Understanding before Moving 24: Strategic thinking

by ChessBase
4/25/2021 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 24th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman illustrates how powerful strategic thinking can be. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

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Tactics can be acquired fairly easily by solving lots of tactical puzzles but learning strategic thinking is a lot harder. Where do you start? And what do you have to pay attention to?

However, there are plenty of books written about chess strategy, and in my book "Chess Strategy for Club Players" I offer a kind of "thinking protocol" that is especially designed for club players.

It is partly based on guidelines I came across in the book "Stellungsbeurteilung und Plan" by Karpov and Mazukevich though I have taken the liberty of simplifying and adapting their list, which in my view was not arranged in a logical manner.

Here's a position that will help to improve your strategic thinking: Try to find a good plan for Black and keep in mind what White wants to do – you probably would prefer to prevent it.

 

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