Holistic Chess (Torr on survey. Part 6)

Torr on Survey
Part 6. Holistic Chess.

[The survey form] [1. The Mission] [2. Use a Database !] [3. Devote Yourself !] [4. Sour Losers] [5. Flexible concentration] [6. Holistic Chess] [7. Why move at all ?] [8. The Tutorr's 15 Guidelines] [9. Feedback page] [10. Downloads]

Visualize more !?
Do you calculate variations "on the board" or "in your head" ? The data from survey question 32 give some interesting results as you may see, now, in Table 32. It appears that there is a positive correlation between rating and the tendency to calculate "in the head" - to visualize (note: you also calculate with your brain, of course, when you calculate "on the board"). Roughly fifty percent (50 %) of the experts visualize as compared to only 23 % of those rated below 1600. Thus, it is tempting to suggest that you should try to visualize more during calculations. However, since half of the experts calculate "on the board" it makes no sense to formulate an expert habit about this behaviour. At best, we can state that some players may improve their chess by increasing their powers of visualization - increasing their abilities to calculate variations in the head. You may consider, just for a moment now, what this implies to you.

Use your experience often-always !
We discovered in article 4 that you should use your lost games even more to improve your chess (i.e. analyze the games carefully and learn from your mistakes). The survey question 33 measured a players general tendency to use past experience. The results from the survey are striking (please refer to Table 33). In a position, 80 % of the experts use their experience often/always as compared to only 31 % of those rated below 1600. The general trend in Table 33 is unmistakable: There is a very positve correlation between rating and inclination to use past experience. There may be many reasons and explanations to these results, however, here it will merely be stressed that obviously the experts utilize memory and past learnings more in the present state (position) than the weaker players - and that in a perhaps more creative and successful manner. Thus, the experts' habit. no. 12 states:

Use your experience more !

             Q33. I use my past experience:
           almost never (1) often (3) always (4)

Rated sub-1600
           Q33: rated sub-1600

Rated above 2400
        Q33: rating above 2400

    Q34. The most important for a chessplayer is:
1. Tactics   2. Positional understanding
3. Pattern recognition

                     Rated sub-1600
             Q34: rated sub-1600

                    Rated 1900-2100
             Q34: rated 1900-2100

                      Rated above 2400
         Q34: rated above 2400

Holistic Chess - and baroque fuges
We discussed tactics, positional understanding, pattern recognition, and related subjects to some extend in article 5. The survey questions 34 and 35 directly measured a players preference towards these skills - the results are given in Tables 34-35. Please dwell a second at the Tables. Taken together the data suggest that the experts evenly consider either positional understanding or pattern recognition as the most important skill, whereas tactics clearly is the secondmost important skill. The experts' views are somewhat different to the pack of the players - there is a clear trend in the Tables - hence, we can state the experts' habit no. 13 :

Positional understanding comes first

pattern recognition comes second

tactics comes third

Just to remind you, we have previously discussed the importance of positional understanding in relation to studying chess (article 3).

Now, clearly an expert chessplayer must master all these skills mentioned above (as also discussed in article 5) (this is evident considering all the topics typically taught in chessbooks and considering common chess theory). In fact, many of the thought processes related to each skill can hardly be separated either in time (they may occur simultaneously to a large extend) nor by nature (there is no such compound as a 'tactics neurotransmitter' - though it would be cool). Furthermore, there are probably loops in the thought processes related to each skill and in the manner the individual processes (skills) relate to and influence each other (as indicated by research by Dr. Reinhard Munzert in Schachpsychologie, Beyer Verlag, ISBN 3-89168-045-7). Chess skills can be thought of like music themes and voices, as in a baroque fuge by J.S. Bach, playing their own parts in their own tempi, interchanging with each other, altering the meaning of each other, and so forth, but still defining an overall composition and a kontrapunkt - defining the devine unification of the voices. Thus, you might understand why we could speak of holistic chess. All chess skills are important - and all must be considered.

Chess skills.....fuge voices......
Your chess skills play delightfully together

Chaos theory - improve your chess in n dimensions
As a player improves his chess strength the nature and perhaps the extend of these thought processes must develop and increase. The 'dimensions' for this growth can be visualized to lay both within the skills themselves but also, in a subtle manner, in new unique dimensions as development occurs. The new dimensions both contain all the current leanings but also define new areas of skill, so to speak. If you think about chess in this manner, you are not far from chaos theory and fractal images. The neat thing is, there is always room for improvement ! Just for the fun of it, now, consider: where is your square in the figure below. What are your goals for your improvement ? Domine, qvo vadis ? Do you discover something new ?

The next article will conclude the central issue of personal strategies (Part 7).

Click here fore the next article on the survey results !

The Chess Universe is like a Fractal !

Disclaimer The data presented here and in the following articles can be analyzed and concluded upon in many ways (remember that the survey was scored on-line, and that the data may not be representative of all chessplayers alike). The conclusions presented here are mine entirely. Feel free to disagree, to have your own interpretations and to impove your chess in the manner that suits you. The full material of data will be published in the last article of this series. If you have questions prior to this, or other comments, feel free to mail me on torr@privat.dk

Copyright The contents on this page (graphical, textual) may not be reproduced without permission from the author. On citations or similar use, please credit the author Dr. Tor Rønnow, Denmark (mail: torr@privat.dk).