Chessboard Vision — Part 2

Points to Consider in Chessboard Vision

So much to think about BEFORE you make your move!

Unlike visualization, board vision doesn’t require moving pieces in your mind.

There are various definitions of “board sight” or “board vision” in chess, but fundamentally it means the ability to (mentally) see all of the various possibilities for moves by your pieces (and those of your opponent). –Path to Chess Mastery: Developing board sight

In his video Improve Your Chess Rating by Understanding Board Vision Skills & Visualization, Dan Heisman explains that this skill improves gradually. He suggests ways to strengthen it: play lots of games, review games, and solve puzzles. After explaining that the accuracy of your visualization depends on the clarity of your board vision, he provides a list of questions to consider when examining a chess position.

• What is the material count on both sides?
• Are there bad pawns: backward, isolated, or doubled pawns?
• Are there good pawns: passed or connected, pawns?
• How many pawn islands are there?
• How good are the bishops?
• Which king is safer?
• How many open files or semi-open files are there?

Places to Practice

Chess for Novices

Chess for Novices defines board vision simply as the ability to see how the pieces move and interact on the chess board. Part 1 provides exercises for the rook, bishop and queen using an empty board and placing the piece on a square in the center. The first exercise involves placing the piece and tracing the possible moves with your finger. The remaining exercises involve imagining captures. Part 2 focuses on the knight’s moves, and I find these exercises very challenging!

ChessVis

This is available on iOS and Android mobile devices. As a low-rated player, I’d start with ChessVis Static board trainer. Click the menu icon (three lines) in the top left corner. A blue dropdown multi-level menu appears. Choose Visualization, then “Follow Specific Pieces”. On the bottom right, click the Options button and choose the number and type of pieces (3 to 320. For both White and Black, I chose two rooks, two bishops, two knights and a queen. After clicking the…