Foreword by FIDE Master Paul Whitehead

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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
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