Seeing a Chess Board in Your Mind. Help.

I believe that being able to see a clear board in the head can really beneficial to a person's calculation ability. Problem is, I've been trying to do so for quite awhile and have had no luck.

I either: A) Can't keep all the squares in their place.

or B)  Can't tell the distance between pieces.

I am trying a few things to help me at least be able to play twenty moves. I have drawn a large scale chess board on cardboard and attached it to my wall. There are no pieces on the board so I have to imagine them in my head. The board is simply there to provide me the guidance to tell the distance between the pieces and help me memorize what the board looks like so I can see it with my eyes closed.

I would greatly appreciate any links to videos, book suggestions, and/or maybe a method you used that has helped you. Or maybe you're here because you want to tell me that putting a board in your mind is useless...

Visualizing a board with 64 individual squares isn't necessary to see 20  moves ahead during a real game.  I think what you're doing it's more practical, i.e. looking at a board and trying to visualize where all the pieces are... because that's what we do during a real game.

In Tisdall's book "Improve Your Chess Now" he suggests a technique where you visualize as many moves as you can, and as you start to reach your limit, burn that position into your mind (memorize it).  Once you have, move on a few more moves from there.  I've used this to visualize solutions to long tactical problems / studies (22 ply) and I think this would help you see 20 moves ahead.  Probably not on the first day heh, but as you consistently practice it, you should get better.

In any case, I'm a believer in practicing the skill you want to improve.

One exercise for blindfold chess (but I think you can use it with your big board) is to imagine three pieces (like a queen, rook, and knight) on an empty board.   Indicate which pieces protect eachother / which are undefended.  Then move one of them (in your mind) and again say which pieces are protected.  Repeat as long as you want.  You could prepare a few of these on flashcards for yourself (the moves and the answers) and then attempt them.

Six months ago I tacked a vinyl rollup board to my kitchen wall and would pause to refresh my memory of square colors and diagonals every day or so.

Reti said he divided the board into 4x4 quadrants and tracked positions that way. That's a good idea because human memory really can't handle more then  seven or so items at a time in one chunk. Also the quadrants have the same pattern of dark/light diagonals and corners.

Of course it's a little tricky for checking moves crossing quadrant boundaries.

I think that seems like a good idea, but even still, learning to visualize the board whilst keeping it clear and undistorted is going to prove arduous. I practically made a mental scar for myself memorizing the Sicilian and all of its' variations. 

Some players say they see a full 2d board in their mind, with all the pieces, I definitely do not.  If you practice, maybe you will be one of those that can.  I think they're able to due to many hours of regular playing and analysis.

I see a small spot light (if you will) around the piece or area I'm focusing my attention, the rest of the board is invisible, and the piece's interactions stretch out into the darkness, lighting up the squares and pieces they interact with.  If I'm focusing on an f3 knight, I see some central squares, d2, and h4.  I don't notice black's pawn structure on the queenside.

Anyway, good luck!

What's worked best for me -- and I'm kind of excited about this -- is printing out a chess game in successive diagrams two moves apart. Thus the first diagram is the initial position. The second diagram is the game starting at move 3, the third diagram is the game starting at move 5, etc.

I start at the beginning and go forward a move at a time, two moves to the next diagram, for the three or four diagrams, then start over again. Then I do it in my mind's eye, then check the diagrams. When I feel confident, I add another diagram and repeat.

This way I'm seeing the board better and better in my mind's eye and memorizing the game.

Maybe some people can memorize positions photographically but for me it's crucial to build up an image that includes the relations between the pieces over time.

The blindfold great, George Koltanowski, said playing blindfold was easy. If he lost the image he would just go back to the beginning position and replay all the moves to rebuild the image in his head!

Of course, that assumes you can remember the moves. But the point is that the board image isn't a photograph in your mind, but an image backed by a history of chess moves and the dynamic relations between the pieces.

don't overthink it. there isn't a step by step process to how to do it.

How did you learn how to do math operations in your head?

practice, practice, practice.

Read plenty of chess literature, and try to read the variations in your head as far as you can. The more you do it, the more natural it will come to you.

remember everybody starts somewhere

Hope this helps!

practice, practice, practice.

Good point! It can't be overemphasized.

The goal in chess is not to collect stray rules like "i before e except after c." You are burning patterns into your brain so powerful they will function with almost no conscious effort.

Learning to play chess is more like weight training than high school.

When Reti was young he spent hours every day visualizing a board and moving pieces around on it. He felt that experience was important to his development, but who knows.

I suspect that basically one's development in chess boils down to focused effort multiplied by hours spent rather than some secret sauce of training techniques.

Some strong players say that one's ability to play blindfold develops naturally the longer one studies and plays -- similar to what NM lin says.

I distrust that Reti quote.

He is glossing over the thousands of hours he spent developing his tactical skills until he doesn't consciously notice he is calculating.

Reti's positional style did allow him the luxury of more intuitive move choices, but even so I don't believe he wasn't calculating at times like a son of a gun. You can't survive on intuition and general principles in the endgame which can hinge on a single tempo.

(I'm thinking in particular about that horrific adjourned endgame, Botvinnik-Fischer Varna, 1962 which masters and grandmasters are still arguing about, as in Kasparov's "My Great Predecessors.")

Very fun posts to read =)

I like the challenge blindfold chess offers. I have only played a few OTB and it is difficult to find people to practice with. Nevertheless it does seem to help with my calculation skills and overall "board consciousness" as IM Rench puts it.

Download an app called "blindfold chess." It has some cool puzzles that help you become very familiar with visualizing piece movement and the 64 squares.

I, unlike most people, have the luxury of not being sucked into a mobile device like most Americans. So I cannot partake in the activity of "downloading an app."

About the app comment... everyone has their own opinion, that's okay. However, the two time reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen created his own app called Play Magnus. Perhaps if an app can help improve chess skills then it might be worth looking at. Also, as another example, Chess.com itself. They have an app. They also recently held a chess simul with Carlsen, and his final score was 10-1, only losing one game! So, there may be benefits to relevant smartphone apps. 

PS Good luck with your goal of becoming an IM within a year of whenever you set your goal. That's awesome!

This is helpful adivce, thanks!

Indeed, to each their own. Albeit I have only been playing Chess for 3 years. I started playing in tournaments 2 years ago and have gone from 1250-1650 in that time. I think most of that skill development was due to solving thousands of tactic puzzles, which was mostly available through apps.

Now, don't get me wrong, I prefer the use of books for studying (currently reading John Nunn's "Understanding Chess Move by Move."). And so it is a combination of approaches that work best for me. I believe learning to master Chess is akin to a musical instrument. Playing blindfolded allows you to " feel" the music differently, and is just one way to augment your ability.

Anyhow, as aforementioned, to each their own; such is the beauty of this game/ sport/ art =)

For basic board visualization exercises, please see Pawn and Queen and In Between and Comprehensive Chess Course Volume One.  Both books are available through the USCF.  Please let me know what you think.

I have an app that I made for increasing chess skill and IQ. It will also help with developing your ability to play blindfold chess. It is called: Brain Training Chess. It costs only 2,99 dollars. I have many years of experience in brain training and I really do think this is one of the best brain training applications out there. If you have any feedback or questions just ask away.

Best regards,

Paul Jacobson

But how comprehensive is your awareness (not to mention quality of evaluation) before & after the transition to each new ply? That's the REAL question. (Being able to see 3 moves ahead with solid board vision is pretty impressive (but may prove to be excessive if you don't realize all the relevant occurrences/possibilities during said moves).)