Blog Archives
How to Speed Up Learning Curve in Chess?
– Why there is apparently a slow board vision acquisition in chess?
– How can we modernize 21st-century teaching to build up chess vision faster?
Chess Hierarchy (Boldriaan, Supreme or Capitulation)
Board vision. Here’s the beginning of a game played in an after-school chess program in April 2008 between two second graders: 1.e4 d5 2.Bd3 Bg4 3.exd5 Bxd1…
After both having been in chess for more than a year it seems a good chess eye is lacking here. They simply didn’t see the contact established between the Bishop and the Queen at move 2. In my view, there are no bad learners, there’s only a faulty system of teaching (evidently, the two boys were victims of such a “system”). The one which is not aligned with what cognitive science tells us about the brain and how learning happens.
Teaching the moves first is especially detrimental to acquiring a strong board vision. Brain science speaks against the “moves first” approach, Nimzovich (in his article in the Russian “Little Chess Paper” in 1929) speaks strongly against it too, but we just continue on doing it. As Einstein said, it’s harder to crack prejudice than an atom.
On the other hand, Averbakh pointed out that the main principle of pedagogics – the necessity of proceeding from the simple to the complex – is constantly being violated. As a rule, one begins with moves, then loads of tactical drills follow. As even the most elementary combinations are complex, it is important, Averbakh argues, to first familiarize oneself with their basic constituent elements and how they function before studying the complex mechanics of combinations.
So what are the basic elements, or building blocks of chess?
The answer: elementary board contacts.
Here is the edifice of chess consisting of the following parts, top down:
4. STRATEGY
3. TACTICS
2. ELEMENTARY BOARD CONTACTS
1. BASIC EFFECTS
The COORDINATION OF PIECES goes across layers 3-4.
We have already covered level 1, the two basic effects in chess: the control effect and the body effect. They may be considered as the BIOS of chess, its firmware that is hard wired in and cannot be changed. That’s the lowest level in chess. It makes chess pieces run.
Then comes, figuratively speaking, chess software: the operating system and applications. The chess applications are the highest level. They deal with strategy, tactics and cooperation between pieces (levels 3-4 above) to do some useful work, basically to achieve some set strategic and tactical objectives (for instance, it could be gaining material or some positional advantage).
To get the job done the applications use the operating system consisting of just few basic connections (level 2) that define how pieces interact with each other during the game. They are:
- Attacking contact, or simply attack (including threat of attack)
- Protecting contact (protection),
- Restricting contact (restriction),
- Interposition (or pin in plain English)
(Notes:
a) the contact that pawns establish with the promotion square can also be considered as elementary one;
b) I’ll show you in a future post how this list of contacts after Averbakh can be reduced to just one single attacking contact!)
Breaking through to new levels (Boldriaan, Chess en Dans)
Emerging system
And that’s it. We can break down any chess position into these elementary contacts. Together with level 1, this is the foundation which supports levels 3-4.
This multiplicity of relatively simple interactions can generate surprising complexity in higher levels. A whole new integrative level of organization, a new set of phenomena is emerging out of simple interactions of parts. At the upper level entirely new properties appear. Out of chess, typical examples of complex systems include life emerging on inorganic elements, and consciousness emerging on nervous systems with a network of billions of neurons interacting with each other.
The same applies to the game of chess. It is constrained and shaped by elementary contacts, but chess involves much more than these basic laws. The elementary interactions go a whole new level which becomes not merely more, but very different from the sum of the parts that collectively make up the system.
The new emerging level is where the coordination of pieces combined with strategic and tactical issues brings a completely new dimension to chess.
* * *
Yet, it is critical that we begin teaching chess first and foremost with the basic contacts (levels 1-2) if we want to start developing a strong board vision early. Not with how pieces make moves, for goodness’ sake. We need to give the primitive brain a chance to pick up these basics. It’s the first critical period of one’s chess education that actually may take just few weeks (GM Gregory Levenfish indicated two months – compare with the game shown above).
Once the primitive brain has acquired this “core vocabulary” as its second nature to speak it effortlessly, it’s freed up for higher, more sophisticated modes of thinking dealing with tactics and combinations and the big picture: the piece cooperation, and strategy.
As Prof. Csikszentmihalyi said in his book on creativity (see here), by mastering the basic laws and developing a good chess eye, you step beyond the boundaries of the elementary into the realm of beautiful and creative in chess.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Comments and suggestions welcome.
I give a 30-minute free consultation on how to get started in chess most effectively to get your game on the fast track. Forget about a boring and confusing 30-page introduction with all those rules on how pieces move, en-passant, 50-move draw, threefold repetition etc. every chess book starts with.
Let’s go right away to the heart and core of the whole chess thing…
You may contact me at iPlayooChess(at)gmail(dot)com
Follow @chessContact001 iPlayoo Beginner Chess Lessons.The Power in Chess. Attacking Contact
Ever wanted to learn how to play and enjoy the royal game of chess? Great, you are in the right place. Welcome to iPlayoo Chess!
These chess lessons are specially designed for an absolute beginner in mind (and chess players, parents, or educators who may want to check a novel method to teach a complete beginner).
Mighty Rook. The Power of the Tower
Okay, let’s get rolling. Today, I want to introduce you to a formidable and powerful personality. He’s a veteran of an unrivaled military experience: he’s been engaging in chess battlefields for 1500+ years, all around the world, from Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) to Devil’s Backbone in Arkansas.
He’s been fighting all over the place under many names: Rook, Top, Kula, Castell, Tour, Torre, Turm, Ладья, Navak, Jū, Rukku, Tseriakh, Et’li, πύργος, and so on, and so on, but seems that his first name ever used in a war zone was Rukh (if you want to check his name in 73 different languages, go here).
A very interesting fellow, don’t you think? And very skillful, and powerful, deserving every respect.
The Rook standing in front (Photo: Elena Boric)
“So who are you in the end?”
“I am part of that POWER which eternally desires evil and eternally does good”, Goethe, Faust
“But how are you showing off your Power?”
“Well, it’s kind of easy: I’m a straight guy. Um, I mean I’m firing away along straight lines on the battlefield, an 8×8-square chessboard . Thanks to Euclid, who introduced the concept back in 4th c. BC, it’s really easy for your brain to see how I focus firepower:
- Rook Firing Along Vertical and Horizontal
“Can you see the lines of fire, or lines of force I am spewing along my vertical (d-line) and horizontal (4th rank)? This is my range, field, or radius of action, or sphere of influence on the board.”
“You can’t see them? Well, maybe you should visualize in your mind’s eye first. Like this, or this” (Note: you may want to read commentary below diagrams to help you get the idea).
* * *
As you can see, a very simple concept for your subconscious brain to grasp. Again, we use the following words to describe the Rook’s using its firepower: the Rook has contact with, attacks, controls a square. These all have the same effect.
In other words, we can look at this as a simple geometrical pattern on the board, where a chess unit and a square (or another unit) line up.
The Rook is really powerful. Just imagine what might happen to you if you get in the line of fire? You would be in a great danger. You would be under attack. You’re toast!
Enemy pieces are filled with absolute terror at the sight of a mighty Rook that took up an attacking stance. They tremble from head to toe as they are just a trigger-finger (or one move) away from annihilation, or capture.
END LESSON #001
_____________________________________________________________________________________
NOTE: You sure can see on the above diagram that the Rook is placed in the middle of the board on the square d4. Okay? Now, can you visualize how four invisible lines go through d4-square: a vertical, a horizontal (your eye met them already today), and here, two diagonals as well? It’s important for your eye to get trained to see this.
* * *
Just two more things, and we can call it a day:
(1) Here’s a little quiz to solidify what you’ve learned today. Look at the above diagram and check whether:
a) The Rook is attacking d7-square? (Y) or (N)
b) The Rook is controlling a5-square? (Y) or (N)
(2) Can you see how many squares the Rook is controlling, or has contact with, from its d4-post? (7) or (14)
* * *
Great, that’s all for today folks. Well, almost.
Lastly, just in passing, just wanted to tell you a secret: there are only two effects chessmen produce in chess:
(1) Control effect, or attacking contact (we just learned today)
(2) Body effect (we’re going to cover next time)
The beautiful thing is that everything you’ll learn in chess, including more advanced concepts like strategy and tactics are based on these two effects, basically mere geometry thing — you just have to spot two points that lie on the same line (a piece and a square, or two pieces, that line up). Et voilà!
Your unconscious brain is an amazing visual learner. Yet you are not aware of it at all. It’s doing so many good things for you, in silence, under the surface!
* * *
Answers to the Quiz:
(1a) Y
(1b) N
(2) 14
_____________________________________________________________________________________
If you have any questions or comments please contact me at chessContact@Facebook.com
iPlayooChess 