Strategy Examples in Click-Storm Action Chess. Part 15

To think like a real master

It's time for training a skill, nope, better art of thinking in Action Chess. So, let us delve into there.

Phase 1: clear your mind.

The first thing to do is to clean your mind of all thoughts. Then, as you realize that it doesn't work since you need your brain to read the words on this page, pass on the second phase.

Phase 2: find a purpose.

Every move made by a master has a purpose (except those that do not have it). Here are the positions of the played games, moves, and hidden ideas of each. Think of not specific moves, but of the thinking process leading to a choice between them. Don't worry if something is unclear; once you become a master, you will understand everything.

Example 1:

Take a minute to analyze the position. Both sides are nearly materially equal; the black has one extra pawn. That's why the initial purpose of the white is to restore the balance. If you have read the previous parts of this guide, you may easily guess what comes next:

The feint. We've seen it before. The black's got a choice: move his pawn forward or capture the proffered pawn. Anyway, the white takes the pawn f by a bishop. Suppose the black moves his pawn.

Now be attentive. The white king moves on g3 instead of playing there his pawn to defend the bishop. Why not with the pawn? What's the purpose of moving the king? There're two main reasons:

• In action chess, the king is an attacking piece. It's pretty challenging to checkmate the king in the middle of the board, unlike in regular chess as the king may easily dodge from the capturing. That's why the king may be used and must be used as an attacking tool! The black player has already learned this lesson: his king reached the middle of the board.
• In this position, moving the pawn would force the white king to retreat to the previous row instead of keep in attacking position. You don't want your king to retreat without necessity, right?
• From g3, the king may attack the g4 pawn. This may seem ridiculous, as another one on h5 defends the pawn. But the white foresees the possibility of moving the rook on e5 and execute a combination attack on both black pawns by the rook and king.

• The pawn may be moved forward anytime the white king will need to retreat. There's no hurry with the g3 move. It will limit the movement of not only the king but the bishop as well.

Example 2:

Veteran readers will recognize the position from the third part- it is an example of a good opening by the white and awful one by the black. Then we stopped analyzing at the very moment. Now, let's see what does the player of the white pieces think.

If you were playing the white, what moves would you do and why?

Back to the third part, let's recall some attacking abilities of the white. This is the most important one:

Yep, the white is about to execute this combination. But he cannot yet, because the black defends his pawns very good by the knight and king.

The white would wish the knight to move from f6, thus letting the combination be played. What is he supposed to do?

Move the bishop on e5! This move has three purposes:

•     A fake capture of the annoying knight, which prevents the combination. The black may think that the bishop is going a square forward than it is, and dodge the knight. If so, the white immediately execute his winning combination.
•     The bishop attacks the pesky knight. If the black doesn't capture the bishop, it will take the knight giving way for a planned combination.
•     If the black captures the bishop, the white recaptures the pawn.

Now the white proceeds attacking the annoying f6 knight and turn his knight on the splendid square in the middle of the board. The black has no choice- he must retreat by the knight. Then the white unleashes his combination.

You might have thought, "what if the black simply move his rook to the corner preventing the combination by that?". That is true, and if that happens, the purpose of the next moves of the white will be based on forcing the rook to move away, allowing to play the combination. Anyway, this is not the key point in this example. What matters is the thinking process in determining what does the white want and how to make it happen (i.e., force the knight to abandon its defense of the combination).

Tactical puzzle

The solution to it you will see in the next part.

Strategy Examples in Click-Storm Action Chess. Part 16

Other Click-Storm Action Chess content is in the article below:

All Click-Storm Action Chess Information