How many moves ahead do you calculate
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that is right
Depending on the position, opponent or experience I have in certain situations, I generally think 3, sometimes 4 moves ahead.
I usualy picture a trapp and then check how i nead to set it up, maby lookin as far as 10 moves ahead. If only anolising, whithout a plan, i try to check consequenses of my moves 3-5moves ahead. Seting a gole and making it posible is my way!
roughly 3-5 moves ahead with about 4 to 5 variations. Most of the time, sometimes more sometimes less depending on the position.
Do some GMs look up to 20 moves
I calculated 21-ply deep in a pawn ending the other day and won by one tempo. So yes, it's quite possible, and you don't even need to be a grandmaster. Actually, stronger players 'see' more, so they can often find the solution with less calculation.
Jul 10, 2008
0
#28
It obviously depends. I am not caluculating until I find a position which I feel is the most beneficial to me. Once I find that position then I will start calculating if need be. BUt, in a lot of cases the position will just tell me what to play. I think one of the big things is finding when you need to caluculate. If the other person is going to mate you in one move then why are you calculating all these variations where you win a queen on the other side( a simple point but good for illustration of my point). No calculation necessary if I see I get to a lucena or a philidors position (depending on what I want to do of course).
I also don't always necessarily calculate when I get into a position which just seems right (3 or 4 pieces around the king with a possible sacrifice). Sometimes I can calculate it. But, sometimes I will just go for it. I think part of that is mood as well.
I'm playing chess. I'm not moves calculator. That's what engines do.
Great discussion, very educational. I haven't read all the replies but I'd like to add that evaluating a position correctly may be just a little more important than calculating too deeply. When you have two strong players who can calculate equally deep. It's the one that correctly evaluates the future position that wins the game because he/she knows where the pieces should go according to the future position.
I usually think about 3 or 4 moves behind, as in "What was I thinking there?"
Apr 9, 2009
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#32
Speaking of long games only when I'm studying the board I'm able to see many possible scenarios and often I chose a path and go with it. The longest forced move variation I saw OTB was 11 moves and it came in a flash rather than feeling like I was doing math.
Much like the puzzles we have. Mate in 7 many people don't have trouble finding the correct course and I don't think they would call that calculation...the question is did they see the final move or just the correct first move? And if they did see the correct first move then it begs the question, why did they chose that course?
I'm always drawn to Casablanca's simplistic statement of only needing to see one move ahead...the best move.
Usually no more than three.
Apr 9, 2009
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#34
me too about three/four moves, but I have a question, is there a ways to improve or training to get better the way you thinks ?
likesforests wrote:
I often visualize 10-20 moves ahead before entering a pawn endgame. There are many technique like counting, key squares, stepping stones, etc. that simplify the process so it's not as difficult as it sounds.
10-20 moves?? I can't even think of such. I may be thinking only 2 ahead. Even I'm not seeing all the attacks that are coming after 2 moves, so sometimes the judgements are wrong.
Today only I heard these technique like counting, key squares, stepping stones. Not sure whether I need to learn more before thinking about those.
depands my best is 35
i dont see a position so much as memorize the words of my moves, the image in my head is like the contours of a board and pieces real fuzzy, so i have to say knight g4, bishop goes e6, move queen a4 check blah blah blah i play better when i can talk to myself...any way the best i can do is around 10 in a simple position and maybe 4 deep variations...in complex midgames i just kinda feel my way through them checking 3-4 move deep, 5 maybe 6 variations at most...thats when im really playing, most of the time i just move the pieces through intuition alone
well, in forced lines I can see as many moves ahead as I wish if I have the time.
in what we humans refer to as not forced lines I use gut feeling to determine what my move should be, then another gut feeling for what my opponent should do, and so on... until I reach a conclution, so I don't analyse and calculate very much I guess (It takes me time to spot simple threats created in my calculation that I didn't predict with the "force"). I rarely calculate more than 5 moves ahead ( the endgame is different).
as said, it depends, some positions require me to calculate 8 moves ahead with a cloudy and messy position in order not to make a fatal mistake. and I always get the feeling that I missed something while calculating more than 4 move ahead, what makes me recalculate the same 4 moves all over again.
jack425 wrote:
depands my best is 35
35? My godness, amazing; I can not even think of it.
Can you give us some advices on improving on thinking more than 2-3 moves?
Great Posts!
I am looking 2-3 maybe 4 ahead- rarely am I working through what eventually becomes.
great points made about improving position - keep improving position!!