Chess Tips: How to Get Better at Calculation
Hi everyone! Welcome to my fourth blog in the series I created the series called "Chess Tips" where I teach you some useful skills you can use in your own games. Now let's get started!
Training this amazing and important skill can be very difficult. And that skill is calculation. But once you understand these 4 techniques, I am sure it would made it a lot easier.
#1: Always identify the consequence of your opponent's last move
We don't need to calculate everything from scratch on every move. Below is a simple example that demonstrates how identifying the consequence can help you find the best move.
My point is your opponent’s last move represents all the changes in the position. You need to identify those changes right away.
#2. Your Chess Tactics Skill Supports Your Calculation Skill
The second element of a successful calculation is tactical awareness. By making an in-depth study of a specific motif, it will improve your understanding of how it works in different positions.
Why is this important? A well-developed tactical skill will boost your tactical awareness, meaning that it will guide your calculation in the right direction. Basically, I am trying to say your tactical skill supports the accuracy of your calculation skill.
#3. Understanding forcing moves
The third technique of developing a good calculation is to know not all moves need to be calculated.
Forcing moves forces the opponent to defend against it or lose some material. There are 3 kinds of forcing moves.
1. Checks
2. Captures
3. Attacks
What makes calculating forcing moves easier is there should be a limited number of responses. That way, you don't have to calculate everything.
#4. The ability to calculate deeper rely mostly on visualization
Visualization is the ability to see in your mind the positions that would be reached if certain moves were made – without making the actual moves on the board.
Here’s a quick question that will help you determine how good your visualization skill is:
Do you ever find yourself thinking about your next move – and end up looking repeatedly at the same variation?
If you say yes, it’s a sign that your visualization skill is not well trained. However, the good news is training your visualization skill will bring a significant improvement to your games.
That is all for this blog! Thank you so much for reading it, I really appreciated it and pls comment if you learned something new! (Plus, if you have time, say in the comment which chess strategy you want to learn more about. I am kind of running out of ideas.) I hope you have a nice day! Now see you next week!
