Pattern Recognition + Position Evaluation = Pattern Evaluation

Thank goodness when I started trying to improve at chess about 6 months ago I stumbled upon the idea that because of the complexity of the game, one of the best ways for a beginner to improve is to build up pattern recognition skills.

I have indeed learned to see many patterns (e.g., Scholar's Mate), but it is much more than that. I have learned to see patterns with values: my king alone on the back rank with the three pawns hemming him in is not just a pattern, but a bad pattern: even its anticipated presence in the end-game warps my evaluation of the board until I have properly guarded against a back-rank mate. It is not a cold cognitive judgment, but is typically accompanied by a surge of emotion, often a sharp slap of excitement or fear. That is to say, this is not a stale and detached pattern recognition, but pattern recognition melded with pattern evaluation. Yes, the ability to recognize is necessary for this, but the experience is also laden with a history of previous consequences of the pattern. If I were a psychologist, I would probably say that the valence (i.e., positive or negative) and magnitude of the emotional response to a pattern provides a running record of the net reward associated with that pattern in the past.

I can't imagine what it is like for the players who don't suck like I do. Your pattern evaluation skills have reached heights of subtlety that are years away from my mind. I'd imagine it prevents you from wasting valuable clock-time considering moves that I would wrack my mind over. Also, your experience makes you consider high-quality lines that I can't even think of at this early stage. This must make chess a more satisfying and rich experience altogether, much like my experience now is richer than it was six months ago when I first learned what a 'knight fork' was.