Chess blindness and the Einstellung effect

I got the first 3 easily. I tried the same technique for the 4th one but due to black's bishop, it was useless. I thought there must be something tricky, and to my amazement there was a bishop on b2! It was easy afterwards. Thanks leiph.

I wonder sometimes if this is how masters think. I think we've all seen it in masters games; moves that seem so far out there it is difficult to see how anyone could find it.

I have one C.c friend who says that during Online Chess games he even looks at some of the more absurd moves possible. It seems to have paid for him.

I, on the other hand, get caught in this trap of thinking something is not possible because of first impressions. Here is an example from a recent game of mine:

I totally missed the mate in 1. If I had had a "check 'crazy' moves' policy, I would have seen this, I'm sure.

Lee, Qxg7# is pretty straightforward.

You lose too.

Qxg7 loses the queen.

Really makes me happy to know I'm not the only one to miss the winning move. 

Deflection and clearance themed tactics really drill into your head to check any capture or threat no matter how insane it looks at first glance.

They also make you feel really brilliant when you solve one ;)

Maybe try a few of those?

It isn't that hard to distinguish sarcasm from reality. I was joking.

Yeah. Maybe so.

The really funny thing is I played Bxg7 knowing I could then capture the h-pawn and start a winning attack.

Oh...I see...haha.....ha..........ha......h

Yeah that's frustrating, but you did see a different winning idea.

Sometimes the most difficult positions to be accurate in are the ones where we have a few options... hey, that ties in with the theme of this topic ;)

Always visualize what it would be like for a recapture to occur. That's the whole logic of "protecting pieces": If you try to take one of my pieces, I will play the recapturing move, and that leads to a good position for me. Often works well enough, except when a recapture opens up your king! Recaptures are not the end all be all, and sometimes taking a piece will allow the opponent to do something even better, so always visualize the position after the recapture before making a judgment. Here you would find that ...gxh6 results in an open diagonal towards the king.

Because recaptures don't always work or aren't always good is why you need to consider all captures, even ones that allow a recapture.

That's interesting, but goes against my personal observation.  Most kids play very tactically.  Moreover, strategy, beyond the very basics, is something they learn later. 

I agree, it's usually the opposite.

Youth players, sometimes even very strong youth players, miss simple strategic things. Meanwhile adults, sometimes very experienced adults, miss very simple tactics.

Yup :)

Qxh6# isn't a "crazy move policy".  It's examining a check/capture.  That's pretty standard.

NOt for all of us.

Great thread! It took me a little while to get #4. Thanks for sharing this!

It's a simple move, but it can be missed.

In Josh Waitzkin's "The Art of Learning," I think this is what he means by "coming back to the moment."  He talks about not working through mere mechanical calculations.  In addition to his book, he talks about it in a tutorial on the Chessmaster GM edition, where his oppenent has hung a piece in, I think, the Junior World Championship's final (championship) game, and he didn't see it!  He says that, sometimes, we need to stop thinking, get out of our train of thought, simply look, and begin seeing the position anew --emphasis on seeing.  It's interesting stuff.

Definitely agree with that. I think whether consciously or unconsciously, experienced players develop or discover mental tricks to help them do this on demand.

I know I have my own little process. I used to get up from the board and walk around, or close my eyes for a few seconds to clear my mind. Now I can pretty much hit the reset button mentally without having to look away.

But fatigue makes it harder. I remember one game where I was working very hard at the board keeping up with a stronger opponent. Later in the game he hung a pawn and I 100% completely missed it. When reviewing the game at first I thought I must have recorded the moves wrong. I couldn't believe it.