The key to right calculation in chess
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[00:00:00] Hey, and welcome back to Next Level Chess podcast. I'm your host, Grandmaster Noël Studer, and as always, I'll talk about a chess improvement topic on this podcast. Today, it will be calculation and just a short caveat before I get into it, this is an episode that I also wrote an article about, and I published a YouTube video, and as calculation is something very visual, so it's good to see a board and actually see what's happening.

I highly recommend after listening to this podcast, then going to check out the YouTube video because it will just explain everything more clearly with examples where you have five test positions where you can immediately try to apply what I'm teaching you right here. So that will be super, super useful.

But I still believe that you can get a lot out of just listening to this, getting kind of the idea of calculation. And then as always, you have to implement it [00:01:00] yourself. And this way you can get better at it and actually learn how to calculate properly, or let's say use these two important tips. It's not a step-by-step calculation method, but it's more like two important key tips to calculate better.

And so let's talk about calculating. Calculating a line from start to finish is really one of the hardest things in chess and especially in today's world because while there's so much influence, so much things trying to distract us, so focusing on one thing for a prolonged amount of time, it's really getting difficult.

However, there are some players and especially younger, top grand masters that seem to be able to go down a line nearly effortlessly. So I've been in training camps with players that were just so much stronger than me in calculation. And the main thing I was really impressed with is just the kind of [00:02:00] breathe they, it seems to them to calculate.

It's like talking their mother tongue. And beside tons of practice. Just a lot of work to get there. And some natural talent. There is really one thing that matters the most, which is being able to continue, align even when there is an obstacle, when something gets hard, when it gets confusing.

That's really the key thing, because most of us, you will probably realize that this happens with you as well. So when you go down the line and something is unclear or you find the move from your opponent that you're not super sure about, or whatever happens, that kind of is not super easy, we tend to jump around. And this is what, for example, in meditation, gets called the monkey mind and a lot of people suffer from this.

Me, definitely included because when we look at a position, [00:03:00] basically how we do it, how the average chess player, but average is not even right because, I'm myself, I'm a grandmaster and I know a lot of friends that have the same problems that are grandmasters.

That we look at a position, we see a move, we calculate it a little bit. Then we see another move and we say, oh, this looks actually more interesting. Then we see a third move and we sing, oh, then no, no, no, this actually looks interesting. And then maybe we see a fancy sacrifice and, oh, this looks interesting.

And then maybe we jump back to the first line because we think, oh, no, actually this could have worked. And maybe, we think about the groceries or a discussion we had or something we need to do for work. There's so many things going on and this is just making calculation extremely overwhelming and difficult.

And I think that's why a lot of adult improvers especially have that feeling like, ah, I'm just bad at the calculation, or It is not for me. My brain is not ready for that anymore. But I think it's just a normal thing that happens if we're not trained. I find meditation really to [00:04:00] be a good example because meditation, from my experience at least, is also difficult in a sense that if I try to just sit down and focus on my breath, my brain will go everywhere.

Because it's just an untrained mind. And in chess, it's the same. If you are not specifically training for proper step-by-step calculation, your brain will tend to do different things. And one of the main reasons for that is that, in general, you have to think of our mind of our body, of our brain as lazy.

So, whenever we face something that has a little resistance, that is a little bit difficult or brain doesn't want to push through it. Our mind doesn't want to push through it, but instead just find something else. Find something else. Find something else. Now, that might avoid the difficulty in the moment, but the problem is the outcome is very bad.

We're not calculating a line until the end. At the end of the day, how do we do decisions? Well, we look at four or five things. We're not really sure. [00:05:00] We just play something we haven't fully calculated. Boom, we hang a piece, we lose the game. Super frustrating. So that's super important to get from the basis of, it's not like you are bad or you are stupid or you can't do that, but just like, okay, you have an untrained mind and our mind is generally quite lazy, so it doesn't want to push through hard things.

And so as a habit, if we don't train or calculation, if we don't train sticking to one line, we don't do it. We just jump around and that's our natural tendencies.

And by the way, this doesn't happen only in chess. I'm sure you've noticed that in many other parts of life. Like for me, for example, is when I'm writing. If I get to a point where I'm not sure what the next sentence is or maybe I don't like a sentence, then generally I get distracted. I can check my emails, I can do something else, maybe check some analytics, whatever.

I jump around because the brain doesn't want to do this difficult task, and so if I don't force myself, if I don't have [00:06:00] the habit of actually doing it, I'm just jumping around and then maybe 20 minutes later I'm like, oh my God, I lost myself. I'm somewhere watching shorts on YouTube. I need to get back to actually doing the difficult task because let's be honest, the only way to actually do it is to push through it.

So that's very important. So the goal is we want to be able to calculate the line from start to finish. The problem is it's hard and our brain doesn't want to do it, and the solution is as always, pretty simple, but not easy, which is learning to push through that difficulty and to stick with a line until you get clarity.

Once you get clarity, either this clarity is good for you and then you just play that move or that clarity is not enough. So you go to the second line, do the same process, compare the two clarity, like, okay, this was much better. This is only slightly better. Then I take the much better version and I play that move.

And if you're unsatisfied or is unclear, you just do it with as [00:07:00] many moves as possible till you get a conclusion. You pick the best move.

So back to these training camps I was talking about, I was training with some grandmasters that were way better than me, and I really mean way better than me at this. For example, well, this was not a training camp, but I remember an instance where I was at the Grand Chess Open and there was Alireza Firouzja and I was talking to him and we were looking at some games that were going on.

We both finished our games. And there were some other grandmasters as well, and Alireza would discuss some of the positions. And I have to be honest, I didn't understand half of what he was saying because his lines were so quick until a moment that my mind was just not ready for that speed of calculation.

So it's very impressive when you meet someone that just has this clarity of calculation. But actually back to the training camps that I've trained online with some other grandmasters and I trained in a training camp with Jacob [00:08:00] Aagard and Ramesh RB. In my opinion, those are really two of the best, if not the best coaches to train calculation, short caveat for very strong players that that's my opinion.

So for someone like me, that was really just amazing. And when being in these training camps, and again, it's like interna, a range from international masters to 2700 grandmasters. You could feel that there is a big difference between who calculated very well and who was more, I would say like me, like decent calculation and then quite some feeling and hope as well included.

And the biggest difference was really that the people that were way stronger have just way more experience at doing this calculation the right way, which is just forcing yourself to sit there to work through a position. And to get to the end of the line and not to stop when something difficult [00:09:00] happens.

And one session specifically I remember was with Ramesh, when he put a position on the projector and we saw it for like a minute and then he took it away. We didn't have it on our boards. And then we would just sit in the lobby for like 45 to 60 minutes. And discussed this position. It was a very, very complex position with many difficult lines to find, and so someone would just suggest a line.

Everybody would try to think along and give suggestions, and Ramesh would kind of play against us and force us to continue. And this is really like brain breaking for me because I haven't done it a lot. And for some people it was much more natural.

And that's just what, for example, so many young Indian grandmasters are very, very, very strong tactically. And one of the big reasons in my opinion is also that because they are used from a young age to do this, to go through adversity, to calculate [00:10:00] until they have a solution and not to be lazy and jump around.

And I feel like I would say mostly Western European grandmasters are much less used to this kind of more robotic way of training. And so when you're not used to it, then you're not as good at it. Then everything feels hard. And then you're again back to Hope Chess. Now I've talked a lot about grandmasters and very difficult calculation exercises, but I feel it's the same happens and the same applies to amateur training as well .

No, you don't have to go to now Aagard or Ramesh or take one of their books. They write amazing books, by the way, but just for the right audience. So if you're not pushing to get a title in over the board, chess, maybe those books aren't for you. So what is the solution for you guys listening?

To this? Well, it's using the [00:11:00] same kind of idea that whenever you sit down and you see a line, you only stop that line when you have clarity on the line. And that can take time. That can be difficult. And if you can't arrive at clarity, maybe the line is too hard. But you want to get some kind of resolution before you jump around.

And just as in meditation, it'll be totally normal that your brain jumps. What is the solution in meditation? In meditation, a lot of time what I hear is just like, okay, bring your mind back to focusing on your breath, for example, if you do meditation that focuses on the breath. And so in chess is the same.

You try to calculate the line. Let's say line A, your brain jumps to B-C-D-E-F. You don't get upset. You don't say, oh, I'm so bad. I'm so stupid. No, the only thing you're saying, oh. I got aware I was jumping around, [00:12:00] let's move back to line A. Let's see if I can calculate it until a point where I can evaluate it so that I have clarity and then I can move on.

That's the only thing you can do for this. And when you do it in different positions, it can actually be that you tend to calculate much less. And get to a better conclusion quicker because you're focusing on a line that matters. You go until the end, boom, you have resolution, maybe you even found the right line.

That's it already. So it can actually, at the end of the day, nearly take less effort. But it just takes that discipline and that coming back to this one line. And now a lot of people might ask themselves, well, which line am I starting with? And I was saying that I have two tips for calculation.

So the first step is: work on starting a line and then finishing that line. Whenever you start a line, you only focus on that one. You finish it, you get [00:13:00] to an evaluation. The second tip I have is, which line do you choose first? Choose the line that is most forced as a first thing. If you combine these two things, it can really be that you might have to calculate much less than you're doing right now.

To get to a conclusion in a especially tactical, difficult kind of position, because when you pick the line that is the most forced, the most concrete, what that means is that your opponent has least options, or let's say logical, good options. One of the best examples for that is you're picking a line where you give a check and there is only one legal move that is, by definition, the most forced line possible because your opponent is literally forced to make that one single move.

So if you have a line that is check, check, check, and checkmate, if you have the habit of not stopping after one check and jumping [00:14:00] around. But actually seeing the three checks and then checkmate, it can feel pretty easy to get to the end of the line. 'cause again, you give a check, your opponent has one move.

You again look for what is the most forced line. Ah, a check. Your opponent has one move, you give another check. Your opponent have one move and maybe you have checkmate over there. So the branch doesn't get as big as possible. So whenever you have to decide what you're calculating, first you pick what is most forced, or in other words, what gives your opponent least responses.

We can talk about legal responses or like responses that are actually critical. So if you capture queen, then just a random move on the queen side that is pushing upon is probably not going to be something you have to calculate. Probably they have either to do some kind of strong, intermediate threat.

A check or recapture the queen. That's what is going on. So the more forced this line is, and then you go until the end, the easier or isn't. I don't like using the word [00:15:00] easy, the simpler it is. And when you train yourself often enough to do it this way, it can start to feel easier than it is right now.

That's probably the better way because usually you have to push yourself. You have to do something hard, you have to do something exhausting. You have to go against your own habit of jumping around your brain, just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Your mind is not trained. Your, you have a probably like me, a little bit of a monkey mind, and that's okay.

We have to accept that and to train it to slowly, slowly get better by using these two tips. First go for the most forced line possible. And second, once you go for that line, go until the end, evaluate it, and only then go to the next one. And that's two tips to calculate. Much better.