an epiphany
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as in life,chess has many choices. the key to life is finding the right path for you-the best choice in a multitude of choices. there is a veritable plethora of information available, but usually we filter out the things which don't concern us abd focus on things or topics of interest to us. i would venture to guess that the beginning player responds to threats(reactive), the intermediate player discerns all the possible choices(proactive), and the expert is already 15 moves ahead. as the guardian of the chalice in the indiana jones movie said "choose wisely".!
Chess is learned by losing. You should always strive to play those who are better than you are. There's no future in winning with unsound garbage against beginners.
You must learn patience. Play sound, developing moves. At some point your opponent will generally make tactics available to you.
Play many, many games against human opponents. You will learn what moves to avoid...
Beginners invariably play unsound, attacking chess. Intermediates learn positional sense and development. Top tier players have all the tools and also draw from a vast wealth of experience.
Of course, natural ability, determination, work ethic...
I am not sure what brought this on. But, I got to thinking about anything that I had been succesful in (school, billiards, chess I would like to think even though I don't play tournaments etc). After thinking about it it isn't the vast amount of knowledge in these areas. But, it is in the recognition of the key information which creates success.
In a game of nine ball after the break the first thing you recognize is any problem balls(or clusters). In school, you don't discount any information. But, the teachers do give clues as to which information is more important and with that information you use your time accordingly.
I have come to the realization I do the exact same thing with chess. First, are there any mating threats for my opponent. If they have one then everything else becomes secondary to that threat. If not do I have a mating threat. If no to both of these conditions are there any hanging pieces? Can I trade down to a position which is a definite win in an endgame?
So would this be the difference between an expert and advanced player, a intermediate and an advanced player etc. Is it not necessarily just knowledge of the game(opening theory, tactics, strategy etc). But, also to a greater extent recognition of the pertinent information?