Article: How Your Brain Detects Patterns Without Conscious Thought

While pattern recognition's role in chess ability is (or should be) well-known, I still think it's somewhat under-emphasized in actual improvement programs. Perhaps that is because it often operates at an unconscious level ("System 1 thinking" or what we can also call "intuition"), rather than as part of our conscious ("System 2") calcuation process. This recent Scientific American article further illustrates the point of how learning actually does take place on an unconscious level:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-your-brain-detects-patterns-without-conscious-thought/

This may also affect our perceptions of "plateauing" at chess (or any other skill), since the phenomenon described in the article implies that our conscious "library" of patterns will grow more slowly than the unconscious one.

Specific to the role of intuition in chess, I think Carlsen's quote on his thinking process in "How Carlsen Makes Us Feel Better About Chess" is still very relevant.

Book completed: Trouble Is My Business

 

From the story "Red Wind" in Trouble Is My Business by Raymond Chandler:

We were almost at my door. I jammed the key in and shook the lock around and heaved the door inward. I reached in far enough to switch lights on. She went in past me like a wave. Sandalwood floated on the air, very faint.

I shut the door, threw my hat into a chair and watched her stroll over to a card table on which I had a chess problem set out that I couldn’t solve. Once inside, with the door locked, her panic had left her.

“So you’re a chess player,” she said, in that guarded tone, as if she had come to look at my etchings. I wished she had.

Calculation is not enough

The following game was included in Attacking Strategies for Club Players by GM Michael Prusikin, which I'm currently working through during lunch hours at work (when I can take them, that is.) While calculation obviously played a large part in this tactical masterpiece, the final winning idea by Black (GM Eduard Gufeld) is something that I certainly never would even have begun to calculate when trying to generate candidate moves. This highlighted the insight that calculation is not enough - one has to first have the necessary ideas in mind, then recognize that the position in front of you may allow them to work. (The related training quote of the day #47 is relevant as well.)

In this case the sequence beginning on move 24, which uses the concepts of clearance and deflection sacrifices, is particularly striking. The necessary move of simply hanging your bishop (move 25) is highly unlikely to occur to anyone employing a "brute force" type of thought process. Understanding that this move will both clear the 8th rank for the queen and divert the protection of the c4 square are both necessary ideas. Clearance sacrifices in particular I think are a sign of mastery, and I expect will be a separate topic in the future.

[Event "URS-ch41 Semifinal"] [Site "Kirovabad"] [Date "1973.06.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bagirov, Vladimir"] [Black "Gufeld, Eduard"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E84"] [PlyCount "64"] [GameId "270424022216"] [EventDate "1973.06.06"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "URS"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2009"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2008.11.26"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2008.11.26"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 Nf6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Nge2 Rb8 8. Qd2 a6 9. Bh6 b5 10. h4 e5 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. h5 Kh8 13. Nd5 bxc4 14. hxg6 fxg6 15. Qh6 Nh5 16. g4 Rxb2 17. gxh5 g5 18. Rg1 g4 19. O-O-O Rxa2 20. Nef4 exf4 21. Nxf4 Rxf4 22. Qxf4 c3 23. Bc4 Ra3 24. fxg4 Nb4 25. Kb1 Be6 26. Bxe6 Nd3 27. Qf7 Qb8+ 28. Bb3 Rxb3+ 29. Kc2 Nb4+ 30. Kxb3 Nd5+ 31. Kc2 Qb2+ 32. Kd3 Qb5+ 0-1

Book completed: The Colle System (12th edition) by George Koltanowski

 

I recently completed The Colle System (12th edition, 1990) by GM (honorary) George Koltanowski. As the quote from its first lesson may indicate, this is more of an old school book on openings than a modern treatment of theory. As such, it was more entertaining and also had some more general chess-related observations, which I found both useful and refreshing. The intended audience is specifically improving club players.

Here's a sample game included in the book, which also illustrates the standard Colle System setup by move 6.

[Event "Sitges"] [Site "Sitges"] [Date "1934.06.05"] [Round "13"] [White "Koltanowski, George"] [Black "Domenech, Rafael"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D05"] [PlyCount "47"] [GameId "272191622851"] [EventDate "1934.??.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "ESP"] [SourceTitle "EXT 1999"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1998.11.16"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "1998.11.16"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. Qe2 O-O 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. e4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Bd7 12. O-O Rc8 13. Bf4 f5 14. Bc2 Qf6 15. Rad1 Rfd8 16. Bg5 Qf7 17. Bxd8 Rxd8 18. b4 Bb6 19. b5 Nb8 20. Ne5 Qf6 21. Bb3 Bc8 22. Rxd8+ Bxd8 23. Qc4 Qxe5 24. Qxc8 1-0

The content outline, as presented in the book:

Here are some summary observations. As a 90-page book, I think it's a good investment in chess learning, especially if you have any interest in the Colle System.

Positives:

• Koltanowski played the opening himself a great deal, against players of all strengths; annotated games of his are included from tournament play against top-level GMs like Paul Keres, from master tournaments, and from simultaneous exhibitions. This gives a better feel for the range of play in the opening structures and not just the theoretical best.
• Similarly, a range of other famous masters' games in the Colle are included, which may surprise modern readers who think of it as just for club players.
• As mentioned above, it's not just about opening play. Koltanowski on the second page of lesson one, before getting past move two, presents the ideal endgame pawn structure as one of the main goals of the opening. He also emphasizes the value of endgame training multiple times.
• Koltanowski does not over-promise success with the Colle, but shows how it can be used as a reasonably safe choice that also has a lot of attacking potential. Many examples bring this point home in the middlegame.
• The Colle is not in fact presented as a "system" opening, with Koltanowski advocating for varying from the basic setup in several instances, for example when Black brings his light-square bishop out early, or plays in King's Indian Defense style.

Negatives:

• The 12th edition (algebraic) appears to have been converted from descriptive notation by some sort of automatic process; otherwise, I have a hard time explaining the occasional game score errors where (for example) it's clearly meant Nf6 instead of Nf3 - the original must have been N-KB3. This happens several times, along with some other typos.
• The material is useful to see but not particularly well-organized, so trying to find (for example) the author's best recommendation for a particular line or position will be difficult.
• The level of annotations is uneven and is occasionally too brief, I would say, for the club player audience. That said, requiring active engagement with the material (after for example "and now White wins" without further explanation) is not in itself a bad thing for the learning process.
• One example of the Colle-Zukertort setup is given early on, but then is ignored. This is the reverse of the modern preference and practice of the setups (playing b3 in the Colle-Zukertort instead of c3). 

Training quote of the day #48: George Koltanowski

 From lesson one of The Colle System (12th edition) by GM (honorary) George Koltanowski:

Experience has proven that once you know one opening thoroughly in all its strong and weak points, all other openings become much easier to understand and play correctly. Thus when you once have a good understanding of the Colle, with practical experience in playing it, you will be able to switch to any other opening with success. In chess, as in any other game in which you wish to advance, it is practice that counts. Many will tell you that the Colle System is very tame and does not give White maximum chances. Well, they are right in a way. The Colle is tame . . . only at the same time it does not permit your opponent to spring any opening surprises. The Colle does not let your opponent make the slightest mistake without his getting a serious positional disadvantage. The Colle also gives you excellent end game chances, and this, together with a safe, sound opening, gives you more chances in general. Don't forget that, as an average player, you must also be able to gain an advantage over players of your own ability.