Ziatdinov Part Four

"A chess master should be a combination of a beast of prey and a monk." -- Alexander Alekhine.

Chess is not a gamble -- a gamble is playing chess! Of course, there are many examples where a game was well prepared and won "at home" (especially in the practice of Kasparov). Nevertheless, our brain is so limited that we have to use statistics and odds in a game. When Quantum theory was introduced, Einstein said, "I do not believe God plays with dice." He was right, God does not play dice, but we mortals should!

There are three rules in chess when you battle a strong opponent:

1) It's not possible to win quickly.
2) It's not possible to win slowly.
3) It's not possible to win at all.

Every victory should be considered as winning a gamble. You need luck to win against a strong opponent, but until you're rated 2200, you need patience more!

How should a player think at the board to increase his chances of winning, to get the smile of Lady Luck? If you look too hard for the best way of thinking (especially during the game) you will always make frustrating blunders that are far behind your true chess level. Concentrate on concrete chess, not generalities, and follow your intuition. My experience shows that you cannot change the way you think. Any attempt to make your thinking reasonable and systematic will fail. Kotov's method of calculating, creating a list of every feasible move (candidates), and examining each variation of each candidate move only once in a mechanical order, is too scientific and has little practical use. Do not feel upset when you cannot follow his steps. Calculating (even creating) a list of all the candidates during your move is as impossible as it is unnecessary.

You have to live with the way you think and use what you have. The process of thinking cannot be changed in a short period, if at all. We cannot have any illusions about it. I am sure that Kotov never really thought about a chess position in the manner he describes. Such rigid advice from any master on how to think about a chess position is theoretical only, or only works when the position has an answer that is already known! Some things are simply not teachable. This reminds me of an old Russian proverb: An old chess player invited his five sons to his deathbed. He challenged them each to break one stick. The sons easily accomplished this task. The father then put all five sticks together, and challenged the eldest son to break the bundle -- and the eldest son broke them all at once over his knee. The father's last words were: "What can I say? All your life you were stupid and you'll never learn anything." There is only so much a teacher can do; only so much a student can do!

Instead of trying to conform to a systematic thinking method, do the following:

1) Build your position starting with your worst piece. Building a position means to think of each piece as a brick. These bricks have different shapes, sizes, and weights, and the architect, the player, must find the most harmonious way to fit them together, logically first trying to place his worst piece on a better square. When building a position, we are talking about situations to which there is no clear solution.

2) Look for simple 1-2 move combinations ala Capablanca.

3) Try to get into your opponent's head to predict his next move and save time. During a chess game, you must consider your opponent's plans. Have you thought about what he wants to do, or are you just examining your own ideas? If you keep your opponent's desires constant in your mind, you will not miss his tricks (but people forget this every time). During the game, you must not only be as good as your opponent, but better.

There is a joke: a Russian and an American were in the desert running away from a lion. Suddenly, the American stops and starts to change his shoes. The Russian laughs and says, "You think Adidas will help you run faster than the lion?"

"No," the American replied, "I only have to run faster than you!" This joke describes a real chess game perfectly.

When you play chess, you must get inside your opponent's head; think how he thinks, sit like he sits, feel what he feels. You must study your opponent and know his move before he makes it. This is crucial for victory. When it is your opponent's turn, you do not have free time -- it is time to examine your adversary. This psychological technique (called mirroring) is difficult to practice, but if you are patient and really study the opponent, you will see a lot; you'll know what moving his hand to get a pen means!

Position Building, waiting for simple 1-2 move combinations, and reading the opponent, are your only duties during a tournament game.

Usually, the result is decided by time-trouble mistakes. This is where chance and blind luck rear their heads in chess. Players have no time to think, so playing quickly and having more time than your opponent is a big advantage. Learn to play fast. Think on your opponent's time! The clock is a major part of the game, and time pressure on your opponent (by making fast moves) plays a big role in deciding the outcome of a contest between two equally strong opponents. Actually, I believe the secret of winning tournament games is to win on time! Try to play the first ten moves in ten minutes; the game doesn't usually start until move twenty, at which point you must simply wait to take advantage of your opponent's mistakes.

Do not get into time trouble yourself! A chess game is a time for action, not thinking. Think before the game. Alekhine had said that using time trouble as an excuse for a loss was like a criminal pleading that he was drunk during a crime, which is really two crimes: being drunk and committing the crime! Time trouble is a psychological problem, not a chess problem. It is usually caused by fear, indecision, or some other human weakness not related to chess. Discover the source of your time trouble, and root it out.

How long should a player spend on a move? As much time as is necessary to be certain the move is not losing! One thing that might help is to keep in mind that you will play this position many times in the future, and you will have a chance to try other interesting moves later. What you have to be certain about is that your move is not a blunder. Your own excitement generated by your ideas will often make you forget to check for simple mistakes. Make your move only when you are certain about it. Virtually all mistakes are the result of simple one-move blunders.

You need a "mathematical", Kotov-like way of thinking for situations that require great patience to check all possibilities (like in rook or pawn endings or closed middle games); otherwise, you will miss important issues of a position. Sometimes these issues are anti-intuitive and belong to the world of imagination.

Tempi are important in every chess position, but especially in closed positions. Lines for your pieces are blocked, so you may not have time to defend yourself. You have to be precise. In these situations you must try to check all possible moves -- the "mathematical" way of chess! This can be done by the human brain, but only in two situations: (1) when there are only four pieces on the board (five for a genius!), and (2) if the human already knows the solution.

In this second case I am talking about the positions already in a player's vocabulary that fly in the mind at light speed and are known "by hand." Not even great players like Alekhine can mathematically examine a position involving more than four or five pieces without errors.

I am against abstract opening preparation for a tournament game, but advocate deep preparation against concrete opponents. You must not play without preparation against unknown adversaries; Russian roulette is not my kind of game (in Russia we call it American roulette!). Chess is a gamble, so stack the odds with as much knowledge about your opponent as possible. Preparation should be made for every game, even five-minute club games. Make guesses about the stream of the game and which opening will occur; after the contest, you can compare your pre-game thoughts with what really happened. This practice will improve your ability to guess correct moves and read your opponent. The more games you play with a little preparation, the better your future preparation and games will be. During a game, you cannot think deeply; chess is not a time for thinking, it is time for action; it is show time!

To prepare for a chess game, analyze every one of your moves from previous games for positions you are likely to encounter in the upcoming game. Examine your own games everyday. You should remember them all. Also, memorize the games of masters who play your opening.

When analyzing your own games, ask these questions:

1. Who before me played this line?
2. Where will I play differently next time?
3. Where was the last mistake of the game?
4. How many mistakes did I make?
5. How many mistakes did my opponent make?
6. Why did I spend so much time on this move?
7. What else could I do differently?
8. What does my computer "think" about these different possibilities?

If you had followed the wrong plan, accept it, figure out where you went astray, and remember the right path for next time. After awhile, you will realize that your chess games are not unique and that very similar positions have occurred many times before. Of course, a unique position requires you to think (but I have never encountered completely singular positions in my practice).

If you go astray and lose a pawn, do not despair. According to Dr. John Nunn, being a pawn up is not enough of an advantage (in master level chess) for winning a game. The materially stronger side always allows counter play. You should use this secret in your own games; a pawn up or down does not determine the outcome of a game. Even Capablanca said that the best strategy when having an extra pawn is to win a second one!

For practical over-the-board play, try to be in the state of mind as described by the five steps below:
1. Observing your opponent, waiting for tactics to begin.
2. You are not attacking or defending; you are neither aggressive nor passive.
3. You do not make up your mind to act until the appropriate time.
4. The ability to focus is your greatest asset in the game. When you appreciate the power of focus, you will feel the way of thinking of your opponent and maintain control of his actions.
5. Be prepared to act if the opportunity arises. This requires courage and patience, order and flexibility.