The Story we tell ourselves (part 2)

How to see more tactics in your games

I was watching a game from a teammate of mine in the last season of Lichess 4545 . There was an incredible series of 5 or 6 moves in their game where each new position contained a tactical or strategic idea that got missed. If someone had waved a flag and said “There’s a tactic here” I’m sure my teammate would have started looking for and found the tactics or ideas.

That highlights a problem we face not only in chess but also in life. Apparently when humans think we know the answer our brains like to tell us stories that fit with what we believe. The brain stops looking for a better explanation and accepts this story as truth. Grounding in reality is difficult but critical. We have to be willing to challenge our intuition and beliefs, asking ourselves “What am I missing?”

Same is true in a chess game where one move can go from winning to losing. How can you find tactics in a game? When should you be looking for a tactic? When chess players are in the middle of the game there’s a lot to think about. Calculation is taxing and can lead to fatigue and mental errors. Even great players can miss an obvious tactic as we saw in Game 12 of the World Chess Championship when Nepo played 34…f5?? losing the game.

If that’s the case for the best players in the world, how can mortals like ourselves hope to do better? For that answer I turn to the Chess Steps Method. This method was created by two Dutch chess players to teach children chess, but it works for adults too. Their approach is to get players to look at the characteristics of a position and then look for moves that fit the position. By grounding in reality, you have a chance to stop telling yourself untrue stories and find the tactics that were so hidden before. Let me show you how it can be done.

First look for undefended pieces. Looking for the undefended pieces allows you then to think of double attacks and forks to win material potentially. This step is crucial and so basic that it’s amazingly easy to think you’d never miss it. Here’s example #1. Black to move:

The position is even material, but White has an undefended bishop on b4. Black can win with Qa5+ forking the king and bishop. Easy to spot now but in the game it’s maddeningly easy to miss. You have to look for and identify the undefended pieces each time.

The second thing is to look for pinned pieces. My coach said “A pinned piece is a bad defender.” When you find a pin, see if you can attack it. Example #2 below and again white to move, but this time look for the pin.

I admit this one’s a little harder to see but the Queen on c7 is undefended and x-rayed by the White Queen. That fact makes the pawn on c6 pinned to the Queen and a “bad defender”. White can play cxb5 axb5 Bxb5 winning a pawn and a clear advantage.

Third thing is to look at king safety. Are there any checks and are they useful? What happens after the check? Example #3 with White to move after Black has just played Qa4??

The last move meant the queen was undefended on a4. There are three checks i the position: Qh8+, Qe8+, and Qxc7+. One of the is clearly more useful that the others. White can win here with Qe8+ forcing Rd8 allowing a discovered attack winning the Queen on a4. (Imagine my surprise when I realized I missed my opponent’s tactic.)

Lastly, look for pieces at a knights distance. Getting used to noticing which pieces sit near to each other on similar color squares can help you find the tactic. In this next example, Black is to move. Look for a useful fork.

Looking at the position you see the rooks and the queen are all on the same color squares and all at a knights distance from the c3 square. While the b2 pawn guards that square, it’s pinned to an undefended rook on b1. What do we do with a pinned piece? We attack it! The move Nc3! forks the major pieces, forcing White to give up at least a rook for a knight.

Chess is hard and no doubt it is a challenge. Still, we often make it harder by telling ourselves the wrong stories about the position or the game. Learning to ground yourself in the concrete aspects of the position will make it easier. Start by looking for undefended pieces, pinned pieces, useful checks and, knight forks. If you can do that you’ll find tactics you may have missed before. Once you get proficient there you can add other themes like trappable pieces, potential passed pawns, and more.

The key isn’t being perfect or seeing everything. Rather it’s trying to never miss something as simple as an undefended piece or a check in a position before making a move. Grounding in the characteristics of the position and looking the best move for what’s on the board is what the Steps Method is all about. It will also help you to miss fewer tactics and win more games.

Thanks as always. Next up: My accountability report for April.