[Event "Beginner: Curriculum <--- START HERE: Theories on Playing Chess"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/Ztgx3vJq/9mLy1bSq"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/jomega"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Opening "Russian Game: Stafford Gambit"]
[UTCDate "2018.03.31"]
[UTCTime "15:20:22"]
[Variant "Standard"]

{ There are many theories on playing chess well. This is a *huge* topic. There is also controversy among chess teachers how to teach this. One of the issues is the same as in other subjects; should students be taught the material as it historically progressed, or per the latest theories; or both?

Of course some students want their chess teacher or mentor to give them one theory on playing chess well; they are not interested in learning about other theories!

Talk to your mentor about your goals and what approach would be best for you.

The material presented in this course so far is a good start in learning to play chess well. The rules-of-thumb, even though they have many exceptions, are a big help to beginners. The beginning endgame material presented will score many wins. Learning to visualize the attack/defense network and being aware of the tactics is most important.

As an example of one well respected teacher's advice to beginners, consider Jeremy Silman's:

Silman's thinking process for beginners:

1. Develop all your pieces.
2. Use your pawns to gain space.
3. Use other rules-of-thumb for the opening.
4. Pay attention to the tactics.

That's it! Tactics are so important that in Silman's Great Courses "How to Play Chess", he spends the first three chapters teaching the rules and then chapters 4-10 are all basically tactics. Of course Silman talks about other things in those chapters, but the focus is tactics.

As another example, consider this quote from "Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters: Volume 2: Beyond the Basics", by Lev Alburt and Larry Parr.

"... you cannot win games if *you* blunder catastrophically. You can survive awful strategy but not awful tactics. That's the bottom line."

What does Silman say non beginners should do for their thinking process? Here is his recommendation:

Silman's thinking process for non beginners:

1. Figure out the positive and negative imbalances for both sides.

2. Figure out the side of the board you wish to play on (queenside, center, or kingside).

3. Find all the candidate moves that allow your side to make use of a major imbalance, or a series of imbalances. A candidate move should always be directed at your position's imbalances unless you're forced to play a purely defense move.

4. Finally, calculate the candidate moves you've chosen.

Of course to do that you have to know what the "imbalances" in chess are! You have already learned many of them, though we did not call them imbalances.

We will return to the topic of theories on playing chess in the intermediate course.
- } 1. e4 { [Eldin vs. Anderson, 1915] } 1... e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 { A solid defense known as Petrov's Defense. Black counter-attacks immediately.
Both players are fighting for control of the center by occupation with pawns; the King's pawn in this case. This is one of the ideas of the Classical School of Chess. } 3. Nxe5 { Black did not defend his King pawn, so White removes it. Previously in the course, we've already seen the trap that White can spring if Black recaptures immediately. } 3... Nc6 { Not the best because it loses a pawn. Instead, ...d6. } ( 3... Nxe4 4. Qe2 Nf6 $4 ( 4... Qe7 5. Qxe4 d6 { Black gets his Knight back. } ) 5. Nc6+ $18 { Black will lose his Queen for a Knight. } ) ( 3... d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 { Black has recaptured so material is now equal. } ) 4. Nxc6 dxc6 { Black is a pawn down but has open lines.
What are the imbalances? We've studied the five principles of chess, which are common to all the chess theories.
Black is down a pawn, which is part of Force (material). Material is one of Silman's imbalance categories.
Black has a doubled c-pawn. This is a Pawn Structure imbalance; which was one of our five principles and is a Silman imbalance category. Also White's Pawn on e4 gives him slightly better center control than Black's pawn on c6.
Black has better Mobility/Space; another of the five principles that is also a Silman imbalance category.
Black is ahead in development. How did that happen? Because White moved his Knight 3 times to capture Black's Knight that moved once. White lost Time; one of the five principles. Silman has Time captured in his imbalance categories of Development and Initiative. Black has the initiative and plans to keep it by playing actively. Having the initiative basically means to be making threats that cannot be ignored. } 5. d3 { White spends a pawn move to protect e4. } 5... Bc5 { Black is playing for an attack on the King, who is currently in the center.
What would you play as White here? } 6. Bg5 $4 { Losing material at best. White probably thought "Now his Knight cannot move." Silman warns about this kind of thinking. } ( 6. Nc3 { Knights before Bishops, thinks White if he is playing by rules-of-thumb. Unfortunately, tactics are ruling this opening. } 6... Ng4 { Threatening either piece captures on f2 and wins. } 7. Be3 Nxe3 8. fxe3 Bxe3 9. Qe2 Bg5 $17 { Black has his pawn back and his pieces will be active. White has development problems to solve. } ) ( 6. Be2 { Playing this Bishop so as to castle. } 6... Ng4 { White sees he has 2 attackers on g4 while Black has only one defender, so ... } 7. Bxg4 Qh4 { Threatening mate in one (...Qxf2#), and threatening the g4-Bishop. } 8. O-O ( 8. h3 $4 { Protecting the Bishop. White should have looked at all Black's checks. } 8... Qxf2# ) 8... Bxg4 $16 { Recapturing and attacking the Queen. Objectively, White is better here. However, Black is doing well as he has superior development and a kingside attack. } ) 6... Nxe4 { At this point a red flag should hit White. "Is my opponent really overlooking that I can take his Queen?" It really should not be that hard to see that the Bishop and Knight are attacking f2. Maybe this was a reflexive capture of the Queen. } 7. Bxd8 $4 ( 7. Be3 { Best, though it loses. } 7... Bxe3 8. fxe3 Qh4+ 9. g3 Nxg3 10. hxg3 Qxh1 $19 ) 7... Bxf2+ 8. Ke2 Bg4# { Black's dynamic and active play, and, above all, superior tactics, won the game. } *