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Improving at chess: calculation as a skill

Interesting post, but I - as a much weaker player - must say, that for me it's almost the opposite. Everyone tells me that working on my calculation is the one most important thing to get better. But I think my "pure calculation" skill is way higher than that of my rating peers. When I analyze my lost OTB games it nearly always comes down to not understanding a position well enough, not knowing plans and structures, not seeing typical patterns, therefore draining all my energy from move to move with unnecessary calculations until I'm exhausted and make a mistake. Of course sometimes I'm just missing something in my calculation, but mostly something I can fix by hammering either a tactical or positional pattern into my head.

Maybe what I'm talking about isn't "knowledge" either. But I think generally understanding structures and being able to recognize a lot of patterns over the board seems to be by far the most important thing for me to improve.

Interesting post, but I - as a much weaker player - must say, that for me it's almost the opposite. Everyone tells me that working on my calculation is the one most important thing to get better. But I think my "pure calculation" skill is way higher than that of my rating peers. When I analyze my lost OTB games it nearly always comes down to not understanding a position well enough, not knowing plans and structures, not seeing typical patterns, therefore draining all my energy from move to move with unnecessary calculations until I'm exhausted and make a mistake. Of course sometimes I'm just missing something in my calculation, but mostly something I can fix by hammering either a tactical or positional pattern into my head. Maybe what I'm talking about isn't "knowledge" either. But I think generally understanding structures and being able to recognize a lot of patterns over the board seems to be by far the most important thing for me to improve.

This is a great writeup DaBassie!

This is a great writeup DaBassie!

In Between Move = Zwischenzug (German) ....

1- Zwischenschach = say ... In Between Check (Absolute Zwischenzug, when you attack the King) /

2- Relative Zwischenzug = say ... Relativ In Between Move (when you attack the Queen) /

3- Zwischenzug = say ... In Between Move (when you attack other Pieces ... R+B+N +P).

RIHK1992LWK

In Between Move = Zwischenzug (German) .... 1- Zwischenschach = say ... In Between Check (Absolute Zwischenzug, when you attack the King) / 2- Relative Zwischenzug = say ... Relativ In Between Move (when you attack the Queen) / 3- Zwischenzug = say ... In Between Move (when you attack other Pieces ... R+B+N +P). RIHK1992LWK

It was great to see this as I have just written about having the same frustration. Thank you for sharing your insight on calculation, it is the area that I struggle with the most so what you have outlined here is very useful :)

It was great to see this as I have just written about having the same frustration. Thank you for sharing your insight on calculation, it is the area that I struggle with the most so what you have outlined here is very useful :)