6 Thinking Tools \ " - \ [It seems natural to present a position?"; "What strategy of discussion on chess thinking as an problem-solving should I adopt?". opening chapter; but this will only Reflectingon one's thinking process reinforce the conception that may be useful in evaluating one's thinking is THE most important performance. It can be implemented quality of a chess player. Placing it not only to classify, label and direct in the middle of the book expresses the way we think, but also to exam­ the author 's different viewpoint). ine and to recreate it. A beneficial side-effe ct of think­ Ost of our thinking ing on our thinking, is the emerg­ revolves around ence of Meta-knowledge, an external events. It estimation of what we know and M will be wise to what we don't know; a recognition direct some effo rt of the uncertainty of our fo recasts, also towards our the duality of our premises, the internalmental processes. nature and the limitations of our knowledge. I Thinking about our thinking, or Meta-Cognition, refers to questions Examination of a player's think­ like: "How should I tackle this ing habits may lead him to conclude Thinking Tools 63 that he devotes too much attention Moskovitch - Gutzeit to a certain type of thinking, while Jerusalem ch. 1997 neglecting other types; or to realize that in some situations, he would do better to rely upon non-logical methods. We have only one brain, but it is capable of various ways of thinking. The logical way consists of system­ atic gathering of data, analysing it, and drawing conclusions that stem fr om it. The intuitive style tries to reach the truth by sensing "right" and "wrong" by gut feelings . .creative Wh ite to play thinking aspires to invent valuable new solutions, by looking at things from another angle. The psycho­ White's advantage lies in his abil­ logical viewpoint aims at observing ity to organize an attack on Black's the person behind the act, rather dark-square pawns. than behaviour itself. 57 �c3 �c7, or 57 �e3 �e7 fa ils We shall now take a closer look at to achieve immediate gains: If the each of these thinking tools, their black bishop is able to defend his advantages and shortcomings. A pawns, White will not succeed in chess player should master every scoring the fu ll point. one of them, implementing each at The path towards victory suggests the appropriate time. itself: to reach a position in which the black bishop will be overloaded, Logical Thinking unable to fu lfil its defensive duties simultaneously. A triangulation manoeuvre realizes the plan: "Logic" is sometimes interpreted in everyday language as "common 57 �el! �b6 sense". When a player says "it's 57 ...�c7 58 �c3 results In Im- illogical", he may wish to say, in mediate Zugzwang. effect, that "it doesn't fit in with MY common sense". 58 �f2 iJ.a7 In the present context, however, 59 �g3 �b8 we shall use the expression "logical 60 �el �c7 thinking" as a universal concept, independent of the identity of this or 61 �c3 �f6 that individual. Logic is a scientific 62 �d5 method of reasoning, by which conclusions are inevitably fo unded The black king has been forced to on premises. Solutions can be clear the way; White is winning. validated or refuted in light of the The rest was: knownfa cts. 64 Thinking Tools 62 �f5 Continuing the strategy of restrict­ .ing Black's possibilities. Now the 63 �d2 �b6 l2Je6 is pinned, and 20 ...h5 fa ils to 64 �c6 �d8 21 �xg5. 65 �xc5 e4 20 �e8 66 fxe4+ �xe4 21 �xg5 hxg5 67 �b5 �d4 68 �e1 Black resigned. Xie J un - Larsen Monte Carlo 1994 Pirc Defence 1 e4 g6 2 d4 �g7 3 4Jc3 c6 4 lDf3 d6 5 h3 ttJf6 6 a4 0-0 7 �e3 lDbd7 8 �e2 e5 9 dxe5 dxe5 10 0-0 22 l2Jbl! 'Wie7 11 iVd3 a5 Black will try to dislodge White's Black's last two moves are debat­ l2Jb6, by ...�f8-c5 or ...�f 6-d8 able. The queen may be better on Therefore, White brings up rein­ c7, and the advance ...a7-a5 creates fo rcements to maintain the knight's a serious hole on b6. outpost. The principle that governs 12 'ilVc4 :e8 White's play is prophylaxis: detect­ ing and countering the enemy's 13 �fdl h6?! plans in advance. 14 l2Jd2 ttJh7 22 �f8 15 �b3! 23 ttJd2 �c5 Evacuating c4 fo r the knight, on his tour to d6 or b6, while keeping 24 ttJdc4 �xb6 an eye on the backward b7 pawn. 25 lDxb6 �f8 15 l2Jg5 26 �d2 16 l2Jc4 l2Jc5 By this and his fo llowing move, White takes absolute control of the 17 ir'a3 ttJce6 d-file, to ensure that his fu ture 18 �xe7 1:Ixe7 dominance of the seventh rank will not be contested. White's play is 19 l2Jb6 �b8 admirably systematic. So fa r, White' decisions have been easy. But how can he maintain 26 �e7 the pressure? 27 �adl �f8 20 iLg4! 28 l2Jxc8+ �fxc8 Th inking To ols 65 29 :d7+ �f6? A tremendous rejoinder, which keeps the white monarch trapped in A blunder in a position. the corner. As long as His Majesty However, on 29 ... comes 30 is unable to participate in the battle, .li.xe6 fx e6 31 :h7. the endgame is drawn. 6 �xe6+? 30 .li.xe6 fxe6 �xe6 7 �g8 tiJh6+ 8 �g7 ttJf7 draws. 31 g4! What should White do? Analysis Black resigned indicates that Black's officers must He is mated after:ld 3-f3. remain at their present posts: The knight-to prevent the escape of the white king; and the bishop-to J. Fleck, Germany guard the knight. Right now, White Hungary- l100, 1997, 1 sI prize has trouble in finding a win, be­ cause the black king is close enough to his .li.e6. Hence, White must find a way· to deflect the black king. " 6 �b8 �f6 7 �c7 �g6 8 �d8 ltin 9 �g5 �e8 10 �f6 ltid7 11 �f8 �c6 12 �d8 �c5 Wh ite to play and win Now what? Bearing in mind that without the king's active participa­ 1 c7 .li.a2+ tion, victory would be unattainable, White repeats the motif from move 1 ....li.f5? 2 h6. 5: diverting the black bishop from 2 �h8 .li.e6 the diagonal a2-g8, so that the white king may slip away. 3 h6 tiJf5 4 h7 �d6 5 c8=�! Apparently achieving the aim: After5 ... .txc8 6 �g8, the h-pawn is unstoppable-6... .te6+ 7 �f8 tiJh4 8 �g7 tiJf5+ 9 �f6. Thereafter, the endgame with a queen vs. two minor pieces would be a theoretical wm. 5 �e7!! 66 Thinking Tools 13 'iVd7!! 19 'iVal lbbd7 But not 13 'iVc8+?<&td 6!. Deserting his plans. However, 19 ...lbe8 20 h4 with h5, transferring 13 �xd7 lle3 to h3, is promising for White. 14 <&tg8 �e6+ 20 g5! lbh5 15 <&tfS lbh4 21 �xg7 lbxg7 16 <&tg7 22 lbh2 White wins. Exchanging the dark-squared Logical thinking predominates in bishops has created holes on [6 and chess, because chess is a logical h6. The knight rushes to exploit game, by nature. Successful attack them. does not spring from nowhere, but 22 h5?! leans on positional elements; A bad opening is not likely to lead into a 23 lbg4! good ending; middlegame plans are Nevertheless! The threat is 24 interconnected with opening lbf6+ lbxf6? 25 gxf6; while after variations. 23 .. J:[ee8 24 lbf6+ lbxf6 25 gxf6 the lbg7 is doomed. Hort - Van der Wiel 23 hxg4 Amsterdam 1980 24 hxg4 Now the h-file is set fo r the activity of the white rooks. 24 llae8 24 .. JH8 25 lleh3 f6 26 :h8+ <&tf7 27 llxf8+<&txf8 28 gxf6. 25 lleh3 f6 26 gxf6 llxe4 27 lbxe4 'iVxd5 28 llf3 liJf5? Wh ite to play 29 fi+ <&txfi 30 llh7+ <&te6 Black's last moves were 31 lbg5 mate. ...'iVc8-b7 and ...lbd 7-b6, putting pressure on White's central pawns. His kingside is now weakened, Intuitive Thinking though, and it stands to reason that White should develop an initiative in that area. Intuition is a direct method of 18 'iVbl ! lle7 "knowing", that is not based on Th inking Tools 67 methodology (as logical thinking 22 tUb3 tUd7 is). You just "feel" what is right: Closing in on the imprisoned lady. For instance, by glancing at a person for a second, you become 23 .:td2! tUf6 absolutely certain that nothing good 24 .:thd1 will come out of this acquaintance. Protecting against 24 ....:th7 (25 By the same token, you distrust .:td7!); but what happens on the position resulting from a calcu­ 24 ...tUe8? lated variation, or decide to sacrifice a piece, because "it must be good", A sample line is 25 .:td8+ iLc826 although why you feel that way is �xh8! .:txh8 27 i.a6 rj;c7 unclear. (27 ...tUc7 28 l:Ixd8 ttJxa6 29 .:tld8) 28 l:Ixc8+ rj;b6 29 �b8+!! rj;xa6 30 l:Id7! �f8 31 a3 !! bxa3 32 .:tbb7 Yudasin - Wolff axb2 33 l:Ixa7+�b5 34 l:Idb7+�c4 New York 1990 35 �xb2 and wins. "[ intuitively perceived that there were such chances in the position, though certainly I did not expect anything like this variation. I was ready to take a risk and have some fu n" (GM Leonid Yudasin). 2 In the game, Black chose an inferior line and lost.