The Most Important Concept For All Beginners...
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Jul 11, 2021
0
#42
I appreciate this, I had never considered analyzing the opponents move before making my own and you explicitly saying this has caused a paradigm shift for my mindset regarding chess
Very helpful information, thanks.
Jan 8, 2022
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#47
I just wanted to bump this post again...This should be a sticky in the Beginner's forum
#1
"Before you play your candidate move, imagine it as if it's been made on the board, and now find all of the opponent's checks, captures, and threats. This way you'll be sure your move isn't a mistake."
This is most important. This mental discipline alone is enough to get to 1500.
"So the first thing is checking whether your opponent's last move was a mistake."
IMHO this is not the 1st thing. It can even be dangerous to think like that.
Was opponent's last move 4...Nbd7 a mistake? Does it lose a pawn?
Jan 9, 2022
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#50
For black:
Checks: no
Captures: …dxc4
Threats: I don’t see any except for …Bb4. That looks a bit dodge.
For white:
My c4 pawn is hanging, that leads to two candidates:
- e3, always nice and defending the pawn
- cxd5, black can only take with their pawn (knight is pinned) and after …exd5 I can take that pawn Nxd5.
But now Bb4+ doesn’t look dodge anymore but simply scary.
Let’s have a look.
Yep, cxd5 is refuted. The only way I can get out of check without loosing my queen is retreating my bishop Bd2. Now blacks knight is not pinned anymore and my knight on d5 is hanging.
And now comes my biggest problem. I feel happy and a bit proud that I saw all this. And I have spend a lot of time. I know in game (30|0) I would play e3 without further calculating and without looking for a 3th candidate.
#52
No, 5 cxd5 is not refuted, but after the forced 5...exd5 it is 6 Nxd5? that is wrong. The lesson is, that you should always recalculate after each move, and never follow your previous calculation.
Here is another example:
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032795
Was opponent's last move 22...Ne5 a mistake? Does it lose a pawn?
#54
Yes, Capablanca also said a beginner should first learn the 5 basic checkmates.
Jan 9, 2022
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#54
Oh yeah, you are right. I think Llama’s title is at least true for me: the most important concept.
Hmmm, and here I always thought myself so smart for coming up with the term 'hope chess' with my students. Never knew it was already coined in 1999. 
Jan 9, 2022
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#56
tygxc wrote:
#1
"Before you play your candidate move, imagine it as if it's been made on the board, and now find all of the opponent's checks, captures, and threats. This way you'll be sure your move isn't a mistake."
This is most important. This mental discipline alone is enough to get to 1500.
"So the first thing is checking whether your opponent's last move was a mistake."
IMHO this is not the 1st thing. It can even be dangerous to think like that.
Was opponent's last move 4...Nbd7 a mistake? Does it lose a pawn?
Of course, even very strong players can go into a tactic that seems to work, but on the last move fails. The so called "sting in the tail." This has nothing to do with whether or not it's a useful habit. It's more the exception that proves the rule.
As for learning checkmates (or other material) certainly that's important, however the topic is about the most important concept. The 5 basic checkmates are not a concept, they're concrete positions / patterns.
Essentially the concept is this: if you don't calculate forcing moves, then your move may instantly lose on the next turn. If you play a move without knowing whether it loses instantly, then you're "hoping" you don't lose, thus the term "hope chess."
Jan 9, 2022
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#57
Cleaning the house and getting rid of the Xmas tree I realize that I am not completely convinced yet. I’ll try to explain why.
I know this CCT concept for over a year. But I don’t do it a 100%. Why is this? Lack of discipline? Maybe. Stress? Maybe. Time pressure? For sure.
It is certainly not because I don’t see the value of the concept. And it also not because I don’t want to win.
I know this CCT concept for over a year. But I don’t do it a 100%. Why is this? Lack of discipline? Maybe. Stress? Maybe. Time pressure? For sure.
It is certainly not because I don’t see the value of the concept. And it also not because I don’t want to win.
#58
If you answer "yes" to "was my opponent's last move a mistake?" then think again and double check you do not walk into a trap.
In the last world championship Nepo hung a pawn, a bishop, and exposed his king. Carlsen each time remained calm and took ample time before he played the refutation.
Jan 9, 2022
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#59
tygxc wrote:
#58
If you answer "yes" to "was my opponent's last move a mistake?" then think again and double check you do not walk into a trap.
I'm higher rated and have a higher puzzle rush than you, and this is a very well known pattern... I have no idea why're you're asking me this.
Excellent post. Although I think it is more of an intermediate concept rather than a beginner's concept.
Also, as korotky_trinity noted,
Of course it's hard because you should pay a lot of attention to every your move... from the beginning to the end of the game.
The game turns into the hard work without pleasure. )
So I think we shouldn't eliminate hope in chess and hope in life... And we shouldn't substitute it with simple calculation.
Playing without romantic is boring.
So it may be the approach to use to win the most games, but it isn't necessarily the one that is the most fun.
And unless someone can do lightning-fast calculations, it will be impossible to use in the fast games that are so popular these days.
The nice thing is that the position only changes one move at a time. So it's not as hard to do in speed chess as you might think. As long as you did it on the previous move, you only have to check things the new move changed.
But yeah, it's very tedious to master. I'm not saying this is the way you must play chess. It's more like when someone is aware of what they're aiming for it makes it easier to improve.