Yeah but your goal isnt to know the color really, its to know its location and color with ease. To use a little mental trick to try and get the color is an unnecessary step
I was using a similar trick to this until I read a few comments by some chess veterans that made me realize it was actually counterproductive to what I was trying to do which was to be able to visualize the chessboard better. The square color exercise isn't meant to see if you can figure out what color the square is by using a formula or trick it's just meant to help you start out with an easy test of your visualization of the chessboard
Hey Shai, sorry I didn't see this comment before. The most efficient way to think is to know immediately that the square is light-colored; the goal of this training is to supercede the necessary initial "derivation" of the color. Once you have accomplished this your visualization will be much smoother.
Been playing competitive chess close to 3 decades. NOw that I’m 50yrs old realise a major weakness is board visualisation . Hence all my blunders and chess blindness. so going back to basics to learn chess visualisation. Thank you for very good starting point.
Thanks for reaching out, I hope this method is useful to you. I'm putting out some new content related to visualization and self-study in general coming up so stay tuned if you want to see more content like this.
PS: The reason I don't recommend using things like the chess.com vision feature is, you are able to see the board while you are training, which hinders the internalization process. There is also no feature for training maneuvers the way I described in the video.
I always knew the color of the square the hard part was having to remember the color and which file it was (a,,b,c,d..etc) SOO the way that helped me the MOST is literally think of the chess board in two quadrants left and right, when you hear the with the first letter, if it's e or greater it's on one half of the board and if it's d or less its on that half of the board, then just think of the rank 1-8, ex. im white d6 (d=left,6=rank) only have 4 squares to visualize in my mind (a6,b6,c6,d,6) and let muscle memory just know which of those 4 squares it is
Sold! And actually, I quite like the algorithm method (a,c,e,g/1,3,5,7) -- for my head, that just works. This video lit up a dozen ideas all at once... Subscribed ;-)
Using the "tricks" might be a good way to check your guesses without needing a board. This way you can do it wherever you are, and it possibly could help you internalize the squares just a little bit more.
Really helpful. I can already tell the colours 100%, but the extra step of moving pieces accurately is more of a challenge. That's my homework for the next few weeks! I play on a braille board, and this is a skill I need before I go even blinder. Thanks a lot for this, it's very helpful.
I'm glad that this technique is helpful to you. I'm not sure if you're a tournament player but if not I encourage you to start! I've seen some accommodations made for blind players that enabled them to impress the chess world with their skill.
@@CoachRobertChess I'm actually starting in October, when my local chess club starts up again! The club organiser introduced me to the other players and I had some friendly matches with the tactile board and a voice recorder so I can record my moves, and I am just waiting on a clock I can use.
God bless you sir. I’ve been struggling, and my memory has plateaued, or so I thought. But I was able to memorize this at my age, very quickly, and intuitively. Thank you 🙏
I'm glad it worked for you! Let me know if there's anything else you're working on in chess that I don't have a video for, I'll think about putting something together.
Thanx a lot for that, at the beginning i thought it was difficult to memorise the whole board, but it was easy, this excercise is one level up from that, remember the color also!
I'm glad it helped you despite my apparently ambiguous explanations :) Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see. I make all kinds of instructional chess content.
@@CoachRobertChess playing for about a month everyday and my elo is close to 900, but it seems that its hard to raise it more than that, not sure what is the best option, i m trying everything and see what works!
Instead of having to rely upon an algorithm to check your answer or trying to guess the color of random squares "another game" might be to start at a1 and call out all the dark squares going up and down across the board or right the left going up the board. That will help to memorise all the dark square. By inference all the other squares must be light. Its a bit like learning the 2 times tables you start with sequential adding and then jump to "and the next number is..." to being able to just double any number you are given.
@@CoachRobertChess Not quite. You are focusing on one color only and you are skipping over all the light squares. So this method builds familiarity by memorising just the dark squares; so when you call out a square you "know" whether it is light or dark. Unlike memorising the 2 times table which is a sequential list you are memorising this sequence in two ways (up and down and left and right). As the squares become more embedded in memory it becomes easier to work from a known square to an unknown square. i.e. 6x2 = 12 therefore 7x2 = 14 (c.f d4 = dark so up dark is d6 or right dark is f4). With repetition these 'number facts' all get memorised just like 'knowing' which squares are dark (and therefore by default which squares are light). P.S I have just tried memorising the 16 dark square columns that all start on rank 1; they are {A;C;E;G}{1;3;5;7} - it was almost too easy. The following googlesheet command allows me to test that I can tell the difference between the white and dark squares in columns A;C;E;G: =CONCATENATE(CHOOSE(RANDBETWEEN(1,4),"a","c","e","g"),CHOOSE(RANDBETWEEN(1,8),1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)) Given those 32 square combinations I can distinguish with 100% accuracy which are light or dark almost without thinking. So I will let that just bed into memory over the next day or two and then learn the other 16 dark squares that all start on rank 2 which are {B;D;F;H}{2;4;6;8}. That will mean I then 'know' all the 32 dark squares on the board and have them all memorised.
Every morning I have been doing this mentally lately. I want to visualize the color of each square in my mind perfectly. I instantly know where the square is if I have the coordinates but it takes a moment to figure out what color it is for some reason.
As you do it more you should get faster. If it helps you could start with a smaller portion of the board to get very familiar with it and establish a baseline, then expand outwards until you have the whole board. For playing purposes we only care about knowing all 64 squares, but if you get very good you can tell the color of even squares that don't exist (z525600 is dark).
@@CoachRobertChess I hope so. I think it has to be beneficial for my mind and chess abilities to perform such activities. lol @ z525600 very impressive.
@@CoachRobertChessno it is light, remember the algorithm you taught us😊? Z is 26 letter so it is even and the no. You mentioned ends witha zero so it is even as well so it is a light square
*Me frantically in the beginning using your first selections of random squares as my initial quiz, and just taking my pawn and putting it on the square*
interesting idea! I've been doing coordinates on lichess. Random coordinates fired off and 30 seconds to click on as many as possible. Already up from 8 to about 2 x that. Mind you Andrew Tang gets like 100+ ツ
I can get as many as I can click in that one, I'm pretty slow clicking though! I could probably do like 30, not sure. But I don't think it really helps since it's easy to tell what color a square is when you look at it.
I realised that if both the number and letter is even or odd then it's a dark square. If one letter/number is odd and the other is even, then it is a light square.
Hi Robert, thanks for the insightful video. I really like the idea of visualising a chessboard and believe that it is one of the most essential skills for becoming better at chess. I am kinda struggling with the first step though, as I don't see how simply 'guess and check' can learn you how to visualise the board. I feel like that by doing this, you learn a question -> answer kinda prompt and no actual visualisation. But I must be wrong about this, as many competent chess coaches like yourself recommend this as training. I just don' t see the point of it.
Hey Raf, thanks for your feedback. It is important to take time and make effort to see the square and what color it is before you make your guess, and then internalize the correct answer when you check. If you just randomly guess and then see the answer and move on it will be useless practice of an algorithm as you said. It is important to develop familiarity with the board and this develops over the repeated interactions of trying to imagine it and then seeing what it is actually like.
Extraordinaria visión didáctica,es un tema esencial para cualquier jugador y es fundamental conocer el terreno donde se juega la partida,felicitaciones coach Robert de cd Juárez chihuahua
Update: have seen it, would recommend. Chess is fairly accurate, even the unflattering parts, nice to see representation from a perspective besides privileged male child prodigy.
what do you think about memorizing the colours of, for example, a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1 and then for instance g7, i already know that g1 is black which means g7 is also black because 1 and 7 are both odd?
I don't know why I am so excited but it seems I also have the same kind of visual approach to chess. The second thing that you did was something I had found myself and still I am not sure whether to use it or not. Odd+odd or Even+Even = dark square. otherwise, it's a light square. I also liked to think that the ACTUAL squares on the board are 10. All the others are symmetrical. a1, a8, h1, h8 are the same square. But b1, b8, g1, g8, a2, h2, a7, h7 are also one square. If you do it for all the squares, ten squares remain.
Deep down I wish the squares started at zero and that there were no letters, but you can't change history. Yet. While we're here I'd like to congratulate you on your choice of "wish you were here" profile picture.
Haha, thanks :) By the way I came up with another idea and \i was researching if sbdy actually had thought of/developed it before: What if EVERY square had a name. A REAL name. But: black for Men names and White for Women's. Also, If it belongs to the D file, the name should start with a D. eg. D1, Diana. D2, David. To me this is more easy.
I think that if you follow this method you will by default be able to name the squares. If this is difficult as a first step maybe spend more time on the initial phase of naming a few reference squares and their colors and expanding to encompass the whole board a little bit on each iterations. The corners (a1, a8, h1, h8) and center squares (e4, d4, e5, d5) are especially easy to remember and relevant in beginner practice. While it doesn't help with blindfold calculation, a training wheels approach would be to mentally count over and up from a1 when naming any given square. For example, to name f3, you would visualize the board (or do it while looking if this is difficult still) and count over from a1: you could say a1, b1, c1, d4, e1, f1, then go up, f2, f3.
The problem I face when visualising a chessboard is that I tend to focus on one area and lose track of the rest. I can't watch the whole board in my mind. This causes me to do blunders in blindfold games. How do I solve this problem?
@Parker Productions Thanks, that does make sense. Even I read somewhere that every move should have a purpose, and be part of a plan rather than randomly moving around.
I solemnly swear that Im not gonna do those weird stuff such as talking to myself and pointing fingers when imaging of variations in chess in public area ! And I will my calculation normal in good way , all my calculation will be in my mind!
Good, I don't want to hear a word from you in the playing hall! And most of all... do not be that guy who has to Touch. The. Squares. to calculate. If I catch anyone hunched over the board with all ten fingers on various squares muttering variations I'll have to turn them in to the authorities.
Lets say each letter has a corresponding number from a-h that is 1-8 the letters like a c e g are odd and b d f h are even. Then if the letter is even and the number is even then the square is dark and if the letter is odd and the number is odd the square is dark
You only need to memorize row 1 and row 2, from a to h, and the rest of the board is just odd number row vs even number row, which repeats row 1 and row 2.
Even/Even & Odd/Odd = Dark Squares. Even/Odd & Odd/Even = Light Squares. For example c6 (Odd/Even) = Light, g7 (Odd/Odd) = Dark. I find this method super easy and quick!
Is there any website or app that has a feature like the one you mentioned? I'm a mobile software engineer so I'm thinking about making a practice game for this
I find that I always play black. I find that visualizing the board from the black side is different than visualizing from the white side. I am starting with memorizing f7 is light, c7 is dark. I can picture those squares.
I remember them by this method Aceg the letter are dark The rest of the letters are light and then comes the nomber if the nombre is pair you have o reverse the color and if the nombre is impair you let the color like it is exemple a3 a is part of Aceg wish mean the color of a1 is dark and we have 3 is a impair nombre wish mean we will let the same color we can say that a3 is dark too
Good question, thanks for asking. I'm not a neuroscientist but my lay understanding of it is that if you can connect the concept with more senses/actions it reinforces the memory and speed and accuracy of recall. A popular psychology explanation is given in Gladwell's book "Blink" if you want to look into it more without delving into academic papers.
@@CoachRobertChess Is it the same if I memorize the the squares in brown and yellow colors? Can verbal memorization really help visually visualize the chessboard in your head as a picture? Did it help you, if yes in what? Thanks for the attention
@@jeffbezos3942 Literally recently got into chess and wondering how your chess board visualisation has come along since you began trying these methods?
@@Pauly03 I didn't finished them because my verbal memory is not that great I still have a lot of squares to memorize and a lot of diagonals, so for the moment no results I will see in the future
some guy in new york taught me this ACE Gangsters go DARK on ODD shit ACE Gangsters go LIGHT and easy on even shit Blondes Do Fuck Horses in are DARK on EVEN shit BLONDES DO FUCK HORSES go LIGHT on ODD SHIT
when I learned typing, learning one letter a day was a good easy pace. I am going to learn f7 today, then, I will pick another square tomoro. Each day, you add to the base, while constantly reviewing the squares you have already committed to memory. So, as an example, one day 30, you learn the 30th square, but you review all previous 29, which, at that time, the first square (f7 in this case), has been reviewed 30 for 30 days straight. : ) It is like that old adage: how do you walk around the earth in one single day: you follow the sun, starting at morning. You start walking at sunrise, and you keep that sun locked in sight. By the end of the day, you have make your way around the entire globe, taking one step at a time.. With submission, sir, I offer that you are most welcome to borrow both my technique and my little allegory, if it so pleases you. dear sir.
Thanks for your comment. That sounds like a good idea, I just have one caution to add for anyone who would like to try it: one has to remember the color and position of the square without depending on any reference point. If one can do that in 30 days, that's great!
@@CoachRobertChess spoiler alert: f7 is a light sq : ). I will put that in my 3 dimensional space and interval to know that, in isolation, without aid of other anchor points : ) chers.
id say learn 4 squares a day, instead of it taking like 3 months itll take 2 weeks to learn the whole board, also it depends on how much time you have, if youre dedicated to chess you could probably learn the location and colour of every square in less then a week
@@pokerchannel6991 that’s not cool, you shoulda just ruined your life by taking drugs to get dopamine hits lol, But I’m all seriousness chess doesn’t really matter if you weren’t extremely passionate in the first place
Hey Robert I’ve been trying for days to see the board. But I cannot see the colours even in a 4x4 grid. It’s a complete struggle for me. I’ve gotten 35/35 in the chess-com visualisation exercise. I know where each square is and I can quickly know in my head where the square is in reference to the outside edge of the board and the centre. So I can know the position of any given coordinates fairly easily and clearly. But I cannot build the squares with colours. Please help if you can, thank you.
Hey Booni, thanks for your comment. First of all nicely done if you know how all the squares related to each other already -- I think this is the main task. You might have considered how the colors are arbitrary. We could play chess just as well without colors. So at this point you might need to know the colors because that's how people discuss chess, with reference to colors. There's a connection between the piece capabilities and color. You can see more about that in my ongoing series "The chess pieces and their personalities" and "What makes pieces major or minor". I would recommend memorizing a few key squares by brute force, like the entire first rank, the four center squares, f7, f2, c7, c2, g7, g2, b7, b2. Expand outward from those points. For example, there's a practical benefit in knowing that f7, e8, g6, h5 are all one color because of tactical patterns utilizing that diagonal. If you know how all of the squares relate, it's just a matter of time and mindfulness before you know the colors.
Thank you very much for your reply, advice and a great video. I think that’s a great idea, I’m going to learn the edges and the centre colours if I can then expand from there. However, the best grid I can manage is a 3x3 grid, I can see that in my head because it looks like the 5 on a dice. I cannot really see the board though. I cannot imagine the board as a picture that I can put into my minds eye. To be honest I can’t really imagine anything, like even an apple I struggle to hold in my head with colour and detail for more than a split second. Perhaps this is a personal deficiency that’s had it’s effect now on my chess visualisation. Or could I be missing something entirely? To be honest I can’t even really see the board when I’m looking at it, I can only process certain parts at a time, like a quadrant, or some files or diagonals. I cannot process it all at once. Is this normal or is this something I should fix before trying to see the board blindfolded? (The inability to process the whole board at onnce) I’m a 1500 in blitz and 2400 in puzzles, I feel that if I push past this barrier I can really improve my rating. So I’m going to create flash cards for the square colours so I can have them ingrained in me. But it’s a real struggle so far. Thanks again and sorry for the long reply.
A better way IMO: 1. Convert the letters into numbers (A = 1, B = 2, ..., H = 8) 2. Check if the converted number is even or odd 3. Check if the rank number is even or odd 4. If they are equal, the square will be dark, if they are different, the square will be light. Examples: a1 -> 1 1 -> odd odd -> dark a2 -> 1 2 -> odd even -> light b1 -> 2 1 -> even odd -> light b2 -> 2 2 -> even even -> dark ...
the whole point is to be able to eventually remember the entire board, not to remember how to find the actual colour of any individual square, because in an actual game you could just see the colour anyway
Hey Dimaratos, thanks for your question. I don't find the idea of talent meaningful, I only think that improvement comes with the right work, so I'd say any rating. This technique should help your visualization, so if that is what keeps your rating down you might expect an increase. However there are many factors that could be impactful besides visualization.
@@CoachRobertChess can you give me any tips please? I'm asking because i am playing many months and i am not improving at all so i want to study. Which are the right steps for me to make?
@@dimaratosgeorgiadis2672 If you like you could join a session on Twitch and we could chat, I'll be live Thursday at 22:00 EST. www.twitch.tv/chesscoachrobert
@@dimaratosgeorgiadis2672 here is a tip that will help you get better when you play chess just give away your favorite chess piece so you will have to learn to use the other piece and try chess puzzles you can download apps for it too
Faster formula: Add the numerical value of the letter of the file to the number of the rank. If the sum is even, the square is dark. If the sum is odd, the square is light. Examples: a3 = a(1) + 3 = 4 = dark c4 = c(3) + 4 = 7 = light b6 = b(2) + 6 = 8 = dark f5 = f(6) + 5 = 11 = light
hi,I have been playing chess for 1 year. I recently learned the blind flag method to improve my ability to compute variations. can you suggest me to imagine a 2d or 3d board? I usually play 3d board but I find visualizing real 3d board much harder than 2d board. do you guys think i should imagine the 2d board and imagine it when playing the 3d board? or do i have to imagine the 3d board when playing the 3d board? please give me feedback. Thank you so much.
Hello @BF Chess, it sounds like you're trying to imagine a literal board, which is a lot of work! I think you could think of chess as a language--when you use words for things you aren't imagining them in their entirety, just a symbolic representation. So I think that if you follow this method, rather than using the odd-even algorithm many users have described in the comments, you will develop a familiarity with the board and pieces that feels more like speaking a language rather than using a memory trick.
@BF Chess yes and also visualizing connections between squares like piece maneuvers. Once you get that part done well you should have a chessboard concept well defined in your mind.
@@CoachRobertChess so do you think I should imagine 2d or 3d (just pieces) because I find 2d pieces much easier to visualize but I play 3d games more often than 2d. I am afraid that imagining 2d chessboards when playing 3d chessboards will be very difficult as they seem to have no connection. this is the problem that has been bugging me for a few days now. Please give me your opinion.
Thanks for the great video. Your viewers might be interested in the book _Cognitive Chess: Improving Visualization and Calculation Skills_ by Konstantin Chernyshov. The whole book is filled with exercises that are supposed to be done without looking at a board or diagram. Some of the initial exercises are just what you are describing. But there are also exercises like this: WKg1, WRa4, WRe3, BKf8, BQb7, BRb6, BPc7, BPd6; White to move and mate in 3. Or here's another one: 1.e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Qe2 g6?? What should White move? All are to be done entirely in your head. There are some problems in the book showing diagrams, where you are to visualize and calculate into the future. I've only done the first 100 exercises (out of 750), But based on that, I would strongly recommend the book. But I'd only recommend it for experienced players, not beginners.
Just to go over his color training step. I figured out that with the numbers and letter. If even(B) with even(2), it's black (B2). If it's odd(a) with odd(1), it's black (A1). Then just swap it. Even + odd = white. Odd + even = white. I thought it was helpful to figure out the colours, then go on from there for figuring out placement and diagonal movement, etc. Hope it helps someone.
I think that's the best practice. The first part of learning the colors can easily be done with various heuristic methods. The most value is in using it as a basis for visualizing piece maneuvers.
Hi. Thanks for the amazing video. Do you think is mandatory to get super familiar with this technique to an extent you can play a game blindfold if you want to reach ELO 2000?
Hey Danilo, I don't think there are necessarily particular requirements to reach a particular rating, especially since what makes a person of a certain rating have that rating is changing as years go by. Being able to play a blindfold game or call notation and moves without looking at the board is an invaluable skill at any rating.
@@CoachRobertChess thanks for your reply. I feel though that being able to play blindfold or quickly recall moves allows you to think much faster and be more efficient.
If you give numerical value to each letter and add its value to its counter part for examples e2, e=5 2=2. You then add them together, 5+2=7 and there’s your algorithm. Odds will always be light and evens will always be dark
I think doing it manually is useful in its own right. But yes if for some reason you strongly prefer adding a computer element you could do it in various ways.
@@CoachRobertChess BTW thanks for your lessons, here is my variation of the memorization game, the computer names positions of several pieces, in writing or by telling aloud, and you have to find all pieces which are under attack in 1 move, or in 2 moves. The 1 move is trivial to implement in python, since there is a special function which finds all attacks. This game is similar to the Jonathan Levitt test, but with several pieces (only one can move at a time), and played in your mind.
8:10 disagree. once u memorized everything its the same. personally I never memorize the colors coordinates notation because the board exist by just size and 2 colors. But grouping Odds plus Odds and Evens plus evens to know that its a dark square is very efficient to just "Know" the color of each square notation. Its very logical and efficient, at least to me
maybe its because im only at ~1000 elo but i dont get it. what is the point of this for a normal game? i understand that it must be important for playing blindfolded, but if you dont want to do that why bother learning all the square colors? you see them during the game. its not like you spend time thinking about what color the square is that your piece stands on anyways, so you dont save any thinking time. what am i missing here?
Thanks for your reply. The rationale is that if you are able to play the game in blindfold fashion, the aspects of a normal chess game resembling blindfold play will come more naturally to you. Nobody spends additional time thinking about what color squares are or what their names are during a game--we only care about finding the next strong move to play. But calculation in chess resembles blindfold play, and being more familiar with the squares to the point that you can name them, their color, and where pieces could go from that point will improve your results when imagining positions that haven't happened yet. If you are at a point where you only look at one move and play it this will not help you; in that case I would recommend studying tactics and solving puzzles until you feel a need to improve your visualization.
I didn't finish the lists and even did a few wrong purposely as an example for how it would be your first time doing it :) it's good to look out for omissions and check for wrong colors after.
Hey Sam, check out my playlists that are sorted by level. Depending on where you are (starter, intermediate, advanced) I might have some advice for you. Feel free to comment with any questions.
Think of it this way; you know what even numbers are, right? 2, 4, 6 and 8. "Even' letters are B, D, F and H. If the letter and the number are the same i.e both even OR both odd - the square is black. e.g B6 is black cause B and 6 are even. C5 is black cause C and 5 are both odd. H1 is white cause H is even but 1 is odd.
Thanks for the video. Let me share something that I found useful. I was very poor at visualization in general 1. Sit in front of a painting and look at it for 5 secs and then close your eyes for 5 seconds and try to visualize the picture. Repeat this 5 sec interval repeatedly for 30min every day. At first I only saw a black screen and nothing else. Slowly within a week I was able to visualize things and they would keep improving with nuances in the painting. With eyes closed now I could picture although without nuances but now as if watching with my eyes open and not that black screen anymore. 2. Did above for a week or so with different paintings. Then I moved on to an empty chessboard. Same thing..after few days I could slowly visualize and then I moved to randomly coming up with my friend making a square like c5 and then with my eyes closed I could visualize the entire board with that square highlighted..it took me close to 2 months to get better. I did this early mornings like 30min each day..
Hey for each 30 minute session do you keep trying to visualize the same painting, or after viewing a painting for 5 seconds and trying to visualize it for another 5, do you move along to another one for the next 5 second viewing.
@@hardikjuneja5348 Oh, I was just saying that because it could seem misleading. The whole point is to connect mentally the square with the color instantly, not derive it every time
I should also add that it's never too late to enjoy chess, or much of anything in life. Even if you started at birth it's probably not very healthy for happiness to depend solely on becoming the best so it's better to enjoy the process.
I fail to see how the numbers have any connection to a play piece and it's abilities, other than telling someone else how you just moved without showing them the board... which is useful, but not really anything that would tell you how to better move... my point is, this is like thinking in one language, and telling the story in another language, it does not change the meaning of the original message, only the context for which it is told. I learned chess when I was five years old, I learned there was notation when I was 16. I saw no reason for it, and still don't, unless I want to play chess over the phone. My board/piece move visualization and has nothing to do with the names of the squares. Perhaps I learned the moves and relationships so well that the need for this exercise is mute for me. Strategy is also dependent upon a unique circumstances, and visualizing the moves does not and has never required the notations. For me, that is a step past the obvious, making it not only more work, but a step apart form strategizing. The vocabulary for pieces, knowing how they connect or are able to tangent to other locations... that might be a valued exercise, but knowing the names of the individual squares, well... if this is how far you need go to understand a piece's relationship to the board and pieces around it, you might want to learn another type game.
What's your rating? Like if you have a rating of 2200 or more, then you might be on to something. Or even a rating of 1700 maybe proves your point. But when every single gm I know of can play blindfolded, there's good evidence of a correlation between memorizing the board and playing well.
@@chrisgriffith1573 lol bro why are you so upset? I never attacked you or said you have a low rating. I simply asked a question. And I explained my logic. You're using yourself as an example that the video maker is wrong. So I said every gm I know of can do this. Therefore, for you to count as an example you would need to show that you're a good player. What better way to show you're a good player than to site your rating since you can't be a bad player with a 2200 player. 1800 is impressive. You should be proud. Now that it's clear I wasn't insulting you or trying to disrespect you, can we continue with a reasonable conversation about whether memorizing coordinates makes a player better?
@@jakeallstar1 Sorry, essentially everyone on reddits pages discounts any opinions/advice/perspectives based on level of play, which is immature, and limiting the reason of a forum to begin with.... I have played several RTS games where the same is true. My point is not that it "can" or would make any player better, but that it does not change the game, the moves or the playing field for them, only the way a person perceives the confines of the board. The idea behind board awareness is to have a fluency of unit motion relative to the board, how to fluidly move with the least amount of impedance, and project threats to your opponent in the most places at once. This divides their attention and give you (and them) multiple things to choose from as avenues to attack. the more options you have for attacks at any given time, the less certain your opponent can be of what your path is, or will be from move to move. Faining one action only to have an anterior motive behind it is the best way to set up your offense, which in limited spaces, often means defensive move should always have an offensive motive behind them. Knowing the interaction of pieces to the spacing on the board is not tied to the spaces having names, often the symmetry is mirrored by its tangental piece, like the Knights, or more critically, the Bishops. These pieces open on basic side, opposite of one another, if you ask me, it would have been more effective to number the board 1-4 at the center, then 4-1 across the middle, abcd, and back down DCBA, showing this relationship more clearly. The only thing that mixes this into a relevant relationship for things is with regard to the Knight and the Bishops, as they relate to the King and Queens positions, the player must know how Black and white squares fall (at least at first) with regard to how they affect positions for those pieces, but again, that is something that a visual inspection can reveal, and numbers and letters have only tertiary relationship to... fluency of the board is not dependent upon knowing these assignments, but it will help to illustrate things when someone joins a club, and nerds are getting on about the crap they think is so great... in the end, strategy does not depend on someone using the assignments, it is dependent on a player picking up a piece and putting it on another square, one move at a time. This little video is one thing I recently came across, and it told me that of all the strategies there ever were, are, and ever will be, we have not nor will ever scratch the surface of what possible things can or will occur from game to game... ua-cam.com/video/Km024eldY1A/v-deo.html
![Memorization is overrated in chess [starting player advice]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1QshkRBWTyQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![Memorization is overrated in chess [starting player advice]](/img/tr.png)
I memorised the whole board properly within a week with the help of this video..now i can see the board in my mind. This video is awesome
Glad to hear it! Let me know if there is anything else you want to see from my channel that I haven't already done.
I wonder did it help you with your games? Did you notice any improvement right away after doing it?
@@michaw7408 i think it helped me in calculation.. my calculation improved.. i dont know if it is because of this exercise or solving puzzle...
@TJXHT by watching this video and practicing. That's it. It just takes effort
Do we need to memorize the colour of each chess square??
(For all 64 squares)
very simple trick
all odd numbers on A C E G are Dark squares
all even numbers on B D F H are Dark squares
Also, if you translate A => 1, B => 2, C =>3 etc. It will be odd with odd is Dark, even with even Is Dark too.
Yeah but your goal isnt to know the color really, its to know its location and color with ease. To use a little mental trick to try and get the color is an unnecessary step
@@AngeloGreene exactly but this will help to kickstart location
I was using a similar trick to this until I read a few comments by some chess veterans that made me realize it was actually counterproductive to what I was trying to do which was to be able to visualize the chessboard better. The square color exercise isn't meant to see if you can figure out what color the square is by using a formula or trick it's just meant to help you start out with an easy test of your visualization of the chessboard
yes but the purpose is to "see" in your mind the color and positions of the squares and not to calculate them with these type of rules
Thanks for the clear from the beginning strategy. Trying to memorize by playing a game in your head is much harder to do without training.
When you say e4 should i immediately think white or should i think of the board and derive white?
Hey Shai, sorry I didn't see this comment before. The most efficient way to think is to know immediately that the square is light-colored; the goal of this training is to supercede the necessary initial "derivation" of the color. Once you have accomplished this your visualization will be much smoother.
This is the best advice I got for my visualisation training. Thank you very much. 😊
You're welcome!
Been playing competitive chess close to 3 decades. NOw that I’m 50yrs old realise a major weakness is board visualisation . Hence all my blunders and chess blindness. so going back to basics to learn chess visualisation. Thank you for very good starting point.
Thanks for reaching out, I hope this method is useful to you. I'm putting out some new content related to visualization and self-study in general coming up so stay tuned if you want to see more content like this.
PS: The reason I don't recommend using things like the chess.com vision feature is, you are able to see the board while you are training, which hinders the internalization process. There is also no feature for training maneuvers the way I described in the video.
It still helped me a lot if you can't immediately place the squares though without thinking, but only because I'm barely 1200
@@Calebanton Anything that helps is good!
I always knew the color of the square the hard part was having to remember the color and which file it was (a,,b,c,d..etc) SOO the way that helped me the MOST is literally think of the chess board in two quadrants left and right, when you hear the with the first letter, if it's e or greater it's on one half of the board and if it's d or less its on that half of the board, then just think of the rank 1-8, ex. im white d6 (d=left,6=rank) only have 4 squares to visualize in my mind (a6,b6,c6,d,6) and let muscle memory just know which of those 4 squares it is
Sold! And actually, I quite like the algorithm method (a,c,e,g/1,3,5,7) -- for my head, that just works. This video lit up a dozen ideas all at once... Subscribed ;-)
Thanks for subscribing! Let me know if there's any topic you would like to see a lesson for.
Using the "tricks" might be a good way to check your guesses without needing a board. This way you can do it wherever you are, and it possibly could help you internalize the squares just a little bit more.
Checking yourself with tricks is a good idea, I agree.
Really helpful. I can already tell the colours 100%, but the extra step of moving pieces accurately is more of a challenge. That's my homework for the next few weeks! I play on a braille board, and this is a skill I need before I go even blinder. Thanks a lot for this, it's very helpful.
I'm glad that this technique is helpful to you. I'm not sure if you're a tournament player but if not I encourage you to start! I've seen some accommodations made for blind players that enabled them to impress the chess world with their skill.
@@CoachRobertChess I'm actually starting in October, when my local chess club starts up again! The club organiser introduced me to the other players and I had some friendly matches with the tactile board and a voice recorder so I can record my moves, and I am just waiting on a clock I can use.
This is such a comprehensive way to memorize the board. Thank you.
You're welcome!
God bless you sir. I’ve been struggling, and my memory has plateaued, or so I thought. But I was able to memorize this at my age, very quickly, and intuitively. Thank you 🙏
I'm glad it worked for you! Let me know if there's anything else you're working on in chess that I don't have a video for, I'll think about putting something together.
Thanx a lot for that, at the beginning i thought it was difficult to memorise the whole board, but it was easy, this excercise is one level up from that, remember the color also!
I'm glad it helped you despite my apparently ambiguous explanations :) Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see. I make all kinds of instructional chess content.
@@CoachRobertChess playing for about a month everyday and my elo is close to 900, but it seems that its hard to raise it more than that, not sure what is the best option, i m trying everything and see what works!
@@dimifisher7942 to get even better go allways go back to your games and analize them, find your mistakes
Insightful video. Thanks.
Thanks, Coach Robert!
I'm glad you liked this method to use color to memorize the board itself rather than the algorithm to decide what color the square is :)
Thanks for the information
Instead of having to rely upon an algorithm to check your answer or trying to guess the color of random squares "another game" might be to start at a1 and call out all the dark squares going up and down across the board or right the left going up the board. That will help to memorise all the dark square. By inference all the other squares must be light. Its a bit like learning the 2 times tables you start with sequential adding and then jump to "and the next number is..." to being able to just double any number you are given.
But when you go in order there is a tendency to fall into the pattern without remembering the name and color out of context of a sequence.
@@CoachRobertChess Not quite. You are focusing on one color only and you are skipping over all the light squares. So this method builds familiarity by memorising just the dark squares; so when you call out a square you "know" whether it is light or dark. Unlike memorising the 2 times table which is a sequential list you are memorising this sequence in two ways (up and down and left and right). As the squares become more embedded in memory it becomes easier to work from a known square to an unknown square. i.e. 6x2 = 12 therefore 7x2 = 14 (c.f d4 = dark so up dark is d6 or right dark is f4). With repetition these 'number facts' all get memorised just like 'knowing' which squares are dark (and therefore by default which squares are light).
P.S I have just tried memorising the 16 dark square columns that all start on rank 1; they are {A;C;E;G}{1;3;5;7} - it was almost too easy.
The following googlesheet command allows me to test that I can tell the difference between the white and dark squares in columns A;C;E;G: =CONCATENATE(CHOOSE(RANDBETWEEN(1,4),"a","c","e","g"),CHOOSE(RANDBETWEEN(1,8),1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8))
Given those 32 square combinations I can distinguish with 100% accuracy which are light or dark almost without thinking.
So I will let that just bed into memory over the next day or two and then learn the other 16 dark squares that all start on rank 2 which are {B;D;F;H}{2;4;6;8}.
That will mean I then 'know' all the 32 dark squares on the board and have them all memorised.
best video I've seen on this matter so far.
Thank you good sir for this video.. i hope i will get better at chess through this concepts
Don't forget to enjoy the process. :)
Every morning I have been doing this mentally lately. I want to visualize the color of each square in my mind perfectly. I instantly know where the square is if I have the coordinates but it takes a moment to figure out what color it is for some reason.
As you do it more you should get faster. If it helps you could start with a smaller portion of the board to get very familiar with it and establish a baseline, then expand outwards until you have the whole board. For playing purposes we only care about knowing all 64 squares, but if you get very good you can tell the color of even squares that don't exist (z525600 is dark).
@@CoachRobertChess I hope so. I think it has to be beneficial for my mind and chess abilities to perform such activities. lol @ z525600 very impressive.
@@THEONLYDANNYA lol z525600
@@CoachRobertChessno it is light, remember the algorithm you taught us😊? Z is 26 letter so it is even and the no. You mentioned ends witha zero so it is even as well so it is a light square
*Me frantically in the beginning using your first selections of random squares as my initial quiz, and just taking my pawn and putting it on the square*
I think tha best simplification of a pattern goes like that - ALL even squares are dark, ie A1 = 1+1 = Dark, H7 = 7+8 = Odd = Light
Great method man .... I loved it !
Thanks, I'm glad it worked for you too. Let me know if there is anything else you'd like to see on my channel.
interesting idea! I've been doing coordinates on lichess.
Random coordinates fired off and 30 seconds to click on as many as possible.
Already up from 8 to about 2 x that. Mind you Andrew Tang gets like 100+ ツ
I can get as many as I can click in that one, I'm pretty slow clicking though! I could probably do like 30, not sure. But I don't think it really helps since it's easy to tell what color a square is when you look at it.
I realised that if both the number and letter is even or odd then it's a dark square. If one letter/number is odd and the other is even, then it is a light square.
Perfect Thank you so much 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Glad it helped! Should work better than using an algorithm in practice.
really helpful thanks
Hi Robert, thanks for the insightful video. I really like the idea of visualising a chessboard and believe that it is one of the most essential skills for becoming better at chess. I am kinda struggling with the first step though, as I don't see how simply 'guess and check' can learn you how to visualise the board. I feel like that by doing this, you learn a question -> answer kinda prompt and no actual visualisation. But I must be wrong about this, as many competent chess coaches like yourself recommend this as training. I just don' t see the point of it.
Hey Raf, thanks for your feedback. It is important to take time and make effort to see the square and what color it is before you make your guess, and then internalize the correct answer when you check. If you just randomly guess and then see the answer and move on it will be useless practice of an algorithm as you said. It is important to develop familiarity with the board and this develops over the repeated interactions of trying to imagine it and then seeing what it is actually like.
Loved you in game of thrones!❤
What can I say, I do it for the fans.
Really helpful, appreciate it👍
P.s subscribed for future content🤩
Thanks! I'm planning to shift towards making more content like this but less frequently, I'm glad it was helpful.
Extraordinaria visión didáctica,es un tema esencial para cualquier jugador y es fundamental conocer el terreno donde se juega la partida,felicitaciones coach Robert de cd Juárez chihuahua
Gracias Juan, bueno verte en el comments :)
Thank you so much for sharing
Enjoy!
Hey coach, thanks for the help. Was wondering what your thoughts on the new Netflix show the queens gambit were
I haven't seen it yet (don't watch shows much) but I might change that in January when I have some free time. What do you think of it?
@@CoachRobertChess Lol sorry to butt in, The queens gambit is very good i would suggest it too :)
Update: have seen it, would recommend. Chess is fairly accurate, even the unflattering parts, nice to see representation from a perspective besides privileged male child prodigy.
Do I have to memorise the visualisation again from the black side. I mean, do I have to do 2 times, one from white side and other from black side ?
I think you forgot Qb8 in that last one? It can only go one diagonal in that direction so it's easy to overlook.
I put a few errors in as a sample of how it might go if somebody is doing it for the first time and improving on each new attempt. :)
Just like in learning any musical instruments, you need to know where the keys are.
what do you think about memorizing the colours of, for example, a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1 and then for instance g7, i already know that g1 is black which means g7 is also black because 1 and 7 are both odd?
I don't know why I am so excited but it seems I also have the same kind of visual approach to chess.
The second thing that you did was something I had found myself and still I am not sure whether to use it or not.
Odd+odd or Even+Even = dark square. otherwise, it's a light square. I also liked to think that the ACTUAL squares on the board are 10. All the others are symmetrical. a1, a8, h1, h8 are the same square. But b1, b8, g1, g8, a2, h2, a7, h7 are also one square. If you do it for all the squares, ten squares remain.
Deep down I wish the squares started at zero and that there were no letters, but you can't change history.
Yet.
While we're here I'd like to congratulate you on your choice of "wish you were here" profile picture.
Haha, thanks :) By the way I came up with another idea and \i was researching if sbdy actually had thought of/developed it before: What if EVERY square had a name. A REAL name. But: black for Men names and White for Women's. Also, If it belongs to the D file, the name should start with a D. eg. D1, Diana. D2, David. To me this is more easy.
@@achessplayer6288 As long as f7 is Freddy I'm game.
@@CoachRobertChess hahahah a1 Alexander, b2 Boris, C3 Cesar, D4 David, E5 Eric F6 Francis, G7 Gabriel, H8 Henry, is my long diagonal till now
The programmer automatically defaults to determining the color with a parity check (row number + column number) % 2
exactly what i was looking for
Glad it worked best for you!
Thank you for this tutorial, do you also have one on being able to point at a square and naming the coordinates? That would be very helpful for me.
I think that if you follow this method you will by default be able to name the squares. If this is difficult as a first step maybe spend more time on the initial phase of naming a few reference squares and their colors and expanding to encompass the whole board a little bit on each iterations. The corners (a1, a8, h1, h8) and center squares (e4, d4, e5, d5) are especially easy to remember and relevant in beginner practice. While it doesn't help with blindfold calculation, a training wheels approach would be to mentally count over and up from a1 when naming any given square. For example, to name f3, you would visualize the board (or do it while looking if this is difficult still) and count over from a1: you could say a1, b1, c1, d4, e1, f1, then go up, f2, f3.
Great stuff
Thank you, and thanks for subscribing! If you're on Discord feel free to connect on my server discord.gg/Bv3KqvfE
The problem I face when visualising a chessboard is that I tend to focus on one area and lose track of the rest. I can't watch the whole board in my mind. This causes me to do blunders in blindfold games. How do I solve this problem?
@Parker Productions Thanks, that does make sense. Even I read somewhere that every move should have a purpose, and be part of a plan rather than randomly moving around.
Ask yourself questions about the edge squares. 'what pieces can see h6? How many pieces are attacking a7? How many pieces are defending h5? Etc.
This is awesome. The other videos i found the creators had accents and talked really fast .
Thank you
Thanks :) It's funny how I made this on the fly a couple years ago and now it's my biggest video to date -- and I think it's not even my best content!
I solemnly swear that Im not gonna do those weird stuff such as talking to myself and pointing fingers when imaging of variations in chess in public area ! And I will my calculation normal in good way , all my calculation will be in my mind!
Good, I don't want to hear a word from you in the playing hall! And most of all... do not be that guy who has to Touch. The. Squares. to calculate. If I catch anyone hunched over the board with all ten fingers on various squares muttering variations I'll have to turn them in to the authorities.
@@CoachRobertChess 🤣🤣🤣
Lets say each letter has a corresponding number from a-h that is 1-8 the letters like a c e g are odd and b d f h are even. Then if the letter is even and the number is even then the square is dark and if the letter is odd and the number is odd the square is dark
Sometimes as a chess player one loses hope. after alot of defeats
i'm grateful coz he didn't violate the colorblind community guidelines
Thanks, I try to be conscientious about this. I am also making some new content that requires no audio at all.
@@CoachRobertChess that's so cool man. keep making awesome videos.
You only need to memorize row 1 and row 2, from a to h, and the rest of the board is just odd number row vs even number row, which repeats row 1 and row 2.
Even/Even & Odd/Odd = Dark Squares. Even/Odd & Odd/Even = Light Squares. For example c6 (Odd/Even) = Light, g7 (Odd/Odd) = Dark. I find this method super easy and quick!
i did think about this too its ez and fast. i got all of them right
The aim of this is to see the squares and the board in your mind and with this trick it will not help you a lot
Qb8 is missing at the end. Very nice video tho 👌
Is there any website or app that has a feature like the one you mentioned? I'm a mobile software engineer so I'm thinking about making a practice game for this
Not exactly like this as far as I know. If you do develop something I'd appreciate an appropriate acknowledgment :)
@@CoachRobertChess Yep I'd be sure to credit you. I'll try to whip something up in the next few weeks
@@Omsamara6 Sounds great, I'm sure many people here will want to hear how they can get ahold of it.
I find that I always play black. I find that visualizing the board from the black side is different than visualizing from the white side. I am starting with memorizing f7 is light, c7 is dark. I can picture those squares.
There's a lot of action on f7 and c7 in the first games we play starting out. How did the visualization go?
I remember them by this method
Aceg the letter are dark
The rest of the letters are light and then comes the nomber if the nombre is pair you have o reverse the color and if the nombre is impair you let the color like it is exemple a3 a is part of Aceg wish mean the color of a1 is dark and we have 3 is a impair nombre wish mean we will let the same color we can say that a3 is dark too
Don't understand?
What is the utility the remember the color of a square verbally if you must visualize visually?
Good question, thanks for asking. I'm not a neuroscientist but my lay understanding of it is that if you can connect the concept with more senses/actions it reinforces the memory and speed and accuracy of recall. A popular psychology explanation is given in Gladwell's book "Blink" if you want to look into it more without delving into academic papers.
@@CoachRobertChess Thanks
@@CoachRobertChess Is it the same if I memorize the the squares in brown and yellow colors? Can verbal memorization really help visually visualize the chessboard in your head as a picture?
Did it help you, if yes in what?
Thanks for the attention
@@jeffbezos3942 Literally recently got into chess and wondering how your chess board visualisation has come along since you began trying these methods?
@@Pauly03 I didn't finished them because my verbal memory is not that great I still have a lot of squares to memorize and a lot of diagonals, so for the moment no results I will see in the future
some guy in new york taught me this
ACE Gangsters go DARK on ODD shit
ACE Gangsters go LIGHT and easy on even shit
Blondes Do Fuck Horses in are DARK on EVEN shit
BLONDES DO FUCK HORSES go LIGHT on ODD SHIT
when I learned typing, learning one letter a day was a good easy pace. I am going to learn f7 today, then, I will pick another square tomoro. Each day, you add to the base, while constantly reviewing the squares you have already committed to memory. So, as an example, one day 30, you learn the 30th square, but you review all previous 29, which, at that time, the first square (f7 in this case), has been reviewed 30 for 30 days straight. : ) It is like that old adage: how do you walk around the earth in one single day: you follow the sun, starting at morning. You start walking at sunrise, and you keep that sun locked in sight. By the end of the day, you have make your way around the entire globe, taking one step at a time.. With submission, sir, I offer that you are most welcome to borrow both my technique and my little allegory, if it so pleases you. dear sir.
Thanks for your comment. That sounds like a good idea, I just have one caution to add for anyone who would like to try it: one has to remember the color and position of the square without depending on any reference point. If one can do that in 30 days, that's great!
@@CoachRobertChess spoiler alert: f7 is a light sq : ). I will put that in my 3 dimensional space and interval to know that, in isolation, without aid of other anchor points : ) chers.
id say learn 4 squares a day, instead of it taking like 3 months itll take 2 weeks to learn the whole board, also it depends on how much time you have, if youre dedicated to chess you could probably learn the location and colour of every square in less then a week
@@MUIDYLANICE yeah, I burnt out already. No longer doing any chess. due to burned out
@@pokerchannel6991 that’s not cool, you shoulda just ruined your life by taking drugs to get dopamine hits lol,
But I’m all seriousness chess doesn’t really matter if you weren’t extremely passionate in the first place
Good video ... consider having the list done ahead of time ...
I did this one on a whim so I wasn't very prepared, but my other videos mostly have pre-organized content. Thanks for the suggestion.
He is a coder by nature
This is probably true.
This video is great! There's some apps now that can help you learn this. If you have more time with a smartphone
Which ones do you like?
@@CoachRobertChess I've only used one. "Chess Notation" and it's really not that great. Simple enough to work though!
Práctico método de enseñanza y muy útil para empezar a memorizar el tablero,piezas y maniobras, gracias dé Cd Juárez Chihuahua México
Qb8 , tricky square. I also missed it
Hey Robert I’ve been trying for days to see the board. But I cannot see the colours even in a 4x4 grid. It’s a complete struggle for me.
I’ve gotten 35/35 in the chess-com visualisation exercise. I know where each square is and I can quickly know in my head where the square is in reference to the outside edge of the board and the centre. So I can know the position of any given coordinates fairly easily and clearly.
But I cannot build the squares with colours. Please help if you can, thank you.
Hey Booni, thanks for your comment. First of all nicely done if you know how all the squares related to each other already -- I think this is the main task. You might have considered how the colors are arbitrary. We could play chess just as well without colors. So at this point you might need to know the colors because that's how people discuss chess, with reference to colors. There's a connection between the piece capabilities and color. You can see more about that in my ongoing series "The chess pieces and their personalities" and "What makes pieces major or minor". I would recommend memorizing a few key squares by brute force, like the entire first rank, the four center squares, f7, f2, c7, c2, g7, g2, b7, b2. Expand outward from those points. For example, there's a practical benefit in knowing that f7, e8, g6, h5 are all one color because of tactical patterns utilizing that diagonal. If you know how all of the squares relate, it's just a matter of time and mindfulness before you know the colors.
Thank you very much for your reply, advice and a great video. I think that’s a great idea, I’m going to learn the edges and the centre colours if I can then expand from there. However, the best grid I can manage is a 3x3 grid, I can see that in my head because it looks like the 5 on a dice.
I cannot really see the board though. I cannot imagine the board as a picture that I can put into my minds eye. To be honest I can’t really imagine anything, like even an apple I struggle to hold in my head with colour and detail for more than a split second. Perhaps this is a personal deficiency that’s had it’s effect now on my chess visualisation. Or could I be missing something entirely?
To be honest I can’t even really see the board when I’m looking at it, I can only process certain parts at a time, like a quadrant, or some files or diagonals. I cannot process it all at once. Is this normal or is this something I should fix before trying to see the board blindfolded? (The inability to process the whole board at onnce)
I’m a 1500 in blitz and 2400 in puzzles, I feel that if I push past this barrier I can really improve my rating. So I’m going to create flash cards for the square colours so I can have them ingrained in me. But it’s a real struggle so far.
Thanks again and sorry for the long reply.
A better way IMO:
1. Convert the letters into numbers (A = 1, B = 2, ..., H = 8)
2. Check if the converted number is even or odd
3. Check if the rank number is even or odd
4. If they are equal, the square will be dark, if they are different, the square will be light.
Examples:
a1 -> 1 1 -> odd odd -> dark
a2 -> 1 2 -> odd even -> light
b1 -> 2 1 -> even odd -> light
b2 -> 2 2 -> even even -> dark
...
the whole point is to be able to eventually remember the entire board, not to remember how to find the actual colour of any individual square, because in an actual game you could just see the colour anyway
I have one question, what is the max rating that everyone can reach with practice?
Hey Dimaratos, thanks for your question. I don't find the idea of talent meaningful, I only think that improvement comes with the right work, so I'd say any rating. This technique should help your visualization, so if that is what keeps your rating down you might expect an increase. However there are many factors that could be impactful besides visualization.
@@CoachRobertChess can you give me any tips please? I'm asking because i am playing many months and i am not improving at all so i want to study. Which are the right steps for me to make?
@@dimaratosgeorgiadis2672 If you like you could join a session on Twitch and we could chat, I'll be live Thursday at 22:00 EST. www.twitch.tv/chesscoachrobert
@@dimaratosgeorgiadis2672 here is a tip that will help you get better when you play chess just give away your favorite chess piece so you will have to learn to use the other piece and try chess puzzles you can download apps for it too
Thanks Good video queen b8 also
Glad you like it! I am putting out some more content about learning and memorization in chess soon so stay tuned.
Guys just use the memory palace and you can make better patterns to memorize the board.
This is basically a memory palace technique. Obviously having an algorithm to decide what color things should be is easy.
tanks good option
Faster formula: Add the numerical value of the letter of the file to the number of the rank. If the sum is even, the square is dark. If the sum is odd, the square is light.
Examples:
a3 = a(1) + 3 = 4 = dark
c4 = c(3) + 4 = 7 = light
b6 = b(2) + 6 = 8 = dark
f5 = f(6) + 5 = 11 = light
perfect timing thank you
hi,I have been playing chess for 1 year. I recently learned the blind flag method to improve my ability to compute variations. can you suggest me to imagine a 2d or 3d board? I usually play 3d board but I find visualizing real 3d board much harder than 2d board. do you guys think i should imagine the 2d board and imagine it when playing the 3d board? or do i have to imagine the 3d board when playing the 3d board? please give me feedback. Thank you so much.
Hello @BF Chess, it sounds like you're trying to imagine a literal board, which is a lot of work! I think you could think of chess as a language--when you use words for things you aren't imagining them in their entirety, just a symbolic representation. So I think that if you follow this method, rather than using the odd-even algorithm many users have described in the comments, you will develop a familiarity with the board and pieces that feels more like speaking a language rather than using a memory trick.
@@CoachRobertChess you mean i should try intermediate steps like coordinates, colors, pieces when there is no board.. right?
@BF Chess yes and also visualizing connections between squares like piece maneuvers. Once you get that part done well you should have a chessboard concept well defined in your mind.
@@CoachRobertChess so do you think I should imagine 2d or 3d (just pieces) because I find 2d pieces much easier to visualize but I play 3d games more often than 2d. I am afraid that imagining 2d chessboards when playing 3d chessboards will be very difficult as they seem to have no connection. this is the problem that has been bugging me for a few days now. Please give me your opinion.
@BF Chess I think 2d is good enough, it will just take practice to get good at transitioning from online to real chess.
They should make chess board with 8 colors instead of 2
Hey get some markers out and make it happen!
I'm going blind, (hence why I'm here, memorising the board before I am totally blind.) please no more colours! Gah! !
Thanks for the great video. Your viewers might be interested in the book _Cognitive Chess: Improving Visualization and Calculation Skills_ by Konstantin Chernyshov. The whole book is filled with exercises that are supposed to be done without looking at a board or diagram. Some of the initial exercises are just what you are describing. But there are also exercises like this: WKg1, WRa4, WRe3, BKf8, BQb7, BRb6, BPc7, BPd6; White to move and mate in 3. Or here's another one: 1.e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Qe2 g6?? What should White move? All are to be done entirely in your head. There are some problems in the book showing diagrams, where you are to visualize and calculate into the future. I've only done the first 100 exercises (out of 750), But based on that, I would strongly recommend the book. But I'd only recommend it for experienced players, not beginners.
Just to go over his color training step. I figured out that with the numbers and letter. If even(B) with even(2), it's black (B2). If it's odd(a) with odd(1), it's black (A1). Then just swap it. Even + odd = white. Odd + even = white. I thought it was helpful to figure out the colours, then go on from there for figuring out placement and diagonal movement, etc. Hope it helps someone.
I think that's the best practice. The first part of learning the colors can easily be done with various heuristic methods. The most value is in using it as a basis for visualizing piece maneuvers.
Yea, like he said, it's kind of useless information but it is pretty fascinating
So that a,c,e,g and 1,3,5,7 b6?
Hi. Thanks for the amazing video. Do you think is mandatory to get super familiar with this technique to an extent you can play a game blindfold if you want to reach ELO 2000?
Hey Danilo, I don't think there are necessarily particular requirements to reach a particular rating, especially since what makes a person of a certain rating have that rating is changing as years go by. Being able to play a blindfold game or call notation and moves without looking at the board is an invaluable skill at any rating.
@@CoachRobertChess thanks for your reply. I feel though that being able to play blindfold or quickly recall moves allows you to think much faster and be more efficient.
@@DagonFF Of course, and it may be what you need to reach a certain level, but it's probably not what everyone needs to reach that level.
If you give numerical value to each letter and add its value to its counter part for examples e2, e=5 2=2. You then add them together, 5+2=7 and there’s your algorithm. Odds will always be light and evens will always be dark
While this is true it's not the point of the video.
you can use the python chess library to create these exercises ...
I think doing it manually is useful in its own right. But yes if for some reason you strongly prefer adding a computer element you could do it in various ways.
@@CoachRobertChess BTW thanks for your lessons, here is my variation of the memorization game, the computer names positions of several pieces, in writing or by telling aloud, and you have to find all pieces which are under attack in 1 move, or in 2 moves. The 1 move is trivial to implement in python, since there is a special function which finds all attacks. This game is similar to the Jonathan Levitt test, but with several pieces (only one can move at a time), and played in your mind.
My brain hurts
GUESS AND CHECK GUESS AND CHECK GUESS AND CHECK
*starts rousing guess and check chant*
Dear Teams its Difficult for me solve puzzles in blindfolds need advise or Video course as well
Try starting with one move puzzles to checkmate and work your way up to things that are not mate, then two moves, etc.
8:10 disagree. once u memorized everything its the same. personally I never memorize the colors coordinates notation because the board exist by just size and 2 colors. But grouping Odds plus Odds and Evens plus evens to know that its a dark square is very efficient to just "Know" the color of each square notation. Its very logical and efficient, at least to me
I would agree with you if the task were just to associate the colors and not use it in the chess game on a subconscious level.
i have the opposite of a photographic memory i cant visualize anything 😢
What about Qb8 ;)
Ty
You're welcome!
@@CoachRobertChess How can I get coaching with you?
@@zr0ll99 Thanks for your interest! Let's talk on Discord. Here's a join link for my server, we can get in touch once you join discord.gg/Ug4bbp9h
Q b8
maybe its because im only at ~1000 elo but i dont get it. what is the point of this for a normal game? i understand that it must be important for playing blindfolded, but if you dont want to do that why bother learning all the square colors? you see them during the game. its not like you spend time thinking about what color the square is that your piece stands on anyways, so you dont save any thinking time. what am i missing here?
Thanks for your reply. The rationale is that if you are able to play the game in blindfold fashion, the aspects of a normal chess game resembling blindfold play will come more naturally to you. Nobody spends additional time thinking about what color squares are or what their names are during a game--we only care about finding the next strong move to play. But calculation in chess resembles blindfold play, and being more familiar with the squares to the point that you can name them, their color, and where pieces could go from that point will improve your results when imagining positions that haven't happened yet. If you are at a point where you only look at one move and play it this will not help you; in that case I would recommend studying tactics and solving puzzles until you feel a need to improve your visualization.
@@CoachRobertChess totally agree
What about Qb8?
I didn't finish the lists and even did a few wrong purposely as an example for how it would be your first time doing it :) it's good to look out for omissions and check for wrong colors after.
I've benn bullied in my recent chess game dude don't know what to do
Hey Sam, check out my playlists that are sorted by level. Depending on where you are (starter, intermediate, advanced) I might have some advice for you. Feel free to comment with any questions.
@@CoachRobertChess Thanks bro
Think of it this way; you know what even numbers are, right? 2, 4, 6 and 8. "Even' letters are B, D, F and H. If the letter and the number are the same i.e both even OR both odd - the square is black. e.g B6 is black cause B and 6 are even. C5 is black cause C and 5 are both odd. H1 is white cause H is even but 1 is odd.
lol hes looking and writing the colours
I even deliberately got one wrong so do you really think so? :)
How I memorize
A C E G are dark if even number then they’re white colour
B D F H White if even then black
Anyone else watching in 2024?
I'm still making new content, maybe I'll follow up with Part 2 soon!
You missed Queen B8
I figured I'd miss or skip something since I don't really plan my videos out. Nice that you were paying attention enough to see though!
B8
Thanks for the video. Let me share something that I found useful. I was very poor at visualization in general
1. Sit in front of a painting and look at it for 5 secs and then close your eyes for 5 seconds and try to visualize the picture. Repeat this 5 sec interval repeatedly for 30min every day. At first I only saw a black screen and nothing else. Slowly within a week I was able to visualize things and they would keep improving with nuances in the painting. With eyes closed now I could picture although without nuances but now as if watching with my eyes open and not that black screen anymore.
2. Did above for a week or so with different paintings. Then I moved on to an empty chessboard. Same thing..after few days I could slowly visualize and then I moved to randomly coming up with my friend making a square like c5 and then with my eyes closed I could visualize the entire board with that square highlighted..it took me close to 2 months to get better. I did this early mornings like 30min each day..
Hey for each 30 minute session do you keep trying to visualize the same painting, or after viewing a painting for 5 seconds and trying to visualize it for another 5, do you move along to another one for the next 5 second viewing.
odd/odd, even/even = black; odd/even = white
Just sum up the digits of a square if its even its black if odd then white 😂😂😂😂
That's not the point
@@Calebanton that's not the point but that's for some noobs or beginners I am a advanced player and I already can play blindfolded
@@hardikjuneja5348 Oh, I was just saying that because it could seem misleading. The whole point is to connect mentally the square with the color instantly, not derive it every time
Is age 15 too late to play chess
I taught myself to play at 15.
I should also add that it's never too late to enjoy chess, or much of anything in life. Even if you started at birth it's probably not very healthy for happiness to depend solely on becoming the best so it's better to enjoy the process.
@@CoachRobertChess that's ture
@@CoachRobertChess tnx for replying
I fail to see how the numbers have any connection to a play piece and it's abilities, other than telling someone else how you just moved without showing them the board... which is useful, but not really anything that would tell you how to better move... my point is, this is like thinking in one language, and telling the story in another language, it does not change the meaning of the original message, only the context for which it is told. I learned chess when I was five years old, I learned there was notation when I was 16. I saw no reason for it, and still don't, unless I want to play chess over the phone. My board/piece move visualization and has nothing to do with the names of the squares. Perhaps I learned the moves and relationships so well that the need for this exercise is mute for me. Strategy is also dependent upon a unique circumstances, and visualizing the moves does not and has never required the notations. For me, that is a step past the obvious, making it not only more work, but a step apart form strategizing. The vocabulary for pieces, knowing how they connect or are able to tangent to other locations... that might be a valued exercise, but knowing the names of the individual squares, well... if this is how far you need go to understand a piece's relationship to the board and pieces around it, you might want to learn another type game.
What's your rating? Like if you have a rating of 2200 or more, then you might be on to something. Or even a rating of 1700 maybe proves your point. But when every single gm I know of can play blindfolded, there's good evidence of a correlation between memorizing the board and playing well.
@@jakeallstar1 SIte you source that a rating is the basis for logic.
It happens to be 1800... STFU
@@chrisgriffith1573 lol bro why are you so upset? I never attacked you or said you have a low rating. I simply asked a question. And I explained my logic. You're using yourself as an example that the video maker is wrong. So I said every gm I know of can do this. Therefore, for you to count as an example you would need to show that you're a good player. What better way to show you're a good player than to site your rating since you can't be a bad player with a 2200 player.
1800 is impressive. You should be proud. Now that it's clear I wasn't insulting you or trying to disrespect you, can we continue with a reasonable conversation about whether memorizing coordinates makes a player better?
@@jakeallstar1 Sorry, essentially everyone on reddits pages discounts any opinions/advice/perspectives based on level of play, which is immature, and limiting the reason of a forum to begin with.... I have played several RTS games where the same is true. My point is not that it "can" or would make any player better, but that it does not change the game, the moves or the playing field for them, only the way a person perceives the confines of the board. The idea behind board awareness is to have a fluency of unit motion relative to the board, how to fluidly move with the least amount of impedance, and project threats to your opponent in the most places at once. This divides their attention and give you (and them) multiple things to choose from as avenues to attack. the more options you have for attacks at any given time, the less certain your opponent can be of what your path is, or will be from move to move. Faining one action only to have an anterior motive behind it is the best way to set up your offense, which in limited spaces, often means defensive move should always have an offensive motive behind them. Knowing the interaction of pieces to the spacing on the board is not tied to the spaces having names, often the symmetry is mirrored by its tangental piece, like the Knights, or more critically, the Bishops. These pieces open on basic side, opposite of one another, if you ask me, it would have been more effective to number the board 1-4 at the center, then 4-1 across the middle, abcd, and back down DCBA, showing this relationship more clearly. The only thing that mixes this into a relevant relationship for things is with regard to the Knight and the Bishops, as they relate to the King and Queens positions, the player must know how Black and white squares fall (at least at first) with regard to how they affect positions for those pieces, but again, that is something that a visual inspection can reveal, and numbers and letters have only tertiary relationship to... fluency of the board is not dependent upon knowing these assignments, but it will help to illustrate things when someone joins a club, and nerds are getting on about the crap they think is so great... in the end, strategy does not depend on someone using the assignments, it is dependent on a player picking up a piece and putting it on another square, one move at a time.
This little video is one thing I recently came across, and it told me that of all the strategies there ever were, are, and ever will be, we have not nor will ever scratch the surface of what possible things can or will occur from game to game...
ua-cam.com/video/Km024eldY1A/v-deo.html
Nope
Is there any course or playlist for easy to tough level chess practice for beginners.?
I have playlists sorted by level and topic.