“Calculation of options”

During tournament and match games, a chess player only in rare, exceptional cases performs a combination, more often he analyzes the positions and evaluates them, after which he draws up a game plan. But he’s engaged in calculating options for almost all the time allotted for the game: sometimes it’s a short “run” over a number of small options, but at some points in the game it can be a complicated set of mutually connected options.

Calculation of options is a review of their possible moves and the opponent’s responses to the nearest segment of the game. Indeed, when we think about a move, we evaluate our own possible moves and look for the opponent’s answer. We try to embrace as many moves as possible and consider the largest number of answers to the proposed moves. The ability to conduct calculations widely, analyzing the greatest number of possibilities, and at the same time far – to the greatest possible number of moves forward determines to a large extent the skill of the chess player.
An important circumstance is the control clock. A strictly limited time is given to think over the moves and options, so you need to take care not only Continue reading →