Calculation Techniques Every Adult Chess Player Must Know

[@faithemmanuel87]

Your number one fan❤ Excited to see your video 🎉

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks a lot! You deserve a pin :)

[@alekhinesgun9997]

Found Qf8+ almost instantly but struggled on some of the others lmao. I've been practicing too many queen sac puzzles...

[@journeytograndmaster]

Haha, interesting :)

[@TheImproversPath]

Day 13. Again I have really struggled to solve any of these. I found the Qf8+ one. The homework one has blown my mind! Will keep working on calculation but I think I need to start simpler

[@journeytograndmaster]

Yeah, the homework one was very tough indeed, I agree. But congrats on Qf8!

[@engtari]

That first puzzle solution seems wrong imo. correct me if I'm wrong. 1st puzzle:2r3k1/q4pp1/p3p2p/3nN3/3RbPP1/Q6P/P7/K2R4 b - - 0 1 final position: 8/8/4Q3/3R2p1/4k1K1/8/8/8 b - - 3 45 pgn: [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "?"] [Black "?"] [Result "1-0"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2r3k1/q4pp1/p3p2p/3nN3/3RbPP1/Q6P/P7/K2R4 b - - 0 1"] 1... Bc2 2. Qc1 f6 3. Nf3 Qb7 4. Re1 Qc7 5. Nd2 Qc3+ 6. Qb2 Qxh3 7. f5 Qg3 8. Rc1 Ne3 9. fxe6 Qe5 10. e7 Qxe7 11. Nf1 Nxf1 12. Rxc2 Re8 13. Qb4 Qxb4 14. Rxb4 Re1+ 15. Kb2 Ne3 16. Rc1 Re2+ 17. Kb3 Rg2 18. Rb6 Nxg4 19. Rxa6 Ne5 20. a4 h5 21. a5 Rg3+ 22. Ka4 Rg2 23. Ra1 Rd2 24. Ra8+ Kf7 25. a6 Rd6 26. Kb4 Rb6+ 27. Kc5 Nd7+ 28. Kd5 Rb2 29. Rh8 Rd2+ 30. Ke4 Nb6 31. a7 Rd6 32. Ra6 f5+ 33. Kxf5 Rf6+ 34. Kg5 Re6 35. Rxb6 Rxb6 36. a8=Q Rb5+ 37. Kh4 Rb4+ 38. Kxh5 g6+ 39. Kh6 Rh4+ 40. Kg5 Rg4+ 41. Kxg4 Ke6 42. Qc6+ Ke5 43. Rd8 g5 44. Rd5+ Ke4 45. Qe6# 1-0

[@journeytograndmaster]

That's a weird variation you have there but Bc2 is completely winning, it's +3 for black after Qc1 if I remember correctly

[@Alekhine01]

I am at that point where I always look at the crazy stuff first thanks to all the puzzles I do lately. So, for instance, the queen sack I saw pretty quickly. A simple capture, though, I sometimes miss.

[@journeytograndmaster]

You should try to make qour weaknesses your strengths :) so work on simple things then

[@mmathems395]

At 1:00, black to move, I could see that white's rook wants to capture black's bishop. The move I thought of is knight to C3. With this move, white's other rook will be attacked, and then white will be less interested in black's bishop. The knight is protected by black's rook at C8 ... Then I realised that by moving the knight, black gives way to an attack on its king by white's two rooks, inviting the loss of black's rook and checkmate shortly afterwards ... So I revised the move to C3 to be for black's rook. Black's rook on C3 attacking white's queen is likely to distract white from black's bishop ... I am stuck for what next because white could still do many different things ... I like the answer you gave. That was a very nice checkmate move. I thought of moving the bishop there as well but discarded it for being uncertain of white's response, however, you made better sense of the puzzle than I could, and I agree with you - it was definitely the better move. With thanks 😊

[@journeytograndmaster]

I am glad it was helpful!

[@RadishAcceptable]

Said out loud for the first puzzle: "Oh my... that is disgusting." 😂 funny enough, that is the one I missed, falling right into the wrong kind of thinking. Your videos are amazing for chess growth. Keep up the good work! Will keep recommending your channel to friends.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks a lot! Will keep making good videos for you :)

[@mmathems395]

At 9:53, white to move, I see black's intention to capture white's queen but also black's A1 rook ... As white, I would threaten mate in 1 by moving the queen to E1. Assuming that black takes the queen, I would then take black's queen with my A1 rook, making a check on black's king. Black's king must be moved to F8 ... Then I was uncertain about whether checkmate would be possible : ) .... I prefer your explanation of the way, and I will try to explore alternative possibilities further next time.

[@journeytograndmaster]

It's important that we don't win anything in your variation. Just exchange the queens :)

[@faithemmanuel87]

I was able to get the last puzzle Impressed I did

[@journeytograndmaster]

Indeed! Congrats!

[@mannycastel5997]

white to move qf8 check ,if kxf8 then white move nxd7 check

[@journeytograndmaster]

Absolutely! That's fantastic :)

[@cybez6854]

I saw the first and the last one. The first one in 30-40 seconds and the last one in like 10-20 seconds. The other 2 i saw something other so i missed 2 from 4 its okay i think. It makes fun with your and im learning sometimes from your Videos thank you for that :)

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you very much too! :)

[@mmathems395]

At 5:37, white to move, I saw moving white's king to E2, following up with moving white's dark-squared bishop to E2, to capture black's bishop on B4 safely, and then push white's B2 pawn to B4, and white's A4 pawn to A5. Pending what black's moves are that could be checkmate ... Okay, didn't think this one out very well ........ That's why the computer's always beating me : )

[@journeytograndmaster]

Practice makes master :)

[@mmathems395]

@@journeytograndmaster Because your video was so puzzling for me, I am going to watch it again, and again, and again. Your exercises were very good challenges and very new to me. I really do not calculate.

[@nenadsusic8276]

What would happen if, instead of moving the bishop to c2, black knight C3 was played, Attacking rook on d1?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Have you thought whether your opponent can give you a check? :)

[@mmathems395]

Just to confirm ... I didn't find the queen sacrifice move ... It goes to show the possibilities that I overlook. You are explaining this solution at 14:30, but after missing the others I decided to just skip to your solution ... Very interesting content, and we need more puzzles like the ones you have shown here. Many thanks for your efforts to guide myself and others.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Don't discourage yourself, practice makes master! :)

[@mmathems395]

@@journeytograndmaster Thank you. I'm actually interested in more exercises of this kind now.

[@journeytograndmaster]

That's great! I am excited to see your progress. There are a lot of useful videos on the channel already that you can take to practice and more are coming! :)

[@mmathems395]

@@journeytograndmaster Cool, thank you. I will let you know if my understanding has increased.

[@ytmndman]

In the third position, after Be7+ Qxe7 Rxe7 Kxe7, black is still ahead in material, where is the winning line for white?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Hard to understand which variation you are referring to. Could you please specify the timestamp and the complete variation?

[@ytmndman]

@@journeytograndmaster The end of the puzzle, at around 11:49

[@journeytograndmaster]

Ah okay, thanks. Well, it's not about the number of the pieces on the board, but about the number of active pieces on the board. Pretty much all of black pieces do not participate and therefore, it would be a quick checkmate after Qe3 and Re1. Hope it helps :)

[@ytmndman]

@@journeytograndmaster After Qxe7 Rxe7 Kxe7 Qe3+ Kf8 Re1 Bf6 black can avoid checkmate

[@journeytograndmaster]

yeah, I meant in general, it should be a checkmate soon. With all of those pieces not participating, something will always be there

[@LuhTorah]

Wonder what my real Elo is I saw the queen sac fork instantly…

[@journeytograndmaster]

It means you have a very good imagination! That's so important in chess, congratulations! :)

[@Ryan-jz5kr]

nice setup

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks!

[@PHONK.AVANICHE]

Should I use these

[@journeytograndmaster]

Absolutely! It would even be much simpler for you to understand and use it in your own games! :)

[@sid5537]

I decided to remove my comment since it wasn't constructive. Would be great to see how you solve puzzles step by step, your complete thought process. Thank you!

[@journeytograndmaster]

You are welcome! I have quite a few videos like that on the channel :) I solve puzzle rush in 5 minutes to comment on my thought process and also with unlimited time to slowly go through it and explain everything.

[@sid5537]

@@journeytograndmaster thank you!

[@ThomasRowland-dl2em]

It should chess players as it could be child players as well

[@journeytograndmaster]

Child players are so strong nowadays that they already know everything :)

[@ThisIsTheSan]

that's amazing.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you!

[@MISCHEIVIOUSLOKICHESS]

Nice

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks!

[@PHONK.AVANICHE]

I’m a minor

[@johnspivack]

This video provides no value to players in my category (1400-1600). The positions are too complicated and the presentation does not break them down into small enough steps. Common themes are missing so that lessons from one puzzle do not seem to apply to others. No knowledge gets built. The host seems to be a very nice guy, but he is just one of thousands and thousands of male chess coaches who have very big brains but for one reason or another can't make the secrets of this game accessible to ordinary humans. Unfortunate.

[@amirhossein1108]

But I have elo of 1400 and I found it super useful, because it's not about just solving the puzzles, it's about how to think. By the way, I solved the last puzzle

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks for your criticism. I will do my best to improve. Could you please explain why you think I am not breaking down the position into small steps? I thought, I am doing just that the whole video. What kind of details are missing for you? I have to say though, I always have to keep the balance between making the video informative and not too long (otherwise people are complaining it's too long, they don't want to watch it). Also, why do you say for all players in your category? Everyone is different and a lot of people do find the value in it. Anyway, I hope you give it a second chance and watch another video of mine, chances are, you are gonna like it much more! :) Hope to see your comments again!

[@Alekhine01]

@@journeytograndmasterYou were stressing general principles that were worthwhile, but I think that until some players know certain basic tactical motifs, it will be hard for them to apply these principles to the level of problems you are presenting. It all just looks like a lot of magic. Really what you are presenting are second order problems where there is a seductive element that pulls in the person who through experience has internalized basic motifs i chess to such an extent that they are automatic type 1 thinking. So the solution in all of them was where you go beyond that type of thinking to type 2 thinking. If they are not to the point where they have developed tactical instincts to the level that they get any intuitive ideas when examining the position, then there is no type 1 thinking going on. Thus the lesson concerning when to apply type 2 thinking is lost on them. So they need a much simpler approach and also, they need to trust that at some point they will develop instincts, and then these rules will apply. So I think you have to vastly simplify at least the first few problems you show. First, for example, show a common motif and say this is what usually happens. Now say look at position 2, which looks a lot like position 1. If a player understood position 1 you may automatically look at position 2 and think x is the proper move. In this case you would be wrong to instinctively do what you did in the first position. That is because you must have the patience to not instinctively apply a tactic, but you mist engage in type 2 logical thinking to the actual situation on the board. Then for the next example you show an example where a counter combination also can defeat your tactical intuition -- as an example of falsification. Then you show how the tactical motif appears to fail obviously, but you find an extra move beyond what looks intuitively bad that makes it all work out. And that would illustrate the 3rd. So to review, the guy here has not developed any type 1 instincts to apply to the positions you showed, so you kind if have to teach him something to apply before you can get into all the foibles of applying that tactic. Then to show that it is a universal problem of all tactical instincts, you have to show them how some other tactical ideas fall prey to the same exact kinds of mistakes. For me, I got what you were saying most of the time, but I guess I coach soccer a lot and have realized how you have to break things down when teaching true beginners. And I have been reading some books on type 1 v type 2 thinking (Thinking Slow, Thinking Fast by Daniel Kahneman). In particular, I have had to translate what experience has turned into type 1 thinking back into type 2 descriptions of what I am doing. I know how to do things in soccer without thinking about them, and now I have to think about them again to teach them. Ironically, I have such a more profound knowledge now that I have done that some that my "instincts" are much better informed!

[@Alekhine01]

I think that it did not work for you because the type of thinking he was saying we have to overcome requires first that we have internalized tactical ideas that suggest what to do. If you do not have that when you look at the positions, then yes, the point of the exercise is hard to understand. You just have to trust that one day you will have instincts about positions and that then these lessons will apply. I am sure that there are positions where an idea just jumps out at you, and you feel like a move is obviously good or bad. When you get that urge, then apply his three rules: 1. Patience. Put on your thinking hat to confirm your instinct is correct. Play out your instinct in your head before you make the move in the board. 2. Falsification. Think hard about what your opponent can do and wants to achieve to find surprising moves against your plan. This helps you find the surprises your opponent might have. 3. Resistance. Resists your instinct to say a move is impossible--at least enough to look a couple moves ahead. If you keep those things in mind and look at your own games you will see good examples. Look for impulsive mistakes you made and think about why you made them. These videos were not about particular tactics or anything like that. It was about how to think about any position. You do not need to completely understand the examples to apply the lessons. You just have to realize that even high level players assume things about a position that are sometimes wrong, and even they need to have patience, resist their intuition at times, and see the truth their opponent wants to impose on the board.

[@johnspivack]

@@journeytograndmaster Thanks for being willing to listen. I have critique from three angles, decision theoretical, pedagogical, and cognitive. You said you are doing grad study in computer science so you will get what I am saying. First point: When players consider moves they are really constructing and pruning a tree of possibilities. The number of leaves increases exponentially with depth. The examples you give are too deep and have trees that have too many possibilities and are too hard to prune unless you have superior intellect (see third point below). Typically people use shortcuts or heuristics to decide which routes to take in constructing and pruning. You don't present enough heuristics to make the task computationally manageable for regular people without superior intellect. Second point: When humans learn, they acquire information in related packets or themes. More effective learning happens when single themes are repeated and then made more elaborate progressively. The examples here have a surprise feeling to them and these magic tricks and brilliant insights do not show up on the next puzzle, so progressive learning does not happen. Only someone with superior intellect could learn and digest information in this way and put it into a useable form inside their minds for access later. Third: Chess depends on manipulating a peculiar kind of data in a very intense way and you are lucky to be gifted in that area. Other people don't represent and manipulate this data as quickly and clearly as you do. We get cofused, don't see things clearly, forget,etc. We have to think much slower. A line that fails at the fourth or fifth node of the tree because of great and hard to find move by the opponent would be totally invisible to almost all people. Your shortcoming may actually be that you are too good at chess calculation to know what the experience is like for us who are not at all naturally gifted at it. One solution is to think of something that is intellectually hard for you, and how you would need that explained to you to really grasp it and perform it. The apply the similar approach to explaining chess calculation to us? With best wishes and thanks, John

[@coachellafair7752]

Bxd4?

[@journeytograndmaster]

No :) Try again!