Chess Decision Making Process
(1) Evaluate
● Has the opponent’s move changed the position? Was the move a threat or a mistake?
● Tactical Evaluation
○ Consider the following first: Checks, Captures, & Threats. ( Intuition)
○ Tactics are possible if one of the following exist:
Undefended pieces Exposed King Overworked pieces Forkable pieces
Pin or skewer Weak back rank Development lead Restricted pieces
○ Exposed king means he is vulnerable to c hecks or m ating threats.
○ Tactical motifs and how to spot them
■ Magnet (decoy): Attract king to desired square
■ Removing the guard: Target pieces that guard multiple pieces
■ Discovered attack: Your pieces are in line with enemy pieces
■ Gain of Tempo: You can attack the enemy piece while making yours better
■ Fork (Double Attack): Knight forks enemy pieces on same color squares
■ Pin (& Skewer): E
nemy pieces are on same line. Powerful if king is involved.
■ Others: Pawn promotion, stalemate, zugzwang, counter-play, lifeline.
○ Acronyms: FLU POWER for tactical evaluation & D iRe MaTe PiFoO for tactical motifs.
● Positional Evaluation
○ Steinitz’s Elements:
Material Advtg. Bad king pos. Passed pawns Weak pawns Squares (S&W)
Pawn islands Diag. control File control Rank control Bishop pair
Pawn center (S) S = Strong W = Weak Weak pawns = Opponent’s
Temporary Advs. Bad piece position Advantage in development
Centralization Space advantage Inharmoniously placed pieces
● Select 2 to 4 candidate moves accordingly
○ Be aware of the lines that open up on each move, esp. for long range pieces.
○ Consider the checks (or mate threats) that follow once you make a move. New
avenues might open up for tactics.
(2) Calculate
● Calculate candidate moves with most forcing variations first
● Do a b lunder check
○ Are you making a m istake?
○ Does the opponent have a good i n-between move (zwischenzug)?
○ Does the opponent have counter-play, losing the initiative for you?
● Evaluate position again at the end of variation!
○ You must be at least slightly better, better, or clearly winning!
● Play your move!
