Every chess player has a dream to become a chess grandmaster but they must have a thinking system just like grandmasters. Mostly GM thinks in a very sophisticated way.
In this article, you will learn about the Chess Grand Master Thinking and by following them you can really dominate your games. So, without any further delay, let’s discover how you can think like a chess grandmaster.
2 Ways of Grandmaster Thought Process
The thinking process of super grandmasters involves two things:
- Progressive Way of Thinking
- Reciprocal Way of Thinking
- Progressive Thinking of Grandmasters
This is the most common way of thinking of GMs. This way of thinking is applied when GM needs to deal with complicated lines, and complex positions and make the best move on the chessboard. If a player has expertise in this way of thinking, he will play more confidently on the chess board and ultimately improve his games.
Steps of Progressive Thinking
There are 4 steps in the progressive way of thinking in chess;
Let’s discuss them in detail.
1. Study Position
Recognition of chess pawns and configuration of chess pieces is the most basic strategy of chess. Grandmasters have a good command of this technique even before they start their calculations. We are not discussing the position evaluation; we are just focusing on the word position study because, without study, no one will be able to evaluate the chess pieces’ positions. Some key points will be helpful in positional study;
- Must be aware of isolated pawns, doubled pawns, and backward pawns because they are easy target points.
- An uncastled king is unsafe as compared to a castled king. King’s safety is necessary throughout the game.
- Activity of pieces is the most important thing in position study which means the number of squares that are under the control of your pieces. The higher the number, the higher your control over the board.
- If you have great control over your opponent’s pieces, you’ll gain more space which means you can limit your opponent’s movement.
- You must be aware of light squares’ weaknesses and dark squares’ weaknesses that can create hard positions over the squares.
2. Observe Candidate Moves
After studying the position, you will be able to generate creative ideas for piece movements according to candidate movements. If you are bad in position study, you’ll never be able to make a strong move. Grandmasters can create 3 movement ideas after each position study. The best chess player is that who knows how to create attacking positions by checks, capturing, and then attacks. It is not possible that all of your attacks will work, you should move to the next step.
3. Evaluate and Calculate Positions
Now it is time to evaluate and calculate each move and its possible consequences. At the end of each line, you can assess the positions of the pieces by observing different factors such as king safety, pawn structures, etc.
4. Make Your Final Move
If you calculate any move of the candidate and find it positive for you, there should be no hesitation to go with it which shows that your idea is approved. But if you find that idea is not advantageous for you, just skip it.
5. Reciprocal Thinking of Chess Grandmaster
What will you do if your ideas or way of progressive thinking don’t work? Would you like to try them again or try something new? Will you discard those ideas and again start from the first step? There is another way of comprehensive thinking known as reciprocal thinking. It deals with the point of “why”. You need to sit a step back and then figure out the reasons for the failure of your progressive techniques.
Major Parts of the Reciprocal Thinking Process
There are two major parts of Grandmaster reciprocal thinking that you need to follow if you want to adopt the thinking power of GMs.
Final Suggestions
All the details and guidelines explained in this article can help you with some highlighted views from the Chess Grandmaster thinking process. To become and think like a grandmaster, you must be able to understand all the concepts correctly and efficiently to improve your game rating.