How To Use Your Brain At Chess - Part 1

You don't need big muscles or fast feet to play chess well. It's the grey stuff
between your ears that matters. Knowing how to use your brain is what makes
a winner in this game.

In this post, we'll talk more about it.

The Imagination

Chess is primarily a visual skill. During a game, the brain gathers all its input through the eyes, and most of our thinking is done through visual imagery rather than language. Sometimes we think in words, but more often we rely on mental pictures. We observe the pieces, understand how they relate to one another, and visualize their possible moves. While we can describe this process with words, the core mental activity is visual.

That’s why we play chess by sitting and looking closely at the board. Our eyes track the pieces and squares, creating a visual framework for the mind to work with. Within that frame, we use imagination to mentally move pieces, while still seeing the actual position as it stands. This is what allows us to calculate several moves ahead. Have you ever tried playing without looking at the board?

The Brain Work

The brain's main task during a chess game is to select a move when it's our turn. That might sound straightforward, but the decision-making involved is anything but simple. It’s a deeply complex mental process.

We can break down what the brain does into six key activities: understanding the current position, creating a strategy, identifying candidate moves, calculating possible sequences, assessing resulting positions, and finally, choosing the move to play.

Even though we can separate these aspects of thinking for the sake of explanation, they don’t really happen one after another. In practice, they all blend together and occur simultaneously during the game.

The Analysis

To analyze something means to break it down into its components to better understand the whole. In chess, we analyze a position by looking at both its strategic and tactical features.

On the strategic side, we consider factors like material balance, king safety, and how active and free the pieces are. It’s crucial to keep track of the material on the board—not just by counting points, but by recognizing actual imbalances, like having a bishop versus a knight. Rather than saying you're "up a point," it's clearer to say you're "up a pawn" or that you have a "rook for a bishop and a pawn."

King safety is another major clue—it can indicate whether you're in a position to attack or need to focus on defense. Evaluating a piece’s activity involves looking at how many squares it can access and whether it's tied down defending something. Central control and pawn structure—such as isolated pawns, passed pawns, pawn chains, or majorities—are also vital components of positional understanding.

Tactically, you want to be alert for patterns like forks, pins, skewers, and the alignment of pieces that could lead to combinations. Always watch for undefended pieces, possible captures, checks, and especially threats that could win material or deliver mate.

By breaking a position down into these details, we gain a clearer picture of what’s really happening on the board. Throughout a game, many key elements remain stable, but others shift with every move. Our job is to notice what’s changed and incorporate that new information into our ongoing assessment of the position.

The Planning

Every chess player should have a plan. On each turn, it's important to know what you're aiming to achieve and what you're trying to stop your opponent from doing. A good plan is built on a solid understanding of the position—that’s where you’ll find the hints that point to the right strategy.

Once you’ve formed a plan, it becomes your compass. It gives direction to your thinking, helping you navigate through the countless possible moves. Plans come in many shapes: some are broad and general, while others are precise and concrete. Some span just a few moves, while others are part of a long-term idea. Depending on the board situation, your plan might be more tactical or more positional in nature.

Specific plans might include things like “bring the knight to f5,” “double the rooks on the e-file,” or “exchange the dark-squared bishops.” General plans might be ideas such as “attack on the kingside,” “keep the center locked,” or “head for a simplified endgame.”

A general plan often involves asking yourself key questions: Should you keep the position complicated or try to simplify? Is it the right time to take risks or play solidly? Are you looking to trade pieces or avoid exchanges? Should you open the position or keep it closed—or maybe open one wing while locking down the other?

Usually, the answers depend on the balance of the position—material, space, initiative, and so on. A solid plan often includes both general themes and specific goals, and it should remain flexible, adjusting based on how your opponent responds.

Any time there’s a major change on the board—like a combination or a series of trades—it’s worth taking a moment to reassess and possibly build a new plan. And don’t forget: chess isn’t a one-way street. Always think about what your opponent is trying to do. Understanding their intentions is just as important as pursuing your own ideas.

One last tip: try putting your plan into words, even if only in your mind. If you can clearly say what your plan is, it means you truly have one.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. The part 2 will be posted as soon as possible.