Becoming better at calculation

Sort:
Avatar of bryanfromnamreborn

Is there any specific product that  you know on chessase or chessok  or any other chess shop that helps a great deal with calculations

Avatar of VeeDeeVee

Way too many unrealistic positions at Chesstempo.

Avatar of VLaurenT
VeeDeeVee wrote:

Way too many unrealistic positions at Chesstempo.

Surprising, as all positions come from real games !? Do you mean that some of the engine-generated variations are not very good because humans would probably play differently ?

Avatar of rtr1129

What does calculating mean to you, and what do you hope to achieve with this improved skill? Are you thinking about the ability to visualize the board and move the pieces around in your head, or something else?

Avatar of Doirse

I agree with rtr1129 -- what do you mean by calculation?  There is a lot of material out there covering different things, but it depends on what you want to improve.

Avatar of rtr1129

To add to what I am thinking, calculating alone is not very useful if you do not have other skills and knowledge. Think of it another way. If you are a 1600 player, and you could visualize perfectly and play blindfold chess with no calculating errors, you would still only be a 1600 blindfold player.

In many ways, the best way to get better at calculating is to get better at chess. The more patterns and concepts you have seen, the more quickly you will recognize those and the more accurately you will be able to calculate variations.

Avatar of VeeDeeVee
hicetnunc wrote:
VeeDeeVee wrote:

Way too many unrealistic positions at Chesstempo.

Surprising, as all positions come from real games !? Do you mean that some of the engine-generated variations are not very good because humans would probably play differently ?

Hmm, you are right. I just read the FAQ at chesstempo. They use an engine to evaluate positions from real games.

Avatar of rtr1129

For example, instead of seeing a position with a king and pawn vs the opponent king, and trying to calculate many variations at the board, you are better off learning the K+P v K ending so well that you can play it WITHOUT THINKING, the same way you read words or walk down the street. If you learn chess ideas so well that you can recognize them without thinking, you think in bigger chunks and you can calculate orders of magnitudes faster than someone who doesn't have an instinctual understanding of the same ideas.