Third step of MDLM's program? Think.
It seems that the third stage of MDLM's program (as he puts it, Learn how to think), is neglected amongst the Knights Errant. Do people like the 8-stage thinking process outlined in his book (and his article here)? As a beginner, I am finding it very helpful and am starting to try to integrate it into my chess playing from the start rather than wait until I have finished my micro-drills and Circles training. Applying this technique is challenging for me because it is an active process and doesn't allow for laziness. I think this is a Good Thing, and will try his technique for thinking actively during chess until I find good modifications.
Progress report
After 10 games at ICC, my rating is 946 (2 wins, 8 losses, average rating of opponent is probably 1100). I am actually starting to feel like I am building up some skills, putting up a good fight even in my losses. For my micro-drills (I am on day 9 of concentric squares) I have started moving the king around on the board to a different location each day, and it is still only taking me 20 minutes. I miss very few forks, pins, or skewers now.
Progress report
After 10 games at ICC, my rating is 946 (2 wins, 8 losses, average rating of opponent is probably 1100). I am actually starting to feel like I am building up some skills, putting up a good fight even in my losses. For my micro-drills (I am on day 9 of concentric squares) I have started moving the king around on the board to a different location each day, and it is still only taking me 20 minutes. I miss very few forks, pins, or skewers now.
posted by Blue Devil Knight at 4/16/2005 08:18:00 PM
2 Comments:
I've worked quite a bit on my thinking process. I'd notice that in tournament games I'd get lazy for one or two moves and miss something deadly. Or I would get so distracted with a strategic idea that I'd miss a tactic. So I started simple with my thought process: Look for tactics every move and do a quick blunder-check after deciding on a move.
I've tried constructing more elaborate thought processes, but I found that it takes too much away from enjoying the game. And there is a flow you get into sometimes, that is beyond an intentional conceptual thought process. So for me the key is to keep it simple.
Many people have come up with many kinds of thought processes, such as Dan Heisman. Depending on your strength, I think these can be very valuable. But I would strive toward the goal where it would all become more intuitive and second-nature. You don't have to remind yourself to look for threats, or what directly changed because of your opponent's move, because you're doing all that automatically.
I've gained about 200 USCF rating points since I did the MDLM plan. One tournament I blazed through with 4 wins, and the 1 game I lost was a completely stupid piece blunder because I got lazy and didn't double-check my move. I tend to learn lessons the hard way, and that one got me more serious about adding a simple thought process, close to what de la Maza has suggested.
Now of course I think about much more during a game, all sorts of strategic and tactical ideas, calculating lines, who's that attractive lady in the lobby, etc. A thought process is just a little structure added to keep my mind from forgetting the simple things.
Chris said:
I've tried constructing more elaborate thought processes, but I found that it takes too much away from enjoying the game. And there is a flow you get into sometimes, that is beyond an intentional conceptual thought process. So for me the key is to keep it simple.
This is a problem for me: I want to just enjoy a game of chess sometimes. However, one thing I have been wondering is, if I force myself to intentionally and consciously follow some kind of "thinking strategy" on every move, it should eventually become automated and feel a lot less like work and more just like normal chess playing...
Frankly, I have found it very hard to follow any kind of rigorous thinking strategy: I have a strong impulse to move without thinking through alternatives etc, and I need to slow this down and think more. I got really good at this in the game Hex, but I wasn't really able to do it effectively until I was competent enough to be able to fluently think of alternative game trees. I can't do this in chess yet. However, I can see if my move will leave my queen en prise etc.. Basic things like that I still miss when I am not focusing, so my thought process should at least involve looking for one-move blunders on each play! Baby steps may be the key for me...
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