Foreword by FIDE Master Paul Whitehead

.
When I made the leap to master I studied the classic chess books: My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer, The Art of the Middlegame by Paul Keres and Alexander Kotov, Tal-Botvinnik 1960 by Mikhail Tal, Think Like a Grandmaster by Kotov … and many others. Only Think Like a Grandmaster gave some ideas of how to study chess and improve, however.

Of course I played over all the games of the world champions, game collections of the great players and studied the latest master games in the Chess Informant.

I played in many tournaments, which also raised the level of my game.

All of this study and play was invaluable, but I believe the most important course of training I undertook was self-motivated (no one had advised me) and difficult: I tried to simulate tournament conditions with studies and problems from books and magazines.

I set a clock to time myself, filled notebooks with variations, tried to visualize the final positions – Who was ahead materially? Could I work out the win? Find the checkmate?

The questions I had asked myself – How can one learn to calculate? How can one see three (or more) moves ahead? – were answered by studying this way, and I became a stronger player.

Ian Anderson has made an important contribution to chess literature with his Chess Visualization Course, as the exercises in his book will train the “muscles” of calculation and visualization, vital (necessary!) prerequisites in making the leap to chess mastery.

Paul Whitehead
FIDE Master and USCF Life Master
.

Wrap Up

.
In this blog I've tried to give you a sense of what the Chess Visualization Course is about, but please keep in mind that the 24 exercises given here pale in comparison to the 800 exercises that are in the book.

Also, this blog contains exercises for only six of the twenty six chapters that are in the book, each of which contains between 20 and 44 exercises. So each theme receives much greater coverage in the book than is possible here.

All told, the book is 328 pages long and measures nearly 7" x 10" (17.5 x 25 cm).
.

Ch 23, Three Sectors of the Board (White To Play)

.
This page contains four exercises taken from Chapter 23, Three Sectors of the Board with White to play. The actual chapter in the book contains thirty-six exercises.



670. White is up a pawn. Visualize the position after the moves 30 Nxg6 fxg6 31 Qxa8 Rxa8 1 32 Bxd5 Qxd5 33 Rxd5. What is the material balance?

1 The actual game continued 31...Nc3 32 Bd5 Rxa8 33 Bxe6+, when White is up two pawns (1‑0, 38).


681. Visualize the position after the moves 12 e5 Nxd4 13 Bxd4 Bb7 14 exf6 Bxf3 15 fxe7 Qxe7 16 Rxf3. What is the material balance?


690. Visualize the position after the moves 15 Nxc6 bxc6 16 Bxf6 Bxf6 17 Nxd5 Qxe1 18 Nxf6+ Kg7 19 Raxe1 Kxf6. What is the material balance?


691. Black's Bishop on g5 is under attack. Visualize the position after the moves 16 Qxd5+ Qxd5 17 Nxf6+ Bxf6 18 Bxd5+¹ Kg7 19 Bxf6+ Kxf6 20 Bxa8 Rxa8. What is the material balance?

¹ Black resigned here.

------------------------
Sources:

670. Taimanov-Antoshin, USSR Championship, 1956.
681. Kulaots-Koch, Neckar Open, Deizisau, 1997.
690. Mozetic-Ivanovic, 2nd League Team Championship, Serbia and Montenegro, 2003.
691. Duppel-Marian, 3rd Neckar Open, Deizisau, Germany, 1999. .
.

Ch 22, Rabid Passed Pawns

.
This page contains four exercises taken from Chapter 22, Rabid Passed Pawns which feature the raid of a rabid pawn into enemy territory, a raid that ends with the pawn capturing an enemy piece on the back rank and simultaneously promoting, usually to a Queen.

This “capture plus promotion” move is powerful because it wins two pieces in one move. Thus if a White pawn captures a Black Rook on the back rank and simultaneously promotes to a Queen, White will net a Queen and Rook in a single move.




644. Visualize the position after the moves 14 e5 Nxb3 15 exf6 Nc5 16 fxg7 Nxd3 17 gxf8=Q+ Kxf8 18 Rxd3. What is the material balance?




645. Visualize the position after the moves 13 e5 Bb7 14 exf6 Bxf3 15 fxe7 Bxd1¹ 16 exf8=Q+ Rxf8 17 Rxd1. What is the material balance?

¹ White has three minor pieces for the Queen after 15...Rfe8 16 Nxf3.



654. Visualize the position after the moves 13 e5 Bxg2 14 exf6 Bxf1¹ 15 fxe7 Bxe2² 16 exd8=Q+ Kxd8 17 Ndxe2. What is the material balance?

¹ White is up a piece for a pawn after 14…Bxf6 15 Kxg2. ² 15…Qxe7 16 Rxf1 is similar to the game, except that the Queens remain on the board.



656. White is up two pawns. Visualize the position after the moves 25 d5 Bd8¹ 26 dxe6² Bxc7 27 e7 hxg4 28 exf8=Q+ Kxf8 29 hxg4 Bxe5. What is the material balance?

¹ 15…Qxd6 drops a Rook to Nxe7+. ² Black resigned here.

---------------------------
Sources:

644. Trescher-Heinl, Bad Laasphe, 1994.
645. Williams-Van der Stricht, 36th Olympiad, Spain, 2004.
654. Zulfugaryi-Najer, Swidnica Open, 1999.
656. Euwe-Kramer, Match, Game 5, 1940.

.

Ch 16, Desperado Queens

.
This page contains four exercises taken from Chapter 16, Desperado Queens. A desperado Queen is one that voluntarily gives herself up for a piece of lesser value. The actual chapter in the book contains 28 exercises.



453. Visualize the position after the moves 32 Bxf7+ Rxf7 33 Qxf7+ Kxf7 34 Rxc5. What is the material balance?


465. White is up two pawns. Visualize the position after the moves 37 Bd5 Rf5 38 Qd8+ Rf8 39 Qxf8+ Bxf8 40 Bxa2¹. What is the material balance?

¹ Black resigned here.


477. Visualize the position after the moves 19 Qa4 Nxd4 20 Nxd4 Qxd4 21 Be3 Nb6 22 Qxa7+ Kxa7 23 Bxd4. What is the material balance?


479. Visualize the position after the moves 26 Nxe5 axb4¹ 27 Qxa8 Rxa8 28 Nxd7² Rxa1 29 Nxf6+ Kg7 30 Ne8+ Kh8 31 Rxa1. What is the material balance?

¹ 26...Qe7 can be met by 27 bxa5, when 27…Qxe5 loses the exchange to 28 b7. ² Black resigned here.

-------------------------

Sources:

453. Smolich-Zhigalko, Belarus Championship (Under 20), Minsk, Belarus, 2006.
465. Aagaard-Rewitz, Denmark Championship, Group B, 1999.
477. Areshchenko-Ernst, 22nd ECU Club Cup, Feugen, Austria, 2006.
479. Khmiadashvili-Blagonadezhnaya, XVI Senior Women, Arvier, Italy, 2006..

.

Ch 13, Expanding the Position

.

This page contains four exercises found in Chapter 13, Expanding the Position, which features exercises in which a number of White pieces move up the board in concert to create or convert an advantage. The actual chapter in the book contains thirty-two exercises.

363. White is up a pawn and can rearrange his pieces on c4 and f1. Visualize the position after the moves 21 Nd6¹ Bxd6 22 Bc4+ Be6 23 Rf1 Qxf1+² 24 Bxf1. What is the material balance?

¹ This move frees c4 for the Bishop, while White’s next move frees f1 for the Rook. ² 23...Qe5 loses to 24 Qe8+ Kh7 25 Bd3+ Bf5 26 Bxf5, when Black has to give up his Queen to avoid mate.

364. White is down a pawn. Visualize the position after the moves 26 Bf4 Qa5¹ 27 Bb3² Qd8³ 28 Bd6+ Qxd6 29 cxd6. What is the material balance?

¹ 26...Qd8 27 Bb3 is similar. ² Black is in a mating net and resigned here. ³ 27...Nd5 28 Bd6+ also wins, e.g., a) 28...Kf7 29 Qe7+ Kg6 30 Rg1+, followed by either Qe5 or Qg5, mate, or b) 28...Kg8 29 Re8+ Kf7 30 Rf8+ Kg6 31 Bc2+ Bf5 32 Bxf5, mate.

366. White is down the exchange but has a winning position. How does White mate after the moves 29 Qd4¹ Ra8 30 Rg4 Qf6² 31 Rg8+³ Ke7?

¹ White unpins his Rook, while at the same time attacking Black’s Rook on a7. ² 30...Qe7 allows 31 Rg8, mate; 30...Qd8 allows 31 Qg7+ Ke8 32 Qf7, mate. ³ Black resigned here.

369. Capablanca wins this symmetrical position. Visualize the position after the moves 12 Bxf6 Bxf3¹ 13 Ne7+ Kh8 14 Bxg7+ Kxg7. How does White mate in two here?

¹ 12...Nxf3+ 13 gxf3 Bh3 is met by 14 Qg5.

------------------------------------
Sources:

363. Tartakower-Schlechter, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1909.
364. Alekhine-Ilija, Exhibition, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1926.
366. Fedorov-Fyllingen, Aars get2net Cup GM Tournament, Aars, Denmark, 1999.
369. Capablanca-NN, New York, 1918.

.

Ch 7, After Effects

.
This page contains four exercises taken from Chapter 7, After Effects. The actual chapter in the book contains thirty-six exercises. The exercises in this chapter feature a series of exchanges that is followed by some tactical device that typically results in the win of material or checkmate.

159. White is down a pawn. The count on b6 is 3-2, but one of Black's defenders is a pawn. Note that Black's Bishop on c6 is potentially weak, as it is attacked and defended an equal number of times. Visualize the position after the moves 20 Bxb6 axb6 21 Qxb6+ Qxb6 22 Rxb6+ Ka7 23 Rxc6. What is the material balance?

173. White is up a solid passed pawn on d6. Visualize the position after the moves 37 Rc8 Rxc8¹ 38 Qxc8+ Qxc8 39 Rxc8+ Kf7 40 Rc7² Ra6 41 Rxd7+. What is the material balance?

¹ The only move. ² Black resigned here.




188. The count is 3-2 on c8, but White is leading with his Queen. Visualize the position after the moves 24 Rxc8 Rxc8 25 Qxc8+ Nxc8 26 Rxc8+ Kh7 27 Rh8+¹ Kxh8 28 Nxf7+ Kg8 29 Nxd6. What is the material balance?

¹ Black resigned here.



190. Black has just played 18...f7-f5. Visualize the position after the moves 19 exf6 Nxf6 20 Nxf6+ Bxf6 21 Rxf6 Rxf6 22 Bxf6 Qxg2+¹ 23 Qxg2 Bxg2+ 24 Kxg2 gxf6. What is the material balance?

¹ This is the best way to meet the dual threat of 23 Qxg7 mate and 23 Bxd8.

--------------------------------------------------------
Sources:
159. Segal-Khlgatian, European Junior Championships, 1994.
173. Mohana-Artemieva, World Youth (Girls 10), 2004.
188. Makarichev-Govashelishvili, USSR Junior Spartakiad, 1967.
190. Rahman-Baki, Asian Team Championship, 1987.

.

Ch 3, Exchanges Involving Pieces of Different Value

.
This page contains four exercises found in Chapter 3, Exchanges Involving Pieces of Different Value, which contains exercises that feature a series of exchanges in which the value of White's pieces is different than the value of Black's pieces. The actual chapter in the book contains twenty-eight exercises similar to these.



50. Black is up a pawn. The count on e8 is 3-2, but White is leading with his Queen. Can White take on e8? Visualize the position after the moves 28 Qxe8+ Rxe8 29 Rxe8+ Qxe8 30 Rxe8+. What is the material balance?



59. The count on f6 is 3-3, but two of Black’s defenders are his Queen and King. Visualize the position after the moves 29 Rxf6 Nxf6 30 Bxf6+¹ Qxf6² 31 Rxf6 Kxf6. What is the material balance?

¹ 30 Rxf6 is also good. ² 30…Kh7 can be met by 31 Qg5, when White’s main threaten is 32 Qh4+ and 33 Qxh8, mate.

61. The count on e8 is 3-3, but two of Black’s defenders are his Queen and King. Visualize the position after the moves 18 Rxe8+ Rxe8 19 Rxe8+ Qxe8 20 Nxe8 Kxe8¹. What is the material balance?

¹ Black resigned here.



63. The count on f7 is 3-4, but one of Black’s first defenders is his Queen. Visualize the position after the moves 27 Rxf7¹ Rxf7 28 Rxf7 Qxf7 29 Nxf7 Rxf7. What is the material balance?

¹ This threatens 28 Qg7, mate.

--------------------------------------------------------

Sources:
50. Shirov-Agdestein, Bergen-Radisson SAS Match (Rapid), Bergen, Norway, 2001.
59. Casadei-Ho, Koltanowski Memorial, San Francisco, 2000.
61. Hedenstroem-Naeckholm, Skelleftea, Sweden, 1999.
63. Soares-Borges, Paulisto Championship, Americana, Brazil, 2000.

.

Table of Contents

.
Here's a table of contents that shows the sections and chapters in the book, along with the number of exercises in each chapters. In the pages that follow, I'll provide some pages with some sample exercises taken from one chapter from each section.

Section 1. Series of Exchanges on a Single Square

• Chapter 1. Even Exchanges (20 exercises)
  
• Chapter 2. Exchanges Involving an Extra Attacker (20 exercises)
• Chapter 3. Exchanges Involving Pieces of Different Value (28 exercises)
• Chapter 4. Exchanges After Penetration (20 exercises)
• Chapter 5. Exchanges Involving a Passed Pawn (32 exercises)

Section 2. Before and After

• Chapter 6. Preparatory Build-Up (36 exercises)
• Chapter 7. After Effects (36 exercises)
• Chapter 8. Exchanging to a Won Ending (36 exercises)
• Chapter 9. Before and After (24 exercises)

Section 3. Two Sectors of the Board

• Chapter 10. Two Sectors of the Board -- White To Play (36 exercises)
• Chapter 11. Two Sectors of the Board -- Black To Play (36 exercises)
• Chapter 12. Multiple Imbalances (36 exercises)
• Chapter 13. Expanding the Position (32 exercises)

Section 4. Queens Under Attack

• Chapter 14. First Player To Attack the Queen (32 exercises)
• Chapter 15. Second Player To Attack the Queen (28 exercises)
• Chapter 16. Desperado Queens (28 exercises)
• Chapter 17. Double Desperados (20 exercises)
• Chapter 18. Pins to the Queen (28 exercises)
  

Section 5. Rabid Pieces and Pawns

• Chapter 19. Rabid Knights (36 exercises)
• Chapter 20. Rabid Bishops (32 exercises)
• Chapter 21. Rapid Pawns (28 exercises)
• Chapter 22. Rapid Passed Pawns (36 exercises)

Section 6. Three Sectors of the Board

• Chapter 23. Three Sectors of the Board -- White To Play (36 exercises)
• Chapter 24. Three Sectors of the Board -- Black To Play (28 exercises)
• Chapter 25. Seeing Further (32 exercises)
• Chapter 26. Longer Variations (44 exercises)

.

Overview of the Book

.
The book is intended for players rated between 1200 and 1800 USCF (50 to 150 BCF) who want to practice their chess visualization skills using exercises with variations ranging from four to twelve half-moves (ply).

It contains six sections (see below). Each section contains 4-5 chapters; each chapter contains 20-44 exercises. There are 800 exercises in this 328-page book.

One of the problems with some books is that they illustrate their themes using only 2-3 exercises. Not so here! Each theme (chapter) in this book typically contains 28-36 exercises, which provides an in-depth view of each chapter and allows you to gain a good understanding of each theme presented.

The core of the book rests on three sections that progress from exchanges on a single square (Section 1) to exchanges that take place over two sectors of the chess board (Section 3) to exchanges that take places over three sectors of the board (Section 6).

These three sections are rounded out by three other sections.

Section 2 serves as a transition between Sections 1 and 3. Like Section 1, the exercises in Section 2 also contain a series of exchanges on a single square, but here we show what can happen either before or after the exchanges.

Sections 4 and 5 provide greater coverage of the theme "two sectors of the board". Section 4 shows exercises in which both Queens are under attack, while Section 5 shows two-way action in which each side is attacking in the other persons half of the board. These two sections also provide a transition to the Section 6, Three Sectors of the Board.

This gives us the following scheme:

Section 1. Exchanges on a Single Square
Section 2. Before and After
Section 3. Two Sectors of the Board
Section 4. Queens Under Attack
Section 5. Rabid Pieces and Pawns
Section 6. Three Sectors of the Board
.

How It All Began

.
Welcome to my Chess Visualization blog!

One day I was looking at some positions in the Encyclopedia of Chess Middlegames by the Chess Informant publishers and, after struggling with one of the positions for a while, gave up and looked at the solution in the back of the book. After struggling some more with the solution given, I suddenly came to the realization that even if I knew the answer I wouldn't be able to visualize the final position...

This realization showed me that my visualization skills needed some work, but there weren't any good materials out there to help me develop these skills. So I started thinking about how to put some materials together that would focus specifically on visualization.

The result is my Chess Visualization Course!

This book (soon to be published) contains 800 exercises designed to help the average chess player (1200-1800 USCF; 500-150 BCF) practice his visualization skills using games played by masters and grandmasters in tournaments and matches throughout the world.

The book is just about finished now, so I thought I'd post some of the exercises here to let you know what it's about.

The difference between my book and most other books on tactics is that I give you the moves -- you just have to visualize them! This lets you focus on developing your visualization muscles. It's not unlike weight training which isolates a particular muscle group in order to maximize its development. By focusing on visualization, we can maximize its development.

We're not concerned with finding candidate moves or evaluating positions here. There are other books for that. This one focuses specifically on visualization and gives 800 exercises for practice.

So it's a new type of book, one that has been very valuable for my own development.

Paul Whitehead, a FIDE Master and USCF Life Master, states in the foreword that the Chess Visualization Course is "an important contribution to chess literature." In this blog I'll describe the book and show you some of the exercises so that you can judge for yourself.
.