How important is a structured thinking process?

There is so much to learn to improve at chess. It seems like having a structured thinking process during the game, and a structured training process away from the board is important, especially for people who have jobs and can't think about chess full time. Without a structured approach, it seems likely for us to wander aimlessly in the chess desert for 40 years. Is it important or is it overrated?

Quite important.  In fact books on knowledge are supposed to augment the thinking process.  Can we get away with leaving that en prise as opposed to how do I protect it, which is better still than not noticing it being attacked in the first place.  You need to take the center into account, weak squares and pawns, open lines, make observations and plan (or perform tactics if the position dictates), then calculate. 

It is indispensable. However, it requires that you anchor it to a BEFORE I MAKE A MOVE CHECKLIST. The checklist is like a calculus formula. It is an abbreviation/summary of all the detail in your chess tools/techniques. The checklist consists of 2 items:

1. What is my opponent's threat?

2. Which of the 6 characteristic pawn formations/structure has the position in my game assumed?

The detail that these 2 questions must trigger in your mind consists of an entire list of subsidiary questions in a specific order. These subsidiary questions encompass your entire chess knowledge. An example from question 1 ( I. What is my opponent's threat?): it should trigger question I. A. in the outline of questions in your MEMORIZED CHECKLIST. That question essentially must ask: What are the DIRECT denfense(s) to my opponent's threat? The very next question(s) that question should trigger is: What are the INDIRECT defense(s) to my opponent's threat?

The reader might think, what is a direct defense?, what is an indirect defense?, and what is the difference? The answer to those questions is,it must already be a part of your chess knowledge.

If you would like to know more, please let me know.

rtr1129 wrote:

"... What are the 6 pawn structures you mention?..."

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On page 107 of Pawn Power In Chess, by Hans Kmoch, he writes, "...During the brief initial stage of the game, the pawn formation normally assumes sufficient character to be classified under one of the following headings:

1. Open formations

2. Half-open formations

a. Ram formations

b. Jump formations

3. Free formations

4. Closed formations

5. Half-closed formations

6. Hybrid formations..."

In other words every opening results in one of the 6 formations listed above.

Part of your summarized CHECKLIST must include the 5 visualization pattern memory banks that you have acquired through study and practice. They are:

1.Tactics visualization pattern memory bank

2.Mating Net visualization pattern memory bank

3.Endgame visualization pattern memory bank

4.Openiings visualization pattern memory bank

5.Middlegame visualization pattern memory bank

Assuming this is your complete high-level list, are you saying that all strategy extends from the 6 pawn formations?

So this would be consistent with the process of:

1. Evaluate opponent's threats
2. Positional/strategic evaluation of the current game phase (opening/middlegame/endgame)
3. My own tactical/mating threats

Or is there more to your process?

Known patterns / positions / pawn structures / help you play of course, but that's a bit off topic of "structured thinking process."

I don't think anyone plays with some rigid checklist they go through step by step.  While some things, like checking for threats, are universal, different positions require different kinds of thought.  Some are very abstract and you'll spend most your time just trying to decide where some / all of your non-pawns belong.  I.e. no calculation, just ideas.  Other positions are very concrete and grand ideas don't really matter, all that matters is that your calculation is good.

Maybe for a beginner it would be useful to say 1. what did your opponent's last move threaten, 2. can you make a threat that immediately wins something 3. is your intended move safe etc. but strong players have internalized these things, and they're just good habits.  Sometimes you may want to look for your threats first, sometimes you may think in terms of abstract strategy first.

I find this a very interesting thread.  Anyone know any good books on chess decision making?  I see that one by Ochman was mentioned earlier here.  Any others?

Dan Heisman's books and novice nooks.

One think I would like to add to Wafflemasters list is, what is no longer defended by my opponents last move. At my level that really is something worth looking at.

A structured process is extremely important, but just as important as using one is tailoring it to yourself over time. Come up with your own thinking process and adjust it over time as you discover the flaws in it.

The second part of it is that no matter how structured a process you choose, you also have to make room for the intuitive, and listen to that side of it too. Probably no one uses a cookie-cutter approach with every position. Depends on the position and your familiarity with it.

rtr1129 wrote:

Yaroslavl wrote:

The checklist consists of 2 items:

1. What is my opponent's threat?

2. Which of the 6 characteristic pawn formations/structure has the position in my game assumed?

Assuming this is your complete high-level list, are you saying that all strategy extends from the 6 pawn formations?

_____________________

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I had a pretty busy Sunday afternoon.

The answer to your question: Assuming this is your complete high-level list, are you saying that all strategy extends from the 6 pawn formations? Yes

The pawn structure is the terrain of the battlefield on the chessboard. The pawn structure forms the hills, mountains and valleys of the terrain. If your strategy calls for going thru a mountain then your strategy. Is doomed to failure.

The pawn structure tells you where the pawn breaks {the natural points (squares)of attack} in yours as well as your opponent's pawn structure are. The opening stage of the game is where controlling the center (the squares d4, d5, e4, e5) and developing your pieces is guided by the developing pawn structure. Once the position has assumed one of the 6 characteristic pawn structures your concentration shifts to simultaneously restraining and blockading your opponent's pawn break(s), and preparing then executing your own pawn break(s). What this means on the board is that you pIeces are, in many cases, doing both jobs at the same time. In other words, your pieces from the square they are located on are both restraining/blockading the enemy's pawn break(s), and preparing/executing your own pawn break(s).

The point at which you execute (place one of your pawns on the pawn break square) your plan(s) of attack the middle game has begun. Your pawn break move or your opponent's represents the first move in the plan(s) of attack. The pawn break move is the first move of the Middlegame.

The one thing I haven't mentioned is tactics. Yes, some of the restraining/blockading, preparing/executing moves will be tactical. The pawn structure and the position of the pieces are what make tactical shots and sacrifices possible. What you are aware of,as a strong player, is that the correct strategy results in positions that make tactical shots and sacrifices possible. In other words, tactics and sacrifices are the culmination of the right strategy. Tactics are a form of strategy.

In conclusion, your CHECKLIST consists of (Roman numeral) I. What is my opponent's threat?, and (Roman numeral) II. Which of the 6 characteristic pawn formations/structure has the position in my game assumed?

What I have been writing about above is the detail that is in your head and fills in the outline under Roman numerals I and II. There is a lot more detail than what I have written above.

If you would like to know more pLease let me know.

i think it's very important to have a structured ... er thingy ... so you can er.. you know ... without having anything that ... er ... which will help you to ... whatchamacallit your whatsitsname and be able to finish in a coherent ... er ... thing ... oh and so you don't ... oh what's it called when you can't remember ... anything

i always do this when i play ... board thingy with pieces - so that i am always in control and know what i am ... whats that word for in the processes of ...???

Soorat92 wrote:

i think it's very important to have a structured ... er thingy ... so you can er.. you know ... without having anything that ... er ... which will help you to ... whatchamacallit your whatsitsname and be able to finish in a coherent ... er ... thing ... oh and so you don't ... oh what's it called when you can't remember ... anything

i always do this when i play ... board thingy with pieces - so that i am always in control and know what i am ... whats that word for in the processes of ...???

__________________

Feeling like a valley girl tonight eh? Sometimes spontaneity and humor teach more than any serious logical approach. Our brains need humor. By the way "thingy" is not a word. Although the way language develops it may be someday.

Grammatical evaluation. Too many gerunds. Incomplete and fractured sentences. Communication of ideas and concepts EXCELLENT.

The opposite of the word "irony" is wrinkly. This is so, if you think like a 12 yr. old.

It's important.  Something I find equally, if not more important is knowing what to skip in that process when you need to save time.

This is great stuff! You have a very good way of thinking about chess. You should write a book on your philosophy of chess improvement, not giving every detail, but a roadmap, with things you need to understand, building a foundation, and so on. I have read other posts of yours where you talk about ideas such as the methods of exploiting advantages in space. Did you learn these things just from studying games, or is there a book that covers that type of strategic thinking?

Thank you for the complement. These ideas I have learned from mostly one book. That book is, My System, by Aaron Nimzowitsch. What he teaches is that chess is Siege Warfare on a chessboard. He sheds a clarifying light on concepts like ( restrain, blockade and execute ) the enemy. He also goes deeper into the detail of siege warfare by explaining subcategories of restrain, blockade and execute. These subcategories or weapons are labeled ( prophylaxis and overprotection ). An example of how to exploit a pawn weakness like doubled pawns he shines a bright light on the method for the exploitation of a doubled pawn in plain English. He uses the example of comparing the doubled pawn as, a sitting man with a limp. As long as he is sitting the limp is not noticeable, but when he gets up and begins to walk the limp is very noticeable. In the same way a doubled pawn's weakness is not noticeable as long as the complex remains in place. In order to exploit the weakness (limp) you must make moves that encourage or force the doubled pawn complex to advance.

There is much more, if you would like to know more please let me know.

i always think like a 12 year old ... when i acting mature anyway