i don't realy now how many move i think ahead lol. but when i'am feeling little lazy thinking only a couple moves ahead in  then i end up with a surprise and lose.. also doese it hapen to you that some time there is a very obvious good move and you don't see it ? it hapens to me some days it feels very bad it's like the first day with chess hehehe

what about you ?? 

i know how you feel. i usually think about twenty or so moves ahead, but, dang it, there are just those days when you can only muster thirteen or fourteen.

often loses me the game, too. drat.

RichardHayden wrote:

I think research has been done that show grandmasters don't think much further ahead than amateurs, it's just that they evaluate the final position much better. Chess is about recognizing familiar patterns and themes, more than calculation.

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 It depends alot on the position of course. Some very tricky positions require the player to calculate maybe ten moves deep. And also then, the Grandmasters prevail. But also then, it's not necessarily because the grandmasters can look ahead further; they just analyze more efficiently. In those 10 moves, they only look at certain moves from either side, because they know the other moves are inferior. 

 

But against weaker players, grandmasters also often avoid very complicated positions, and just steer to positions where they can use their better understanding of positional play, or better understanding of endgames to beat their opponent. 

For me it would depend whether I'm playing OTB or email chess. When playing OTB blitz chess, say about 10-15 min. limit,  I look ahead 1 or maybe 2 moves maximum. For a long game of chess, 45/5 or higher, 2 or maybe 3 moves. For email chess, I use a hand written sheet of paper showing 3 of the most likely variations 4 to 5 moves out. 

Im just like u jibbo whenever there are good moves i miss em and that makes me feel very bad.

One or two or sometimes a bit more when options are more limited, however judging from the position of the pieces, you can judge what can happen and what might not happen up to more moves ahead.

That's actually an amazing observation.  I looked at that puzzle, and immediately saw it within 2 or 3 seconds.  Perhaps all that practice with smothered mates, which I've never had/been mated with in a game before.  What I do when I move a piece is I identify potential future moves from that position, or potential threats to the piece I'm going to move.  I don't know if it counts as thinking precisely 3-4-5 moves ahead, but I see what can unfold.  I used to just make sure I wasn't directly hanging a piece before moving it, but now I quickly check for forks/pins/skewers etc.

In a standard match endgame, I will often look 10-15 moves ahead, but obviously the board is usually much simpler.  From the articles I've read about how grandmasters think, it seems, as someone mentione above, that they filter out the majority of moves we would have to consider, as from experience and just chess IQ they know that the majority of potential moves they could play are poor, and result in a disadvantage/loss/etc. 

It's not how many moves ahead you look, but which moves, and what plan, are you looking at?

 

 

de Groot compared the thinking and perceiving patterns of chess masters with those of amateurs. Chess masters, according to his conclusions, do not necessarily think more “deeply,” but rather they analyze the essence of a problem much faster.

 

For more on de Groot look here: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=2084 

Calculating and seeing patterns it is just the same thing. When you say that you "calculate" you are making the calculations with your consciousness. When you say that you "see a pattern", what is really happening is that your unconsciousness is making the calculations for you and you see the results as petterns.

It is actually quite complicated and has to do with some theories of art and the perception of beauty, or emotions in patterns that I've studied as an artist and I compare then to chess because, so far both systems has proven to be quite similar mathematically as I study chess more and more. I will write about it in my blog very soon, may be you want to read it...

Here's my post entry about chess calculations:

Chess, math and Arts

i agree... it all depends on the position.

 I do think of all the phases of the game I probably would only even TRY and think 20 moves ahead if it was the endgame... The endgame demands precise calculation. 

The rest of the time pattern recognition, general knowledge, experience, etc. usually make it unnecessary to delve too deep in most postions. 

.....unless its a complicated battle =) 

it all depends on how much red bull i drank!

How many moves I think ahead really arrives depending where I'm at in the game During the opening, it's all dependent on which opening is being played. I may be thinking two to three moves into the future. As the game progresses throught the middle game and into the end, I am thinking five to six. If I have to time, I'll try to roughly analyze the possible positions of my opponent's pieces. However, I am not a good enough player to think twenty moves in advance. Of course, the secret to my happiness on the chess board is in realizing that I'm not a great player. Realizing this, allows me to take losses without too much mental pain and anguish, learn more, and enjoy the game more still and always will be learning (a true master in any field will tell you that you can never stop learning). If you notice typos this morning it's because I was up late working in the studio and have not have my 13th cup of coffee to wake me up.

justice_avocado wrote: i know how you feel. i usually think about twenty or so moves ahead, but, dang it, there are just those days when you can only muster thirteen or fourteen.

often loses me the game, too. drat.

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 20 !!! that is amazing

Here is a very good instructional article about thinking ahead:

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman45.pdf

I have found the analysis board very helpfull you can plan way ahead, then he moves somewhere totaly differant and you get the analsis board out again. it's brilliant, saves a lot of headaches. thanks eric loverly touch.

i've found praying helps as i only think about 3 moves ahead

Capablanca once said that he only thought one move ahead. The correct move!

Hunadora wrote: it all depends on how much red bull i drank!

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 hahahaha fantastic!   Red Bull is delicious.  

 

I typically think 4-5 moves ahead, tops.  More often I just have a general plan and analyse my positions as the opponent moves. 

i read about that capablanca said once he only think one move ahead but it's the best. but he didn't ment on his profational games. here read it

 

"A man walks along the inside of a circle of chess tables, glancing at each for two or three seconds before making his move. On the outer rim, dozens of amateurs sit pondering their replies until he completes the circuit. The year is 1909, the man is Jos¿ Ra¿l Capablanca of Cuba, and the result is a whitewash: 28 wins in as many games. The exhibition was part of a tour in which Capablanca won 168 games in a row. How did he play so well, so quickly? And how far ahead could he calculate under such constraints? "I see only one move ahead," Capablanca is said to have answered, "but it is always the correct one." 

 

 

if you want to read the complete article here is the link

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=1&articleID=00010347-101C-14C1-8F9E83414B7F4945