They are able to turn their brains into massive databases made up of past games, and call up any position that looks familiar, and because of their superior pattern recognition they are able to play it out as if they have played that exact position before.
What Do you Look At When Viewing a Chess Board?
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I like watching 2200+ rated members play bullet on this site and I am constantly amazed at how well and how fast the pieces are moved and how good the majority of the moves are. I don't believe it's so much analyzing each move but rather it's more of an instinctive feel. These gifted individuals were born with a raw talent and through hard work and perseverance were able to make that talent surface. Pattern recognition? Definitely.
How does your brain work?
Do you look at sections of the board one-by-one? Do you view the entire board at once?
Do you notice squares, diagonals, open spaces, while SIMULTANEOUSLY noticing tactical and positional themes and possibilities, etc. etc.?
I just feel like I have no chess brain whatsoever. I posted in another thread that I thought it was ridiculous that GMs can play these blitz games where they are making great moves in just 1 second or less.
How can a person even process ALL the information on a chess board in 1 second + come up with a good move? Yet, these GMs and elite chess players are able to do it. I asked in that thread how much of it was memorization vs. original thinking?
I can't understand how it's humanly possible to play that well with just a second to view a board position if they are making original moves. Doesn't it take time for the human brain to process stuff? How can you just make awesome moves within a second of viewing the board?
What are these good players seeing? How do they see? Is it natural? Is it just an innate skill?