A beginner-friendly, no bs guide to avoid blundering and to start structured thinking as a beginner in your rapid/blitz games.
Introduction
The entire point of the post below is to share a method that will help you to make better decisions and lead you to blunder less. The target audience of this post is beginner to intermediate players, and the goal is to eliminate the blunders from your games. The advice given below is pretty common, and I do not claim it to be unique, however, I can certainly attest for it to be useful for players who are not aware of this.
First things first, remember that the following advice given below won’t magically make you 500 points above your current rating. It’s important that you follow the three Ps of Chess Training: Practice, Playing and Patience! Practice tactics (very important!), strategy (by reading books/courses/video, and going through games), openings, etc. Play with the intent to implement what you learnt in the practice, and be patient with the results.
Now let’s talk about why I am writing this article. There has been several methods to think in chess, including Kotov’s great method, Dorfman’s interesting approach among others. However, to a mere beginner/intermediate player – following those methods might be overwhelming, and sometimes, not even practical. Remember, if you’re struggling with a huge step, take two steps. That is the point of this article: I talk about the babysteps of “Chess Thinking Method”, an obvious no-brainer guide to thinking in chess, and one that is hard to refute. A lot of the readers of this course, play rapid/blitz games (whether online or otb) and following the above mentioned “methods” might not be the easiest thing to do. Sure, when it’s classical you have the flexibility, but those who really just want to enjoy a game of chess without blundering every two moves (the target audience for this post!) this in all likelihood should be just fine.
What the method actually is
- Before making any move, take a moment to survey the entire board and see if any of your pieces are unsupported or hanging. This will help you identify potential weaknesses in your position and take steps to defend them. As you become a stronger player, this process will become more intuitive and automatic. A 1500+ FIDE player (sometimes less, sometimes more) will usually (there are occasional blindness!) not need to go through steps, as all of it happens without you having to manually force thinking about it.
- If you see a piece that is hanging or undefended, your first priority should be to defend it. If that’s not possible, or not a concern, consider if there are any of your opponent’s pieces that you can capture instead. Remember, in certain situations, ignoring it might have certain benefits – but I am talking more about what to do in general.
- If there are no hanging or undefended pieces on the board, trust your intuitive thought and consider playing your first instinctual move. (I find the Lasker quote “When you see a good move, look for a better one” to be quite difficult to follow, especially in online/rapid games.)
- To further strengthen your thinking process, try to anticipate your opponent’s response to your [instinctual] move. Consider what they might do and how you would react in turn. This will help you see beyond just one move and think more strategically. The more you practice, and the better calculation and visualization skills you have, the easier this process will be. Go as far as you can, and always know your limit. Remember – you cannot waste all your time at just a single move. Although, if you feel the position is critical, I would agree that spending more time than usual could be useful.
- Once you feel confident, and find no “immediate” issue with your move, you can probably go ahead and play that move.
By following these steps, you can develop your thinking skills and make more informed decisions in your chess games. Remember to take your time and trust your instincts, but also be mindful of potential pitfalls and consider your opponent’s responses. With practice, you will become more proficient at thinking.
My beef with the “popular methods”
One thing I am critical of with regards to chess methods is that they are often written with classical chess in mind, while many chess fans play rapid games, especially online. Time management is a significant issue when it comes to implementing these methods, and sometimes overthinking can be a problem as well.
I have no disrespect for other authors and actually use some of the mentioned methods myself in over-the-board games.
Drawback of this “basic method”
I should just point this out: The method that I have shared above is a very basic one: Something that does not consider a lot of things such as nature of the position, evaluation of the position among several other things. Quite literally, it is inferior to all the methods out there, and you are not even considering “candidate moves” which means that you are missing out on a lot of good moves. However, I think it makes perfect sense to start with this, if you’re someone who is always confused and/or just wants to first start with something basic before moving forward with something advanced.
Conclusion
There are many chess methods available, such as Dorfman’s Method and Kotov’s Candidate Moves, but it is important to note that these methods are typically used in critical positions only. My method is meant to help players avoid blunders, although it may take some of the fun out of the game. However, I have seen genuine improvement in my students using this method, so I wanted to share it here. There are many methods available, but it’s important to find what works best for you and your style of play.
Whether it’s following a specific method or relying on your intuition and understanding of the game, in all the cases, the key is to stay focused, consider your options, and anticipate your opponent’s responses.
Best of luck and happy chessing!