Counting Material Quickly

If you are in the midst of a chess game, you are very well aware of the material that is on the board. But when analyzing a position presented to you, whether it’s during a break in a tournament or while assessing a chess position in a book, it can be helpful to have a system to quickly count the material that is on the board. This may seem like a minor point, but it can save a second or two of time and reduces the risk that counting material will distract you from more important considerations…

Chess Tactics: Move Transpositions

Training the mind is essential in chess. You must instill all the mental habits that are necessary to ensure that you play at a consistent strength. One area for which training is needed is chess tactics. Chess tactics can be defined as sequences of forcing moves for which your opponent has only one or a few logical responses and any other legal moves will clearly be sub-optimal.