September Masterclass - Improve Your Calculation
Introduction and Free Preview
The masterclass dedicated to the conversion of an advantage is already a digital product. This product includes all the videos from the masterclass as well as the PGN file related to the training sessions. Overall, the material consists of approximately 3,5 hours of video and a PGN database which includes 87 files!
You will find the following lectures:
Typical Calculation Mistakes - How to Reduce Blunders - GM Grigor Grigorov
Calculation Strategies - Theory and Practice - GM Petar Arnaudov
Practical Application - GM Petar Arnaudov and GM Grigor Grigorov
Typical Calculation Mistakes - How to Reduce Blunders - GM Grigor Grigorov
In this lecture, GM Grigor Grigorov presents the most typical calculation mistakes. Additionally, he presents the concept of "indicators of danger" which has been invented by the Moldavian master and trainer Chebanenko and later developed by his students, including GM Viktor Gavrikov (passed away in 2016) who was the trainer of GM Grigorov.
According to GM Grigorov, by applying the indicators of danger, besides reducing the number of blunders in our own games, we can better exploit the tactical mistakes of our opponent.
Here is how the author introduces the lecture himself:
The current lecture features typical calculation mistakes. While it's very difficult to provide extensive coverage of such a vast topic, I will share my approach to the problem. In my opinion, the first big mistake is to overestimate our calculation abilities. This a mistake that can be often seen even in the practice of strong top-level players. The thing is that our brain cannot work like a computer. When your approach is entirely based on long calculations, blunders and inaccuracies are unavoidable. Therefore, I believe that the calculation process should be based on a system of indicators. My former trainer GM Viktor Gavrikov (he passed away in 2016) has taught me a fundamental concept - indicators of danger. This original approach, invented by the famous Moldavian trainer Chebanenko, is not systematically covered in the chess literature. Let me explain the benefits of using the indicators of danger. Most of the chess players try to improve their calculation abilities by solving tactical puzzles. When working on exercises, however, you know that the combination exists. On the flip side, in a practical game, nobody tells you whether there is a tactical solution or not. Here is where the indicators of danger come in handy. When you are used to evaluate the position by using the indicators of danger, you will better seize the moment for tactical operations. At the same time, this concept will help you to decide whether calculating specific line worths the effort. There are 8 main indicators of danger:
1) Critical Point
2) Critical Construction
3) Opposition
4) Pin
5) Restricted Mobility of a Piece
6) Invasion
7) Piece Out of Play
8) Passed Pawn
In this lecture, I will provide an explanation and an example related to each one of these indicators. Additionally, besides the indicators of danger, I will point out some general calculation mistakes.
Let's take a look at the presentation of the first indicator of danger.
1) Critical Point
The critical point is maybe the most important indicator of danger. A piece or a pawn becomes a critical pawn in 2 cases: 1) the piece or the pawn is unprotected
2) there is an equal number of attacks and defences related to the piece or the pawn
Let's take a look at the diagram and detect the critical points. The e5-pawn is unprotected. Therefore, this pawn is a critical point. The e4-pawn is a critical point as well since it's attacked and defended once. You should always try to reduce the number of critical points in your position. If there are many critical points in the camp of your opponent, you should look for a tactical solution.
Example
The other indicators of danger are presented in the same way. Additionally, GM Grigorov includes model games (mostly taken from his own practice) which feature some general calculation mistakes.
Calculation Strategies - Theory and Practice - GM Petar Arnaudov
In this lecture, GM Petar Arnaudov presents the basics of the calculation theory. He covers the following topics:
1) Making a List of Candidate Moves
2) Working with Candidate Moves
3) Straightforward Calculation
4) Move Order
5) Intermediate Move
6) Pattern Recognition
7) Priority of Our Ideas
Here is what he has to say about making a list of candidate moves:
The method of choosing the candidate moves is the following: First, we calculate all forcing moves (it doesn't matter if they seem bad). That includes all checks and captures. Later, we expand the list with attacking moves, moves which create threats, etc... If you are not satisfied with the results of the calculation you should continue expanding the list with moves that seem reasonable to you. You should be sure that you are not missing anything. Experienced players are doing this subconsciously. You should train your calculation abilities every day, that way you will improve the speed and the accuracy of your calculations.
You can try to apply the concept of candidate moves by solving the following training position:
White to move
All the theoretical concepts in the lecture are backed up with practical examples.
Practical Application - GM Petar Arnaudov and GM Grigor Grigorov
In the final session of the masterclass, GM Grigorov and GM Arnaudov provide a practical application of the theoretical concepts by discussing studies. Additionally, they explain how to work with studies in the most beneficial way.
You can try to solve one of the studies which were featured in the lecture.
White to play. Try to find a win without moving pieces on the board.