I have been wondering how do i play chess and always win.Is memorizing the only way to improve the chess?Not to mention i never did a opening study.The games played by grandmasters looks very simple.But is it like they think ahead of others like 10moves or so?
Memorising lots of openings is very important at top level chess, virtually useless at any other level of the game.
10 moves ?....No. they have a deep understanding of strategy
It's useful to memorize the first few moves of the openings you want to play.
You should know, for example, the first few moves of a Sicilian or Queen's gambit or Spanish or King's Indian defense (etc). Not necessarily all of these, but just the ones you want to play. Maybe 5 moves for each player.
Other than that, follow opening principals. Mostly study endgames and solve tactical puzzles. You should definitely be familiar with tactical themes like fork, pin, removing the defender, and discovered attack. There are also strategic basics to know like doubled pawns, backward pawns, and isolated pawns.
Yes, GM games sometimes look very simple! This is an important thing to notice in chess: good moves usually look good! However what makes chess hard is bad moves look good too. GMs rarely look 10 moves ahead, but their massive study and experience allows them to dismiss bad moves quickly, often with no calculation necessary.
So a move I might spend 20 minutes calculating, and maybe at the end I realize the move is bad, maybe I don't realize, but a GM may be able to realize it's a bad move instantly, with no calculation.
"... Overall, I would advise most players to stick to a fairly limited range of openings, and not to worry about learning too much by heart. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... Once you identify an opening you really like and wish to learn in more depth, then should you pick up a book on a particular opening or variation. Start with ones that explain the opening variations and are not just meant for advanced players. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
"... To begin with, only study the main lines ... you can easily fill in the unusual lines later. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... If the book contains illustrative games, it is worth playing these over first ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... For inexperienced players, I think the model that bases opening discussions on more or less complete games that are fully annotated, though with a main focus on the opening and early middlegame, is the ideal. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2010)
"... Everyman Chess has started a new series aimed at those who want to understand the basics of an opening, i.e., the not-yet-so-strong players. ... I imagine [there] will be a long series based on the premise of bringing the basic ideas of an opening to the reader through plenty of introductory text, game annotations, hints, plans and much more. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627055734/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen38.pdf
"The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)
"... This book is the first volume in a series of manuals designed for players who are building the foundations of their chess knowledge. The reader will receive the necessary basic knowledge in six areas of the game - tactcs, positional play, strategy, the calculation of variations, the opening and the endgame. ... To make the book entertaining and varied, I have mixed up these different areas, ..." - GM Artur Yusupov
The better you are the less you calculate, because it's less you have to calculate. So in that sense, top-level chess is very much about memorization. But not only openings - patterns, combinations, principles, reoccurring themes. A top GM can look at a middle game position and immediately know which moves not to consider - and this is based upon a very intuitive positional understanding that can only come through previous exposure to similar themes and patterns.
Possibly of interest:
What It Takes to Become a Chess Master by Andrew Soltis
"... going from good at tactics to great at tactics ... doesn't translate into much greater strength. ... You need a relatively good memory to reach average strength. But a much better memory isn't going to make you a master. ... there's a powerful law of diminishing returns in chess calculation, ... Your rating may have been steadily rising when suddenly it stops. ... One explanation for the wall is that most players got to where they are by learning how to not lose. ... Mastering chess ... requires a new set of skills and traits. ... Many of these attributes are kinds of know-how, such as understanding when to change the pawn structure or what a positionally won game looks like and how to deal with it. Some are habits, like always looking for targets. Others are refined senses, like recognizing a critical middlegame moment or feeling when time is on your side and when it isn't. ..." - GM Andrew Soltis (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review857.pdf
Reaching the Top?! by Peter Kurzdorfer
"... On the one hand, your play needs to be purposeful much of the time; the ability to navigate through many different types of positions needs to be yours; your ability to calculate variations and find candidate moves needs to be present in at least an embryonic stage. On the other hand, it will be heart-warming and perhaps inspiring to realize that you do not need to give up blunders or misconceptions or a poor memory or sloppy calculating habits; that you do not need to know all the latest opening variations, or even know what they are called. You do not have to memorize hundreds of endgame positions or instantly recognize the proper procedure in a variety of pawn structures.
[To play at a master level consistently] is not an easy task, to be sure ..., but it is a possible one. ..." - NM Peter Kurzdorfer (2015)
http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2015/11/16/book-notice-kurzdorfers-reaching-the-top.html
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Reaching-the-Top-77p3905.htm
https://www.chess.com/article/view/can-anyone-be-an-im-or-gm
https://www.chess.com/article/view/am-i-too-old-for-chess
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-can-older-players-improve
Train Like a Grandmaster by Kotov
Becoming a Grandmaster by Keene
What It Takes to Become a Grandmaster by GM Andrew Soltis
"To become a grandmaster is very difficult and can take quite a long time! ... you need to ... solve many exercises, analyse your games, study classic games, modern games, have an opening repertoire and so on. Basically, it is hard work ... It takes a lot more than just reading books to become a grandmaster I am afraid." - GM Artur Yusupov (2013)
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/QandAwithArturYusupovQualityChessAugust2013.pdf
Yes, the better the player the more patterns and positions are recognized and part of chess is recognizing that you can reach favorable positions.
But chess is also about recognizing that certain squares are good N-outposts, when it would be easier for you to Pawn Storm your opponent's King than it is for him to do the same to you if you castle O-O-O after he castles O-O, etc. etc.
IM Jeremy Silman, in his book How to Reassess Your Chess, used the following imbalances to help him decide on moves and plans: Superior minor piece, Pawn structure, Space, Material, Control of a key file, Control of a hole/weak square, Lead in development, Initiative, King safety, Statics vs Dynamics.
Pawn structure includes doubled and backward and passed pawns.
All these things should be taken into account in addition to positions.
As has already been said here, you don't need to memorize large numbers of opening moves: you do have to understand the ideas behind the opening. So, for example, it may not matter if you play your Bishop from c8 to f5 or g4 on the 3rd or 4th or 5h move in the Caro-Kann Defense, but you need to know that you have sacrificed the ability to move your c-Pawn to c5 in one move so that you can move that Bad Bishop outside of your Pawn Chain.
I have created a web tool which enables you to memorize chess cards describing ideas instead of boring moves sequences. Much more fun and efficient.
Tell me what you think about it : http://chesscards.bitballoon.com
it is free and smartphone friendly
I have started playing chess from my 16s.Not much excited at that age towards chess game.I never played it much.But during past two years I have been playing chess for quite some time.This journey on chess.com was very upsy downsy.Its beautiful sometimes to be in a winning position and lose some winning positons too.I have been wondering how do i play chess and always win.Is memorizing the only way to improve the chess?Not to mention i never did a opening study.The games played by grandmasters looks very simple.But is it like they think ahead of others like 10moves or so?