Evaluation and Planning The skill every plan depends on — by IM Siegfried Baumegger.
Ask a club player to calculate a forcing line and they will set to work. Ask them to look at a quiet position and say, in a sentence, who stands better and why — and many will hesitate. Yet that judgement is the foundation of everything that follows. You cannot choose a good plan until you have honestly assessed the position, and a plan built on a faulty evaluation is worse than no plan at all.
Today, we are pleased to present Evaluation and Planning by IM Siegfried Baumegger — a course devoted to the skill that sits beneath all the others: seeing a position clearly, judging it objectively, and turning that judgement into the right plan.
The Core Idea: Assess First, Then Plan
At the heart of the course is a simple sequence that stronger players apply almost without noticing: evaluate, then plan. Before deciding what to do, you decide where you stand — and to do that, you weigh the position against the factors that actually matter.
Baumegger works from the classic checklist of positional elements:
- The position of the kings
- The material balance
- Control of the centre
- The activity of the pieces
- The pawn structure
— supplemented by space, open lines, and possession of the initiative. The list is only the starting point, because the real skill is not reciting the factors but weighing them: filtering the essential from the incidental. In one position the pawn structure decides everything; in another it is irrelevant beside a lead in activity. Learning which factor rules a given position — and which merely distracts — is what the course trains.
What the Course Trains
The material is built in two connected parts, each developed through carefully selected exercises:
Evaluation and Planning. The core skill — running a position through the positional factors, judging who stands better and why, and converting that assessment into a concrete plan. This is where objective evaluation becomes practical decision-making.
Static versus Dynamic Factors. The distinction that separates good evaluations from shallow ones. Static factors — pawn structure, material, lasting weaknesses — endure; dynamic factors — activity, the initiative, a passing chance — can vanish in a move. Great players know when a durable structural edge outweighs temporary activity, and when a fleeting initiative must be used at once before it fades. This part trains that sense of timing.
Together they cover both halves of sound strategic play — the objective assessment that tells you where you stand, and the judgement of static against dynamic that tells you how urgently to act.
The Baumegger Method
IM Siegfried Baumegger brings decades of practical and teaching experience to this course, with the emphasis that defines his work: pattern recognition and transferable principles, not rote memorisation. The material is delivered as a structured study file of exercises and fully annotated model games — each opening with its strategic guidelines, then a set of test positions to solve, followed by the complete games and solutions.
A Journey Through Chess History
The examples are drawn from the players who evaluated and planned best:
- The positional mastery of Karpov, whose feel for the right plan has rarely been equalled
- The classical clarity of Alekhine, Tarrasch and Geller
- The strategic depth of Stein, Polugaevsky and Portisch
- Modern battles featuring Carlsen, Gelfand, Nunn, Yusupov and Seirawan
— alongside Baumegger's own games, annotated from the inside. The range shows how objective evaluation and clear planning have decided games at every level and in every era.
How the Course Is Organised
The course follows the Guided Practice method: set up each position, decide on your move and your plan, and only then compare your decision with the solution. Active problem-solving is what turns a guideline into a genuine skill — so the exercises come first, and the annotated games reward you with the full reasoning once you have committed to an answer.
For the Serious Competitor
Evaluation and Planning is designed for ambitious players who want to fix the root cause of aimless play — not knowing what the position is really asking for. Whether you are converting a small edge or deciding between two tempting plans, this course delivers the analytical depth and practical guidance that Modern Chess is known for.
Ready to learn how to judge any position and choose the right plan — one position at a time? This is the guide that shows you how.