How Good Is Your Chess INTUITION? Replicating a Scientific Study

[@kdub1242]

I just happened upon your channel today. Wow, great stuff. Of course different people at different stages gravitate toward different things, but as I am an old adult novice - as opposed to a brilliant child prodigy - I find your discussions relatable, no-nonsense, but still hopeful. In spite of the difficulty of chess, and the low probability of an adult learner reaching a high level, I suspect that most of us actually never get close to even our (modest) ability ceiling. Most of us just want to learn to play decent chess, avoid too many blunders, accumulate a reasonable storehouse patterns for guidance, and further appreciate the beauty of the game. Your channel is exactly the sort of thing to help with that.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your inspiring comment! Such feedback really energises me. You are absolutely right, we can still enjoy this beautiful game without higher ambitions of reaching a mastery.

[@davidblue819]

This is really interesting. I would not have expected that. There's a lot to learn from this channel. :)

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your encouraging thoughts!

[@DeepFriedLiver]

Fun. Had a really difficult time finding either candidate moves or being able to express why I felt the evaluation was justified. Truly only had time to give an intuition. I could easily see my assessment of any of these positions varying wildly with 1 minutes thought. 1600 USCF My intuitions with the time provided 1 equal 2 white better 3 white better 4 black losing 5 black better 6 white better 7 equal 8 black better 9 white winning 10 equal

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for your participation! Now you can see the results from this video! Please let me know how you did! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6qyoYivqNhmicU

[@susymay7831]

Looking forward to your follow-up video.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you!

[@mobilthor181]

You INSPIRED me to answer.. GREAT videopost.. THX from AMATEUR aged 50+, recreational player. ALL equal but ex.No.3 i judged to +8 Next stop is chessable, searching 4 DrCan... ta-ta

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for your comment and kind words!

[@Pierre_16_16]

Dear Can, thank you for this funny test. Not easy at all, I'm 1300-1400 online rated player, my intuition went as followed: 1. White 2. White 3. White 4. Black 5. Black 6. White 7. White 8. White 9. White 10. Black.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much Pierre!

[@brigidwell]

Hi, I used to be 1500-1700 USCF when I played tournament, but would probably be lower now. I am particularly poor at fast play, and I didn't have a chance to make numerical evaluations, so I just put down gut reactions - I hope you don't mind, and I apologize if I simply overlooked something very obvious because I didn't cheat at all: 1. White is better - has easy play, Black may have had a bad bishop. 2. Black looked better - White had an awkward side of a Benoni with pieces tangled. 3. Black is more active with opposite bishops and can probably attack and win. 4. White probably better and has compensation for exchange, but Black should of course try to hang in there. 5. Black is more active and cramping White's development. 6. Black has better minor piece and outside passer potential, probably a winning endgame but will be hard to convert. 7. White is bullying black in this ending with more active pieces, probably winning. 8. Drew a blank - couldn't get oriented in time. 9. White should be optimistic that a breakthrough attack can work, but be vigilant about Black's line piece counterpotential. 10. Black felt better. This had a Berlin/Ruy vibe, so White can get good endings here though. Thanks for the fun video.

[@brigidwell]

I also want to mention a couple more points in case it's helpful: I paused to write down my thoughts, but didn't pause with the position up because I wanted you to have the context of my eval. And second, I barely saw any tactics at all, although I suspected in most positions, serious tactics were present and I just didn't have time to review them yet.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for these detailed observations/ gut feelings!!

[@Lonnie-s2o]

Rapid 777, Blitz 350, and felt like I was completely unable to grok anything about the positions in 5 seconds. I wrote down: -0.5, 0, +1, +1, +1, -2, 0, -1, 0, 0. The above was the result you wanted. Out of curiosity, I then rewound and played at half speed (so now 10 seconds) with a fresh piece of paper. I actually did not feel like I was any better :-(. For that round I wrote down: +1, 0, +2, +2, 0, -1, 0, -2, -2, 0 There is a correlation of +0.3, which is not statistically different from random chance (p=0.34). I'm in my late 50s, and of course a lower ELO than many of the others who are likely to weigh in. I wonder whether age plays a part at that quick speed with ELO held constant.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for your detailed response and even doing the statistical analysis! :) For your second round, well done with position 2 and 3 which were difficult for most.

[@DanielDollinger1959]

What an interesting cognitive exercise. You are probably touching my weakest spot. I am not certain as to my ratings. My Lichess ratings massaged up and down to match what I think I really am are blitz 1300, rapid 1700, correspondence 2200. 1. W double rook. 2. B good bishop. 3. draw. 4. B rook battery. 5. B. 6. B open file for rook. 7. W. 8 B good spot for knight to move to. 9 W battery. 10 draw.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks a lot Dan! Thank you also for briefly mentioning the reason why white or black was better!

[@cagdaskaradag3621]

Thanks a lot for this exceptional test Mr. Kabadayi. I am rated around 1900 blitz and 2000 Rapid online and It was difficult to evaluate with numbers. But I have some thoughts on positions which are expressed down below; 1.) White 2. White 3. Black 4. White 5. Black 6. Black 7. White 8. Black 9. Black 10. White

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your kind comment and answering the questions!

[@edl5731]

I am 1388 rapid on Lichess. All of these are guesses/hunches and admittedly I am real bad at evaluating positions a few weeks ago after spending about 4 minutes evaluating a position I concluded my situation was hopeless, and I resigned. Stockfish's evaluation of the situation was I had a mate in 11. W,W,B,B,B,B,W.W.W.W

[@edl5731]

The above answers were given under the rules of the test. I then afterwards went back and rewatched the video and paused the video and examined each position for about a minute. I came up with basically the same hunches but there isn't a single one where I definitively can say which side is better even after studying the position for a minute. (chess is hard). One observation is that for position #2 we don't know if the black king has moved twice or still retains castling rights. The players in the game would know that. If the black king has lost castling rights its position is weaker than if it can get out of the middle.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your comment!

[@mbzash6216]

8/10. Happy result

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Well done!

[@greggiusti6508]

I was 1800 classical. Can’t believe GMs can understand these positions so quickly - they were quite complex! + = - - + + + + - =

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your evaluations!

[@GilRico69]

Hello. I'm a proud chessable member and this is my results: 1 white 2 white 3 white 4 white 5 black 6 white slightly 7 equal 8 black 9 white slightly 10 equal Im 1500 standard (OTB) ,and online: 1800 rapid, 2000 blitz. Thanks.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for your effort!

[@susymay7831]

Agree.

[@masonparkman5567]

This is my favorite video so far! Fun and interactive. I am 1800 classical in the 4545 league. 1- +3 2- +1 3- equal 4- +2 5- +3 6- +1 7- +3 8- equal 9- +1 10- -2 This video showed me why i'm so bad at blitz and bullet! Cheers Can

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much Mason! You were really detailed with your evaluations! Let's see how you will do :)

[@viewpoint2515]

Here are my answers (answering for the side we are looking at): 1)Much better 2)better 3)Worse 4)better 5)Much Worse 6)Worse 7)equal 8)Worse 9)Worse 10)Worse Also my rating is ≈1650 in classical By the way it would be really nice to put time stamps in your videos.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you. You can check the video in the description to see how well you did!

[@hooptron9]

1. W 2. W 3. B 4. W 5. B 6. B 7. W 8. W 9. W 10.B

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks!

[@ChessWithMouselip]

USCF ~1700 I could not give a "how much" evaluation on most positions (too quick to judge), just an impression of winning, better, worse or equal: 1. White is better, 2. White is better, 3. White is winning, 4. Black is better, 5. White is worse, 6. White is better, 7. =, 8. Black is worse, 9. White is better, 10. =.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for your comments. You can find the answers in this video:kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6qyoYivqNhmicU

[@mikkelhansen3714]

Okay i must say that this test is really hard. Here are my (probably bad) answers as a 1900 rapid player: 1 - white is better 2 - black is better 3 - white is winning 4 - whites has an advantage 5 - white is much better 6 - white is better 7 - equal 8 - white advantage 9 - black is worse 10 - equal I didnt't think much about the positions after the 5 seconds so i might be very wrong:D

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for taking your time and answering those!

[@cemturk1907]

I wasn't really ready to choose but I went with what I felt with my 1300-1400 rating 1 - black 2 - black 3 - black 4 - white 5 - white 6 - white 7 - white 8 - black 9 - black 10 - black

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks a lot!

[@msye]

Hey, I'm 2200 on Lichess Blitz (890 games). Here are my answers 1-) White has a slight edge. Maybe like +1. But it was too quick my brain couldnt even processed it :D 2-) I think somewhat equal. Black is gonna play b5 and idk for white. It was all I see and think. 3-) Uhh at first I was thinking white might have some tactical idea but I didnt have time but then I saw that passed pawn of black. At first second I thought white is winning 2 seconds later I started thinking of the passed pawn and time run out. I really dont know. I'm gonna guess that black is gonna win. 4-) White must be winning. There is too much pressure. 5-) Black has a good battery of Q and B but I think its not enough and open g file is also an important factor so White has a slight edge. 6-) Black's knight is perfectly placed and white's bishop is terrible. Black is winning. 7-) White's rook is better placed and time run out once I started calculating I think rook a6 it was :p I mean attacking the pawn from behind move. Might also be equal but I think white has a bit more than slight advantage. 8-) Probably defendable but white's play is definitely easier. White has an edge I think. 9-) I like the placement of deez knights. White is better 10-) This time I dont like the knights. Bishops are better in that position. Black has an edge. It was really fun and doing that made me realized my intuition is actually terrible even though I'm extremely lazy player and don't even calculate anything. I was playing with my intuition all the time but idk how did I get to 2200 on Lichess with that Also my puzzle racer record is 82. My intuition is not that bad at that. Also, I want to test myself. I'm gonna analyze the positions on my own before looking at the answers and I'm going to write my final thoughts in here to see after thinking for a while am I still agreeing with my intuition. 1-) (56 seconds of thinking) --> Black's bishop is terrible. Can't even get into the game without weakening somewhere. White is gonna push the a pawn and create another weaknesses for black. Black cannot hold too much. Whites better. Maybe like +2 2-) (1 min 20 seconds of thinking) --> Black is gonna play b5. White first defend well. I dont feel confident with white also coming up with a plan is hard as well. Maybe white can attack on f7 with rooks and bishop or he can push king side pawns to create weakness. I really dont like that sicillian like positions and since I dont play them I dont have much experience. But I saw some of them were pretty defendable even though they look strong. I'm still gonna go with blacks better. 3-) (1 min 14 seconds of thinking) --> Oh yes, there is tactic. Qf5 g6 Qxg6 Rd7 Qe8. White is winning. (I don't know if thats the real result but in the first part my intuition told me that there is a tactic then because of time limit I searched for other aspects and thought passed pawn is strong. So If the analysis is correct is my intuition right? Or Am I wrong because I said black has edge) 4-) Alr like I said earlier, I dont like calculating. Too much effort and I got bored. I cannot continue :p But it was fun Soo What are your thoughts? Do you have any recommendations? I want to improve. Is there no secret sauce like once we read or memorize x our intuition becomes godlike :p But I'm really interested in that concept. Dubov also said something like when you find a new idea, its not actually a new invention of yours you just saw the similar position earlier. So in this logic to improve intuition we should watch many many classic games? Is this the best way? Sorry if you struggle to understand my english love the video

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for your detailed thoughts!! Really appreciate it. You gain awareness of your issues with this deep engagement. Have you seen the followup video? kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6qyoYivqNhmicU Hope my explanations clarified a few things. Yes, it is about learning those patterns and chunks that improves intuition. Dubov is right. There is no free lunch here. We need to study master games deeply and understand why those moves/plans are executed. That is how I reached CM anyways, speaking from personal experience.

[@EliDollinger]

1. White has an edge 2. White has an edge 3. Black has an edge 4. Black has an edge 5. Black has an edge 6. White has an edge 7. White has an edge 8. Black has an edge 9. White has an edge 10. Black has an edge My online blitz rating is 1968. This test was very hard for me because my style of play is very calculation based.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much!

[@KF1]

Okay, here goes: Pos1 - white is winning soon with best play Pos2 - black will own the center and have an attack Pos3 - Draw Pos4 - white knight is better than black rook. Slight persistent edge Pos5 - Black wins by forcing attack...somehow My rating is 1650-1700 Lichess blitz format. Did I do okay? Great video and topic btw

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you! Here is the video with results! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6qyoYivqNhmicU Let me know how you did! :)

[@KF1]

@@Dr.CansClinic thanks. I guess I did okay. Pos1 correct, buried piece Pos2 correct, activity and central control Pos3 incorrect, not a draw Pos4 correct, great knight Pos5 incorrect, black has insufficient compensation rather than a forcing attack. Fun videos. For more background info, my bullet rating is 1400. 1700 blitz and 1800 puzzles on lichess. Thanks for making these!

[@ketelelomandozi4552]

In short. The test was so fast that i did not see anything.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks for the honest feedback! It is even more impressive how GM's were still accurate in the original study within 5 seconds.

[@CBJrocks]

1)B 2)W 3)= 4)W 5)B 6)B 7)W 8)= 9)W 10)B Lichess Blitz:1550

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your comment! For some reason your comment went to the spam folder... Please check this follow-up video for the solutions! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6qyoYivqNhmicU

[@chessfan6]

I am 1900 rapid. 1) +1 2) 0.0 3) -1 4) +.5 5) +2 6) +.2 7) 0.0 8) -.9 9) +.1 10) +.9

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your comment! For some reason your comment went to the spam folder... Please check this follow-up video for the solutions! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6qyoYivqNhmicU

[@franciscoreveles9678]

1. w slightly better 2. equal 3. w much better 4. equal 5. w better 6. equal 7. equal 8. black slightly better 9. w slightly better 10. w slightly better 1642 lichess rapid

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your participation!

[@ralphwiggers7064]

Rapid 1300 and Blitz 500 My answers are 1.draw 2.w 3.w 4.b 5.draw 6.b 7.draw 8.b 9.b 10.draw

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for participating! Here is the followup video where you can see the results and see how well you did: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6qyoYivqNhmicU

[@ThisIsTango2]

Rating: 730 1. -1 2. +1.5 3. +3 4. +1 5. Even 6. +1 7. Even 8. -2 9. +1.5 10. -1

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks for the feedback. Please check the followup video for results! ☺️

[@trias418]

lichess 1500 blitz 1) equal 2) white moderately better 3) black slightly better 4) black moderatly better 5) white slightly better 6) black moderately better 7) equal 8) equal 9) white moderately better 10) white slightly better I feel like I was basically guessing at all of them and wouldn't be confident at all

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your comment!

[@Meelenko]

What ever you do, you MUST eliminate the airplane rotors noise 🙂 This tiny thing is really holding the video back.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks for the feedback, I am aware of this problem and will surely fix it asap.

[@layman6411]

Rapid 1300 1. W 2. W 3. B 4. B 5. W 6. W 7. = 8. B 9. B 10. =

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks! You can check your answers by pressing the link on the video description.

[@jorgemonasterio8361]

This was really hard for me. 1. I am -1 2. I am + 1 3. I am + 3 4. I am -1 5. I am +2 6. I am -2 7. Even 8. Could not evaluate 9. I am -1 10. Could not evaluate

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for trying! What was your rating?

[@jorgemonasterio8361]

@@Dr.CansClinic bullet 1800 lichess. 1600 uscf

[@koumbamounguenguijoseevrar214]

My intuition are 1.equal 2.white better 3.white better 4.equal 5.white better 6.black better 7. Equal 8.equal 9. White better 10. White better Fide rating 1940 elo

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks a lot for your response!

[@buk0100]

This was the most frustuating thing that ive ever done in my life. Couldnt find a dam tactic in 5 seconds. Im just too old. Blitz 1904 (375 games), Rapid 2181? (16 games) on Lichess. 1) W slightly better 2) W slightly better 3) W clearly better 4) B clearly better 5) W slightly better 6) W slightly better 7) W clearly better 8) B clearly better 9) B clearly better 10) W clearly better

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your comment. The point was not to find a tactic - 5 seconds would be too short for that - but to come up with a snap evaluation using your gut feeling :)

[@AgentSmith-w8s]

My intuition is just fine,i know a good chess channel when i see it...

[@Dr.CansClinic]

❤️

[@thechessambassador3961]

1. w 2. w 3. b 4. b 5. w 6. w 7. = 8. w 9. b 10. w I am 1800+ USCF

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your comment! For some reason your comment went to the spam folder... Please check this follow-up video for the solutions! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6qyoYivqNhmicU

[@jonmcclenahan8379]

1500 player = - - + + - + = - - Probably got them all wrong. I suck at blitz.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you!

[@lukastux3024]

Can someone post the solution?

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Please click on the link on the description to see the video with solutions.

[@hillexallen]

My rapid rating is currently 879. I had: White White Black Black White White White Black White White

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you!

[@pejman_hf]

What happened to my comment? I did the tests and wanted to compare it with others. But now I see it's deleted? Why?

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Hello! I did not delete your comment :) Thank you for your participation anyways. You are welcome to send it again, although the video with the results has been already recorded and published soon.

[@MrHoggReads]

I can't find my comment either. I think KZbin just had an awful comment system. :(

[@dudemcgyverson]

1 equal 2 better for white 3 white is winning 4 black is better 5 black is better 6 white is slightly better 7 white is better 8 equal 9 white is better 10 black is slightly better

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you! Please check the follow up video for the answers :) It is on the video description.

[@shikaru1730]

1.white 2.white 3.black 4.black 5.white 6.white 7.black 8.black 9.white 10.white, how'd I do?

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for answering! Could you also give me your otb or online rating? I will make a separate video with answers!

[@ahmadkidwai3141]

Not enough time to have a look at entire board

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Fair enough...

[@jeremiahreilly9739]

Unrated. Inexperienced. But data is data. + equals slightly better. ++ equals significantly better. = equals balanced. 1. W+ 2. W++ 3. W+ 4. = 5- B+ 6. B+ 7. W+ 8. B+ 9. W+ 10. W+ I found this experiment extremely difficult. I did it thinking that I will look at it again after a year of study/play and see if my perceptions have changed. (My experiment.)

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for taking your time and participating! It is a great idea if you check after a year. 5 seconds is extremely short indeed... Please check my followup video to see your results! It is on the video description of this first video.

[@eschiedler]

Late comment 1 W 2 W 3 W 4 B 5 W 6 B 7 B 8 W 9 W 10 W

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your comment. The video on results is already published and you can check your results there: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6qyoYivqNhmicU

[@wmmlynn]

w w w b b b w w w b in that oder is better off

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you! What was your rating?

[@wmmlynn]

@@Dr.CansClinicI do not have a rating

[@wmmlynn]

@@Dr.CansClinicmy lichess puzzle rating is 1830 but I have not played enough rated online games to have a rating and have never competed in an over the board tournament