Help With Visualization

I have a problem that hampers my ability to learn it would seem.

The problem is that when I see algebraic notation for chess moves, my mind seems to just say "too complicated - skip it".

Practice makes perfect, there's no secret really. Take the board, scan it, form connections in your mind like "hmm, g file is the file that my king sits on when it's castled", "hmm, h file is on the flank", "hmm, d and e files are in the center, one in front of my queen, on in front of my queen", or "4th rank is the frontier line of my forces, 5th is my opponents, 7th and 2nd ranks are dangerous and where our pawns siton, 1st and 8th are our baselines ' etc.

Then throw in random squares like g6 and try to find it quickly. These are all just off the top of my head, you can come up with more efficient ways to practice.

Of course, recognizing the square immediately when you read d4 is one thing, being able to follow lines blindfold is another. That skill is acquired by practice too.

are you saying thaat for you reading books in algebraic notation is too complex? I find it very short and clean.

 in case of misunderstanding do you read books helped with a board?? 

Are you trying to play those moves out in your head?  If so, that is a mammoth task.  Unless you're very experienced, you're gonna need to use a board.  I use Fritz rather than a real board, so that I can easily play out variations and take back moves.

That's some good stuff, and I think that's what I need to do. Thanks for the advice.

I think other posters have nailed it too in that I need to sit with the book and a board. Makes sense, but seems... tedious. I know - welcome to every player's complaint for the past 400 years right? :)

I think this has a lot to do with why more people don't play chess. Learning has come a long way in the past 50 years, but learning about chess still seems buried in dusty old books filled with archaic codes. Even most computer courses are just the same thing, but on a computer with the ability to move the pieces. I think that turns a lot of people off who want to learn.

Until I come up with a better way though, I'll stop whining and get to work. :)

I get confused with this too.. and even when I have a board in front of me I am slow at reading and following them! I suppose it must come with practice.. so note to self: must try harder ;)

There is a special area of your brain dedicated only to facial recognition.. that is why you know so many people from just a quick glance at their face accross a crowded room. If only there was a way to this for chess patterns!

TD

(I skipped your chess algebra in your post by the way, too)

There's an interesting documentary called My Brilliant Brain that you can watch on youtube.  Much of it focuses on Susan Polgar.  According to the brain scan they did of her, that special area of the brain related to facial recognition activates when she looks at chess patterns. 

I don't quite understand this.  It seems to me that reading a book to learn from it and simultaneously trying to visualise all the moves is akin to playing a game of chess while juggling.  Sure, you might improve your juggling skills, but it's slightly off-putting, to put it mildly.  :)

If you're flicking through a book for visualisation practice only, then of course visualise as much as possible.  But if you're actually trying to learn from the book, use a board, I say (even if the book has frequent diagrams, as the smallest distraction could mean missing a key point).

Just my £0.02.

Can't say I agree.  There's little I enjoy more than reading through a good chess book while following all the variations in Fritz (or whatever).  In fact, I think I enjoy this more than actually playing the game . :)

Well what you're in essence trying, is playing both sides in a blindfold game through a script.

Take the board out and start by going through some annotated games. Once you can start taking in four to six moves and replay them on the board without checking back on the board you'll notice improvement. Even at that point you're not exactly visualizing the moves but rather going through a list in your head. Then once you start going through more and more games you'll find that you can take an analyzed variation and back off for a few moves until you reach the point of the actual game where the variation started from - without looking back at the book.

It's a painful process but if you think you can start going through the games from the beginning sans the board, then I think you'll find yourself in a world of trouble. Fluent blindfold chess is a master feat and even most of them don't practise it.