Visualisation

Hi everyone,

Anybody got any tips to help me visualize better on tactics puzzles that are 4-5 moves deep. Seem to have hit a plateau recently and I think being able to do this should help me progress.

Cheers,

lordgledhill

Originally posted by lordgledhill
Hi everyone,

Anybody got any tips to help me visualize better on tactics puzzles that are 4-5 moves deep. Seem to have hit a plateau recently and I think being able to do this should help me progress.

Cheers,

lordgledhill

Good question and a very important one too!

I still struggle with this sometimes, but what I generally do (if things are getting a bit fuzzy or messy) is take it move-by-move and piece-by piece.

So for example, before moving onto the 2nd move of the puzzle, ensure that you are very clear what the 1st move has changed about the position. If a piece has moved, think to yourself-

a)what squares does it now control/attack and
b)which does it no longer control/attack.

Get this clear in your mind before moving on to the next move/reply.

Do this for each move and each piece involved. It may seem a little long-winded, but generally not all the pieces will be involved. After a while things should become easier.

Remember, the more puzzles you solve/attempt to solve, the more patterns your memory will absorb, and it will make the theme of any future puzzle/game position that much easier.

For example, you'll think to yourself, 'I've seen this kind of position before, I need to remove that bishop, attack this square with my knight, then penetrate with the queen. Which move order is best?
(usually most forcing)-

and then the process I gave above will help you to do this cleanly!

Hope this makes sense and helps : )

Originally posted by streetfighter
Good question and a very important one too!

I still struggle with this sometimes, but what I generally do (if things are getting a bit fuzzy or messy) is take it move-by-move and piece-by piece.

So for example, before moving onto the 2nd move of the puzzle, ensure that you are very clear what the 1st move has changed about the position. If a pie ...[text shortened]... process I gave above will help you to do this cleanly!

Hope this makes sense and helps : )

That seems to be very good advice and is similar to something covered in a book called Improve your Chess Now. Tisdall calls it the stepping stone method. basically getting the new position 2 or 3 moves deep set in your mind before moving forward again.

Also blindfold practice is supposed to have dramatic effects on your ability to visualise.

By the way SF, i'm just coming to the end of the first read through of your book.
Cracking stuff!

Originally posted by Talisman
That seems to be very good advice and is similar to something covered in a book called Improve your Chess Now. Tisdall calls it the stepping stone method. basically getting the new position 2 or 3 moves deep set in your mind before moving forward again.

Also blindfold practice is supposed to have dramatic effects on your ability to visualise.

By the way SF, i'm just coming to the end of the first read through of your book.
Cracking stuff!

Thanks very much Talisman-glad you're enjoying it!

Didn't know about the Tisdall approach to this, but I'm guessing it's a fairly common method!?

I've tried visualising the board straight from the FEN - hard work but possible. That seemed to help. On this site there is a firefox extension from ouroboros to hide the pieces, which I use to practice.

Also, I had a weak chess engine, which displayed the position N moves ago, just to be in the habit of holding a position in your head some moves ahead of the currently displayed position. If you are interested, I will dig out the names.