or it might take years.
Anyhow, the first period of everybody's involvement in chess lasts as long as they don't see when pieces attack each other. Let's call it our chess kindergarten.
To shorten the time spent in the kindergarten, we should revisit the current method where we learn everything after the moves (this is, in my view, the main reason contributing to the so called "chess blindness"). Instead, the relationships should be taught together with the moves from the very start. Once the beginner learns how to "read" the structure on the board and relationships chessmen create, their board vision will naturally improve. At the same time, the moves will organically start coming out in their play thanks to this structure/relationships awareness having been fostered, as opposed to aimless woodpushing prevalent with the traditional teaching method.
The mini game Joe and I play is just one of many possible ways of how one can start in chess. You may come up with ideas of your own how to do it. The key is mind shift from the moves to the relationships in the teacher's head. During our game, I avoid talking moves, we talk the relationships (pieces under attack and how to possibly attack) all the time. I want Joe to realize the reason behind each move from the relations on the board.
After Joe learned in Part 1 that Rooks on move were always winning, we set up for new game. Bishops should play first.
I play 1.Bg2. As Joe already learned (see the concepts I first taught Joe in the introduction), he swipes his forefinger down the long diagonal. He wants to visualize Bishop's lines of force to see whether a contact between Bishop and any of his men has been established. This procedure helps Joe begin making a habit of "Watching for enemy threats." After 1.Bg2 it helps him see that Ra8 is now in danger (using finger visualizes the lines of fire for the brain; after a short while this will become automatic and there will be no need to use it).
Ok, Joe knows which Rook should move now. It is also time to begin forming another habit to become part of his mindset, "Always look for targets."
1...Rb8 would be a passive response ("passive defense is losing defense"). It doesn't look for any possible targets. So Joe plays 1.Ra1 attacking my Bc1. He didn't foresee that his Rooks would be lining up along the long diagonal, therefore vulnerable. This is a good opportunity for another mental routine to enter mindset: before making the intended 1...Ra1, do sanity check. Visualize position after 1...Ra1 to make sure your Rooks don't line up along a diagonal as it is the only way for Bishops to win. I play 2.Bb2 which introduces double attack and one of the Rooks is gone. According to the mini-game rules, White wins after capturing a piece first.
We start again. 1.Bg2 Ra2 2.Bd5 Ra5. I play 3.Bc6 on purpose to check whether Joe sees the pattern (my two Bishops lining up). This will promptly suggest the winning 2...Rc5 (or 2...Rc8). Joe wins.
"From the very start we are playing, fighting, battling, and have no intention of giving precedence to any formal data. And we are inclined to ascribe a decisive significance to the initial impression formed by the pupil after his first lesson. One has to gain his interest, he must feel straightaway that this is a game in which victory is both possible and gratifying." Nimzovich in How I became a Grandmaster (GM Ray Keene, Nimzovich, The Reappraisal).
We restart. I play 1.Bb2 Rhb8 2.Be5 Rb5 3.Bxb5. What has Joe just learned here? Another basic piece relationship as per GM Averbakh, Restriction.
As you realized, there should be no winner in this mini-game, unless two friendly pieces line up. After some practice, this is a useful indicator for the teacher to assess the "goodness" of pupils board vision. Once they stop losing, it is time to play new mini game.
ALT-CHESS LESSON 1 BENEFITS
To recap, here are all the benefits for Joe that come with the first lesson. He has practiced:
1. Three out of four basic piece relationships in chess
2. Three tactical weapons: single attack, double attack, geometrical motif (a pin/skewer hybrid that becomes possible when two Bishops line up)
3. Two ways of how to parry an attack: fleeing, capturing (elimination)
4. Few mental procedures that begin to set in as part of a building mindset (of course, all this is in its embryonic state and should ultimately become a habit)
- Always watch for threats
- Always look for targets
- Do sanity check
Not bad at all for such a simple game. And I don't think good tactical vision is a gift of nature.
Further reading:
