3 thoughts on “Master The Mindset #3: Some Bread And Butter Chess Thinking”
Waldemar, I’ve often used the term “critical position” used oin chess books and DVD’s. Would you call the “thinking positions” from this game also “critical positions?”
The position in which I had a choice between two wins was critical in sofar as:
1. you must act to grab the win
2. you really want the cleanest and most clear-cut win.
In the game I played suboptimally and the win should have been more problematic.
The position was not critical in the sense that you also read about, namely that a theoretical line or an otherwise normally build up game reaches it strategic high point, when the result of subsequent trade downs or attacks say something about the relative value of a (theoretical) line. In this game black’s play was not logical enough for that.
Also more practically speaking, the critical moments in a chess game are often just before the time control around move 35-40. If you know that, you can manage your game better. You can also say that any time trouble phase is a critical one and that you should stay away from it 😉
Waldemar, I’ve often used the term “critical position” used oin chess books and DVD’s. Would you call the “thinking positions” from this game also “critical positions?”
Hi Greg,
The position in which I had a choice between two wins was critical in sofar as:
1. you must act to grab the win
2. you really want the cleanest and most clear-cut win.
In the game I played suboptimally and the win should have been more problematic.
The position was not critical in the sense that you also read about, namely that a theoretical line or an otherwise normally build up game reaches it strategic high point, when the result of subsequent trade downs or attacks say something about the relative value of a (theoretical) line. In this game black’s play was not logical enough for that.
Also more practically speaking, the critical moments in a chess game are often just before the time control around move 35-40. If you know that, you can manage your game better. You can also say that any time trouble phase is a critical one and that you should stay away from it 😉
I will keep this topic in mind!
Waldemar
Thank you, Waldemar. The difference is understandable now, at least in my mind. 🙂