1. Standard membermchill
    Cryptic
    Behind the scenes
    Joined
    27 Jun '16
    Moves
    3077
    16 Apr '21 07:00
    Don't just memorize openings, or lines of play, understand the reason behind the moves


    I'm sure many of you have heard variations of this before, but how does one go about "understanding the reason behind the moves" Annotations give a glimpse of this reasoning, but open any chess book, and less than 10% of the moves normally include annotations - - what about the other 90+% If one cannot access the thought process behind chess moves, how can one understand the reason behind them?
  2. Joined
    14 Feb '09
    Moves
    12541
    16 Apr '21 07:07
    Modern chess books are terrible.

    The old books actually explained chess.
    Pick up some old classics for real chess explanation.

    (I'm not 1300 like my rating says...
    I'm actually 1700 but it takes time to get the rating up there since I just came back to this website)
  3. Joined
    15 Dec '20
    Moves
    53
    16 Apr '21 14:00
    To understand the reasoning behind the moves of a game, I would suggest starting with how the pawn structure changed, as described at my website under "Instruction" is an article called, "How to Play through a Game's Pawn Structures."

    The next "layer" of reasoning might be, where do the pieces belong in order to bring about desired changes in the pawn structure.

    A layer below that is whether a move is playable tactically. In the game given in the above article, one reaction to the position reached after 17...fxe4 might be, "White's knight belongs at d5 or e4." Then one might see that 18. Nc3 could ideally get the knight to one of those squares, and further thought might show that 18. Nc3 is not only strategically desirable but tactically playable.
  4. Account suspended
    Joined
    08 Jun '07
    Moves
    2120
    18 Apr '21 13:18

    This post is unavailable.

    Please refer to our posting guidelines.

  5. Joined
    15 Dec '20
    Moves
    53
    19 Apr '21 14:52
    I just remembered that at my website (www.davidlevinchess.com) under "Instruction" is an article called, "A Game with My Moves Explained." I'd be interested to hear whether its style of annotation is close to what you're looking for.
  6. Joined
    15 Dec '20
    Moves
    53
    19 Apr '21 19:01
    Hm, I guess identifying my website (which can be found in my profile) was deemed objectionable. Let's try again.

    Under "Instruction" at my website is also an article called, "A Game with My Moves Explained," which perhaps approaches the level of annotation that the original poster would like to see. I'd be interested in any feedback.
  7. Account suspended
    Joined
    08 Jun '07
    Moves
    2120
    19 Apr '21 19:37

    This post is unavailable.

    Please refer to our posting guidelines.

  8. Joined
    18 Jan '07
    Moves
    12352
    19 Apr '21 20:01
    @mchill said
    Don't just memorize openings, or lines of play, understand the reason behind the moves


    I'm sure many of you have heard variations of this before, but how does one go about "understanding the reason behind the moves" Annotations give a glimpse of this reasoning, but open any chess book, and less than 10% of the moves normally include annotations - - what about the other ...[text shortened]... cannot access the thought process behind chess moves, how can one understand the reason behind them?
    That's why I prefer older books - where the annotations say something like "this wins a pawn but your pieces end up uncoordinated" - to modern books, which merely say "Stockfish says +0002, which is clearly superior".
  9. Joined
    14 Feb '09
    Moves
    12541
    19 Apr '21 20:27
    @Shallow-Blue

    Exactly.
Back to Top

Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.I Agree