Seeing the problem long before it manifests and laying ambush for it...
Recognizing and removing the weed before it germinates (not that kind, pleeaase - let it grow for I and I).
Prophylaxis; a shiny word for the deepest, coldest, calculated(est) concept
You play your game in your opponent's mind, and if he is any good the battle field will shift between your mind and his often. The game of chess is not played on 64 squares!
We learnt the rules long ago and through work work work. It boils down to 3 simple concepts really:
POSITIONAL ASSESSMENT
PLANNING
CALCULATION
in that order.
If you practice the three well and fastidiously, you will be blessed with a fourth, brilliant combinations, tactical coups that eliminate the obstacle in flash and style. But first:
Positional assessment: this is counting, weighing and comparing.
not the number of pieces you have, no sir! Your assets vs liabilities
- the effectiveness/activity of your pieces in relation to the achievement of your goals (happiness, anyone). sometimes you cannot see a clean relationship between the goal and the effectiveness of your tools, in such cases, the effectiveness of the tools is to be weighed against other factors of your position
- the way in which the pieces you have co-operate. do they help each other? complement each other? like 2 bishops gazing across the two colored board at the hostile kings position... or 2 pawns standing side-by-side to cover 4 central squares. or do they get in each other's way?
- the amount of space you have to manoeuvre. how much lee-way do you have to take decisions and quickly execute plans? are you constrained by factors like lack of cash? necessity to complete mortgage payments? contracts you need to uphold? people you need to please?
- the safety of your king. what things are dearest to you? have you invested in proper safety measures like insurance, remote backup of critical files, communication in relationships, safeguarding your reputation...
- then the numerical strength of your material. how much material weight can you push to achieve your goals?
Now you get to the planning stage. and the questions you would like to ask yourself all come out of the positional assessment's what next beg...
- how well off am I? am i in black or red? stronger or weaker than my opponent (poverty, unhappiness, lack of fulfilment, feeling of inadequacy...)here you need the honest truth. you can lie to everyone else, but at this point it is just the worst thing to say 'i am well', 'i am rich', and all the other assertations. this is the point where you make the fork. left or right? either way is good - if it is the way home (or to school, church, bar, whatever). There is a standing rule in chess: when in an advantageous position, you have the right and the need to attack or risk losing your advantage. When at a disadvantage however, you have to rein in your horse, dig a ditch and defend stoutly, endeavoring to cover up the weaknesses in your position and edge toward neutrality. In a balanced position, you maneuver and actively seek ways of extracting some sort of advantage or at least an imbalance that you can take advantage of.
- Also, at this point you need new answers: if I am stronger, where does my strength lie? where is the weakest position in my opponents board? How do I conduct my attack to increase my grip on the position? When weak, the opposite questions are as important: Where is my biggest weakness? How can the opponent most readily attack me? What can I do to mitigate my weaknesses? Opportunities for counter attack are not far from your thoughts as well
A last word, consistency is a virtue as long as it does not grow to complacence or fear of change. It is a wild game. Come let us play it with zest and energy.
So we lather, rinse, repeat as we master this age old game of ours
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