The One Critical Step You’re Ignoring in Chess Calculation (That’s Holding You Back!)

[@samuelsiltanen4949]

In the homework position, there is a checkmate coming either with axb3# or Qxb3#, so the only hope seems to be some kind of a stalemate. Our king and knight are immobile and so are our pawns, except the h-pawn. So the goal would be to get rid of the queen and the h-pawn moves (either eliminate or block the pawn) with checks. After that, the calculation is easy. The h-pawn check is simplest to achieve on g7, so: 1. Qg7+ Kxg7 2. h6+ and no matter where the king moves, it is a stalemate.

[@TheRocking789]

Great observation

[@TheRocking789]

GM level thinking

[@samuelsiltanen4949]

@@TheRocking789 Thanks for the compliments, but it's nothing special. Just following Dr. Can's goal setting process.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

You are a GRRREAT player Sam! Thanks.

[@billyfarrington374]

Found it through pretty much the same process of thinking, and I agree with you - nothing special. I enjoy how Dr Can teaches skills that you must learn to apply and not just moves to memorize.

[@bmarrimarri7055]

HW Goal: To save the completely losing position and clinch a draw somehow Then you would notice that white pieces do not have a lot of moves Signalling stalemate possibilities Ans:- Qg7+-Kxg7 h6+ (Wherever black moves the king Results in an immediate draw by stalemate) Thank you Mr Can For all your instructive content and fascinating positions

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Loving it, thank you!

[@FreeDom-tn3ce]

Great

[@loveeagle4766]

your way of understanding chess helped me a lot ! thanks dr.can!!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

That is amazing to hear, thank you so much!!

[@davidmchugh7264]

Very good examples for learning 😊

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you! 😃

[@eL-K97]

Excellent lesson as usual! For the homework, we are clearly playing for a draw since we don't see a forced win (checkmate). We can see that our king has no legal moves, and almost all our pieces/pawns cannot move as well. This orients us to look for stalemate resources and since only our queen and h pawn can currently move, it becomes easy to spot Qg7+ followed by h6+, resulting in a forced stalemate.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Wonderful, thank you so much!

[@henockpeterhp]

Qg7+ , Kxg7 , h6+..... Stalemate 🔥🔥

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you!

[@ronribman2274]

A week or so ago, I watched your video on Chess Evaluation and came up with a little anagram, KAMP, to remind me of your principles for evaluation: King safety, Activity, Material, Pawn structure. This week I used that anagram and those principles to solve the chess puzzles you presented in your video, "The One Critical Step You're Ignoring In Chess Calculation." And I solved every one of your puzzles, including the homework one! Before I watched your videos I could no more solve such chess puzzles than I could grab hold of rainbows. You are one amazing teacher! Thank you. And thank you again. You have added immeasurably to my enjoyment playing chess.

[@simonvegas793]

Appreciate the reply a lot. I found this one a bit challenging, so am keen to view the Evaluation video you mentioned. Would you mind sharing the title of the video and I'll check it out? Thank you!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIvReXiMq9CBbaM

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Amazing words, thank you so much!! Really glad to have helped your game as well as enjoyment! I would really appreciate if you share the channel so other people know about this free content and they can get similar benefits ☺️ Much appreciated 🙏

[@ronribman2274]

@@simonvegas793 Pleased to be of help. As I told Dr. Can, the video of his I watched was, "Kasparov's Advice If You Struggle with Chess Evaluation."

[@harveyschonwald]

First an excellent dicussion about positional evluation. I have been playing since age 6, sometimes seriously, and this is the best lesson I could have at this time. The KAMP mnemonic is also quite useful, a time saver, etc.

[@your_average_joe5781]

You asked for feedback so here is my honest answer. This was probably the most difficult video for me to work out in my head. My feelings about evaluating the positions were hopeless. I simply don't have a clue about opening the center until I hear you sharing your thoughts out loud 😢 I actually do fairly well with most of your videos but this one... not even close 😭. It's okay though because your thoughts about the positions are helping me to ask the right questions. I actually got the homework position solved ✅ So I will continue to listen to your wonderful thought processes and thank you for making these challenging videos 🙏

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks for your honest feedback. You definitely needed more scaffold for this one, I agree. Hope my explanations provided some support and I managed to show you how masters approach chess calculation. We are not expecting perfection but deeper understanding.

[@FredPlanatia]

@@Dr.CansClinic i can understand the frustration which I also struggle with. I think it stems from not having a good conceptual understanding to evaluate positions. I think a video on this topic: "How do I evaluate positions?" would be a great addition to your wonderful collection. But maybe i have overlooked it and you already have devoted one or more to the topic?

[@giorgiplayz]

You're an amazing coach, thank you for the lesson. God bless.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

❤️ Thank you!

[@fmarthoz]

One of the best videos so far, not having a plan leads to a brute force approach...in many instances there are no useful checks/captures/threats and so many beginners play the "empty threat" or a bad exchange just to feel they are doing something aggressive...but deteriorating their position at the same time.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Such excellent feedback, thank you!

[@ibiwisi]

Top-shelf content, Dr. Can, as usual. I think this video aims at precisely the point where so many beginner/intermediate players get stuck. 99% of the content out there emphasizes tactics and pattern recognition. Most of the positions in this video offered a tempting tactical idea, but of course, that was just a distraction. We need to learn how to "read" the board and then formulate goals and plans appropriate to the position. I love the way you can see a position and almost immediately find the most salient features. From there, it's relatively easy to see goals/plans for both sides, revealing candidate moves at a much deeper level than merely "checks, captures, and threats." Here's a course title for you: "Remedial Reading: How to 'Read' A Position and Find the Best Move Effortlessly"! Thanks as always for your wonderful content, and for your infectious enthusiasm!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Absolutely wonderful feedback Michael, thank you so much!! Yes, experience, pattern accumulation and meaningful storage of chess chunks in our long-term memories is the main factor of this expertise of seeing the gist of the position effortlessly. It is really like reading. While beginners see random letters, experts see whole sentences.

[@brainfellow5140]

Thank you Dr Can! Great video! ❤ 14:03 - made me spit out my drink laughing so hard... that's how I used to shop years ago, waste so much money buying random stuff! 🤣🤣🤣 All seriousness though, I looked at Position #3 and was hellbent on trying to make Rxb5 work and wasn't even looking at the other side because I did the same "checks, captures, forcing moves" cycle. In this case, black king very safe so nothing I looked at on queenside worked... this was a _defensive_ puzzle... Re: Homework - White can draw: Qg7+! Kxg7 (forced) h6+ K (any open square) STALEMATE!

[@SatyaDwivedula]

Excellent video! I got the answer for the homework position almost instantly. This is solely because it came in the form of a puzzle and puzzles are expected to have creative solutions. 1. Qg7+ Kxg7 2. h6+ Kg8 (or any King move) leads to stalemate. If it were in a real game, I am sure that even strong players probably would resign. We get the idea of trying for a draw because it is obviously unwinnable.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent, Satya! If you found it in real game, you would tell it to your grandchildren :)

[@arseniymatviychuk1736]

Thank you, Doctor Can! That’s the content I searched for- not just chess puzzles with forcing moves, but real explanation of what the chess is about. You’re the great teacher, wishing you a great success from Ukraine✌️🇺🇦

[@Dr.CansClinic]

So glad to hear your kind feedback. Lots of love to Ukraine!

[@Sandfox07]

Thank you for the video. I think your channel is greatly underappreciated, I hope you get blessed by the algorithm soon!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for your motivating words 🙏 I would greatly appreciate if you shared the channel so more people know the existence of this free resource.

[@RagnarsAxe1945]

IMHO one of your best lessons. I can study openings and the end game and do puzzles until the "cows come home," but the real challenge (for me) is developing the best plan in unclear positions when the position is complex and there are still many pieces on the board. Often there are several options and choosing the best one requires a deep and accurate calculation and then making the correct evaluation. This is where "the rubber meets the road" for me. These types of lessons, where you periodically stop and ask the viewer to adjudicate positions and then provide answers, are particularly beneficial to learning. Great! Thank you! I found the homework problem to be straight forward given White is one move away from checkmate, but it's a good reminder that stalemate may be your one an only salvation. 😉

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Such humbling feedback, thank you! I will probably make more videos on goal-setting and plan making in the middlegame.

[@AlexFraserMonteiro]

Great content! Reading the board to make a plan that suits the position seems like a lifelong goal. Will focus on this! Thanks :) Nice stalemate on the homework!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

🙏 Great life analogy indeed!

[@jackyouldon9345]

Great episode, thanks Dr. Can! 🤓

[@Dr.CansClinic]

My pleasure! ☺️

[@AgentSmith-w8s]

Dr Can's calculation chessable,buy now you will not regret it.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

❤️ Thank you so much!

[@richardburchfield904]

Great video! Regarding the homework position. Mate is on the board for black so we have to play a check. So Qg7+, Kxg7, h6+ and anywhere the king moves is stalemate.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Beautiful!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

@@jimmorgan1174 That leads to a stalemate!

[@koumbamounguenguijoseevrar214]

Wow wonderful video and so right to the point!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

So glad to hear your kind feedback.

[@tonynorriss379]

Already answered below. But, I saw that as well. Stalemate. The answer required forced checks because otherwise QxN mate was unstoppable and there wasn't time for anything else. Dr Can, this was an excellent video that highlights the problem with puzzle rush etc. It would be good to be able to access more puzzles like this that require a deeper understanding.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent feedback, thanks! That is why in my calculation course there are mixed puzzles where you need to set your goal properly.

[@johnh-lk8lw]

Brilliant!!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you!

[@richardsrensen4219]

thanks for giving me a new lovely word goal setting !! my obervation is that black can chekmate white if he was to move by ,playing Q+b3 . my obervation is that White can only move his Q and the pawn on h5 in this posission my observation is that if i had no pawn moves i could force a draw by playing Qg7 chek and i would be stalemate in next move! så my drawing move is then Qg7 chek and the black king is forced to play K+g7 and now h6 is a chek ! and whites goal is obtaind stalemate in next move !!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent, beautiful! Nice goal-setting there!

[@tarungautam3629]

#Homework_Position There is now way to attack black king and we can't escape from mate only queen and H pawn have legal moves so we can force stalemate by playing Qg7+ kxg7 is forced followed by h6+ then king has to move and we will not have any legal move. #Stalemate

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent, thank you!

[@pollux1131]

This was awesome!! I have liked your videos before; this one made me subscribe! You hit the nail on the head. Most times in the middle game I don’t know how to begin to search for the best move, and rely on blindly looking for threats. So for me; this was genius instruction! Also the HW, the goal is to play for a draw. So Qg7+, Kxg7 is forced, followed by h6+, forcing the king to move, and leaving white with no legal moves on his turn, resulting in stalemate

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Lovely comment, thank you so much for subscribing ❤️ Excellent answer to the hw position.

[@jakobesken731]

good stuff, thx!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Glad you liked it!

[@ibiwisi]

Quick follow-up thought. In the US, we have classes in elementary school for non-native English speakers called ESL, English as a Second Language. You could name the new course "Chess As a Second Language: How to 'Read' a Position and Find the Best Move Effortlessly"

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Absolutely wonderful analogy! I will save it for later!

[@manuelfuentes4509]

Unbelievable fun & instructive lesson once again! HW: Tricky one... Qg7+ and h6+ stalemate phew 🎉.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you!! Excellent answer!

[@GaryWalters-tk2lp]

Loved this lesson, and so many pointers to take onboard. The skill of evaluating the position and then playing to what the position is telling you is a real asset that has taken me a lot of effort to become comfortable with as a beginner as it forces you to calculate and possibly give up material, which I think as beginners we just don't want to do but it's transformed the way I play and although I don't always get it right it has opened up so many oppertunites to find moves that otherwise I would have simply not have considered, very worthwhile making the mental shift, even if it is hard to do. Homework, I dislike what I believe has to be played here but we are threatened with mate in one and have know way of winning therefore we're forced to play Qg7+ Kxg7, h6+ and when the king moves we have stalemate as none of our pieces can legally move, horrid position for white but at least we save a draw

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Lovely feedback, thank you so much! Excellent answer to the hw!

[@KF1]

Position 1: Not sure. I want to crash through on the e-file. So maybe rook h to e1 and... I dunno. - Oh., the d-file afterall. That's a crunchy taco! Position 2: dxe5 seems obvious. With black underdeveloped, white should strike in the center. The next pawn break available to white is fxe5, so we could move the f knight and play f4 as soon as enchilada. - Hooray, got that one. Even saw pitching e6 to open the e file and prevent a blockade. Position 3: g4 and h5 to keep our kingside closed. Too many rooks over there. Let's wrap it up tight like a burrito. - Hooray, 2 for 3 so far! Position 4: we appear to be attacking on the queenside, so axb6, but I don't want to. I want to attack on the kingside. That's a mysterious margarita how to crush the ice. maybe h4, h5 and... I dunno. - Oh, I see. knight maneuver to c4 is very refreshing. Position 5: Attack the d pawn. So bishop a3 to cover b4, then c4. Also knight f3 looks like a good improvement, as well as rook to b1. Maybe we can take a bite out of them. - Oh the other side of the center! Yeah that's a tasty alternative. Homework Position: We are facing mate in 1, so must find something to flash-fry. h6 is too slow and we have no good checks. We cannot move the knight, and cannot defend the knight. Let's resign and go for lunch.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent, beautiful! Thank you so much for your detailed analysis!

[@Ryzilla81]

Homework. Playing for a draw. Qg7+, Kxg7 forced, H6+ once king moves white has no more moves. Stalemate. Love your videos. Seriously helping me a lot.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent! Thank you so much!

[@rolandeauten8798]

Thanks for another great 👍🏼 lesson; I know chess strategy is above tactics, but fail to check overall position and find my objective before I waste time checking endless tactical moves! Did you mention that first we must check our opponent’s threats? In the example, they have QxN mate. I can only delay it by giving check. I can’t win, only draw. Fortunately my K can’t move! Qg7+ works. Their only legal move KxQ allows Ph6+. K must retreat, leaving me no legal move, ie a draw.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you! Yes, we should always check the threat before thinking for our own move. Great solution!

[@fredgandolfi2356]

Finally an instructor that goes beyond checks captures and threats

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Happy to hear this feedback. Perhaps I should make a video about it at some point.

[@Fischer-random]

Brilliant,that's all i need to say.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

🙏 Thank you.

[@davidstrachan8912]

Excellent

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you!

[@sleepykid]

excellent material - great would be to see some sort of priority after king safety in future videos

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you! Usually, after king safety, it is piece activity + material + pawn structure. But reading the board and understanding the imbalance that favors us is the crucial part.

[@roytwinberrow7956]

Thanks Doc, Your videos are like pawns on the 7th rank,.and I am a rook who snaffles them up as soon as they are in front of me.!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Loving that analogy!

[@livingsoilharvest]

Qg7 for the stalemate (after KxQ, h6, and king moves somewhere).

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Great!

[@richardmarcosek1786]

White is facing Mate in one, so stalemate is the only chance here, since White doesn't have a move except with the Queen and the h-pawn. Therefore, White needs to be on the move, and that is the case after Qg7+ Kxg7 (= only move) then h6+ and after the Black King moves - White is stalemated, achieving a draw.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Nicely put, thanks!

[@richardmarcosek1786]

@@Dr.CansClinic You're welcome - thank you for this example, it's very instructive and important. Stalemate and en passant are two instances which are often overlooked. Made me think for a minute or two, because at first I was like, how am I supposed to prevent checkmate on the next move? But then, it hit me. :-))

[@Dr.CansClinic]

@@richardmarcosek1786 👍

[@richardlee-shanok5578]

Another great video! The reverse engineering is so much more efficient than looking at random moves!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Absolutely! Thank you!

[@harry011984]

Qg7+ Kxg7, h6+ K(anywhere) and stalemate

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Nice!

[@roytwinberrow7956]

You asked for suggestions on a possible opening course.The World and his dog are playing the Caro Kan, at the intermediate level.How to play against it as white would be in demand I believe. Thanks as always .

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@greatdanelegend7001]

Homework: what a beautiful position. We are getting checkmated unless our next move is a check. Qg7+Kxg7 h6+ is a beautiful stalemate trap. Since both moves are check, black can't do anything about it. And after the king moves, we have no legal moves. The king is cut off by the rook, the knight is pinned and all pawns are blockaded. It's a draw.

[@greatdanelegend7001]

This is exactly the kind of position where black would accidentally resign out of tilt in an online game lol. How brutal

[@twentyrothmans7308]

You cannot win, you can't get a repetition because e6 is guarded, Qg7+ Kxg7 h6+ K anywhere, no more moves, stalemate. Really good lesson about fighting in the centre.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you, excellent answer!

[@Ryussei0785]

Well... I could not find the HW answer because I only focused my mind on saving the M1 threat... Sorry Doc, I'm still working on improving my understanding of the position. As always, great video, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks for your honest feedback. Step by step we will get better.

[@getnoobed6203]

For the homework position, white cant avoid checkmate and black's king is safe. None of whites pieces can move except for the queen and h pawn. So i think white should play qg7 followed by h6 and no matter where the king moves it's stalemate

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent!

[@EliDollinger]

Good video, you are very skilled at explaining concepts. The answer to the homework is Qg7+, Kxg7, h6+ (stalemate). A question I have is: Do you have an opinion on the books "Move First Think Later" by Willie Hendriks and "How to Reassess Your Chess" by Jeremy Silman. Their approaches to positions appear to be diametrically opposite. Is one of the approaches wrong or are the approaches more similar than they appear?

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you Eli. Your question probably deserves a future video, perhaps even a podcast episode. But briefly, Hendriks preaches intuition & pattern recognition and questions structured/rigid approaches. But I think beginners would benefit more from Silman. Their patterns are not established yet and their intuition sucks. They need more logical/means to an end breakdowns that can help them navigate the chess jungle. Even checklists can be useful for beginners for this very reason. With experience, checklists will become redundant.

[@sirenbrian]

Cool video, but I'm curious if there's a defined list of goals we should learn to recognize? In this video you showed examples of a king in the center (goal: break open the center), opposite castled kings (goal: shutdown incoming pawn storm), doing a pawn storm (goal: do NOT lock the pawns up or you'll kill your pawn storm), and finally building a strong center. Does that cover most of what we need, or are there others? It seems like the ability to set goals relies on knowing a lot of lower levels things and knowing what they imply when seen in groups, and knowing which ones are more important than others.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you. There are hundreds more probably :) Perhaps one day I can create a course about it. In my calculation course, I lay around 27 of those goals (mini-plans) and explain them before testing them in mixed format. It is about prioritization too, that is why chess is difficult. Which goal is the most important to achieve right now?

[@davidbatchelder85]

Qg7 check, Kx g7 h6 check, stalemate

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Great!

[@ishanlai520]

Queen to G7 check? King is forced to take G7 and then H6 check resulting in a draw?

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent!

[@davidbatchelder85]

good way to peel back the onion, the next level. I was or still am on the checks, captures threats. So I guess I have to step up, here we go

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you! Yes, your understanding will deepen over time. Hope I managed to break it down nicely.

[@RaymondLuchinde]

Qg7,Kg7,h6

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Indeed!

[@ronribman2274]

Sure, Dr. Can. It was "Kasparov's Advice If You Struggle with Chess Evaluation."

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Absolutely!

[@rotatingmind]

The problem of lower ranked player is that they lack the knowledge of making useful plans that are actually feasible.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Indeed. That is why we need to build those patterns and chunks. Chess expertise is mostly due to patterns stored in our long-term memories.

[@onlyonetruth1026]

Qg7+

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Yes!

[@cassflacko]

Can you covee the Nimzo Indian from black please

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Perhaps one day. I never played it in my life.

[@cassflacko]

@@Dr.CansClinic understandable sir mr Can

[@RMF49]

#1 Don’t see any good knight discoveries. d5 looks strong. Qxd5 we can pin the queen. Either pawn takes d5 we can play Nxd5 opening up the position and the knight cannot be captured. No further calculation really needed to see this is a good position.

[@RMF49]

#2 Summary: Black is up a pawn. Black’s kingside is undeveloped and is far from castling. Black has a loose rook on b2. We’d like to open lines. dxe then if fxe then we can move the N and play f4. Slow. But if black instead plays dxe we get an open d file but we also let his B out. Don’t see a way to exploit the loose R directly but a simple R to b1 should allow us take over the b file and eliminate the invading R. I would play Rab1 to take over the b file. This approach seems all pluses no drawbacks. Example: 1. Rab1 Qb7 2. Rxb2 Qxb2 3. Rb1 Qa3 4. Rb8+ Or 1. Rab1 Rb6 2. dxe Given more time I’d check further sacrificial lines in the center like dxe fxe Nxe5 but at a glance I don’t see these work. I’d also look more at what black wants to do. I notice he wants to get his kingside out and castle but his N and B are competing for e7.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for this detailed analysis! Great answer to position 1. Position 2 was more tricky. Hope I explained it clearly.

[@RMF49]

@@Dr.CansClinicYes on #2 I guess I overvalued the b file and undervalued the f file but also thought he can play dxe and we get the d file but I didn’t see how the d file was more exploitable than the b file. dxe does give him terrible pawns as a bonus. I also thought I could play dxe any time. This was a hard one.

[@RMF49]

#2 part b First thought was e5 to further open lines. But this gives up f5 to N or B as well as the d5 square. Plus black can play d5 to keep it closed. Nc4 looks like a good move. It improves the N and pressures d6 and threatens Bxd6 followed by Nxd6 forking K and Q. It opens the file to d6 so the a1 R can participate on d1. I also looked at moves that threaten f7 like Qf3 and Qc4 but f7 is defendable by the bishop. Black wants to move Ng3 to get bishop out and castle. I don’t see an easy way to inhibit Ng3 and that does allow black to protect d6 one more time. But we can play Bg3 to open the R and make it hard for black to castle. So Nc4 is what I play.

[@RMF49]

#2 part c I would play e6 forcing Bxe6 and then Rae1.

[@jamesmiles1456]

The homework is an unwinnable position. I'll let stock fish play at as white. There is no winning. I beat Stockfish.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

:)

[@JanJustesen-q9s]

Thank you, Dr. Can You are a grrreat chess teacher! Another prime example of what a good KZbin chess video should look like. Engaging and personal, yet also a professional presentation on a relevant topic, demonstrated with a series of precise and concrete examples. There is a vast amount of educational material available for free online, but very few have the same high level as Dr. Can. I would like to take this opportunity to recommend everyone to purchase his course on Chessable, 'The Art of Exchanging Pieces.' The course has significantly expanded my chess knowledge by investing just a few hours. Please continue your great work!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

I am so humbled to hear your kind feedback, seriously! 🙏 Thank you for recommending the exchanging pieces course too! ☺️

[@jimmccann3856]

Ah Dr., you are a Deep Thinker... But "Orientation" & "Goal Setting" are abstract concepts, and surely it can be boiled down further than than that: "Who is Unhappy in your platoon?" If it is the Lieutenant, that is a Big Problem. If Exposed, Restricted, or Outnumbered, your plan follows. Or if the Top Sergeant is Exposed, she will be the enemy"s logical target. Dr, (or Captain, if I may call you that), all the grunts in your platoon want to be happy, productive, and SAFE: Not Loose, Exposed, Pinned, Functioned, or in unfortunate Geometric patterns. Which takes us all right back to the first question on the first day of kindergarten: "Is everybody Happy?"

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thoughtful comment as always, Jim. Thanks. I am not sure whether all positions in this video can be boiled down to the question "Is everybody happy?" I guess it depends how you define happiness. And I believe you also want to make the opponent's pieces unhappy as your goal :)

[@stonedjunkie2081]

Qg7+ Kxg7 h6+ king moves anywhere and stalemate 😊

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Nice!