Re: Board Visualization Test

[Chess?]

My question for all the participants of month 2 is, what did everyone think of the "Board Visualization" test?

A couple of things struck me as a little odd on the test. One, was it was called "First Month training" After completing the test, you were ether a master or not. No middle ground here! From my results, I am a long way from a master. But then again...I know that.

[cofresi]

I've been having a great time with the visualization tests.
In month 3 it gets intense pretty fast! Very nice exercise and like they say, you have to build into it little by little.

[HangingKing]

Well, i've just discovered 2nd month and started with blinfold test and exercises.
I almost managed test A, but the knight travel is already too much for me, test B is simply not (yet) for me.

In fact i'm worried about the visualization learning, because blinfolded i more or less manage to answer the questions by algebric calculation, let say, a1 is black, so knight on b1 is white, it can go to b+1 1+2 = c3 or b+2 1+1 = d2, etc...
But i do not really see the image of the board like this, to be right, i can create mentally a local checkboard, but everytime i try to "enlarge" the view, it becomes fuzzy and i have to start again from the beginning of my calculations.

What's your experience (assuming you are beginner as i am at this ability) ?

[Hank]

Hi,

I'm just a lurker (usually) here - haven't signed up for the ICS course (yet).

It's not really a true visualization technique, but I have a sort of cheating mnemonic/memory aid that I use when trying to remember if a given square is white or black. Basically I give a kind of numeric value to each square, and the squares with "odd" values are White and the squares with "even" values are Black. The way I calculate the value of the square is to covert the "coordinates" of the square into "odds" and "evens" and then add them. The "odd" files are a, c, e, and g; the "even" files are b, d, f, and h; the "odd" ranks are 1,3,5, and 7; the "even" ranks are 2, 4, 6, and 8. If you add an even file coordinate to an odd rank coordinate (e.g. for the square b1) or an odd rank coordinate to an even file coordinate (e.g. for the square a2) then the "result" of the calculation will be an "odd" number = a White square. So any combination "unlike" file and rank coordinates (even+odd or odd+even) represents a White square.

Conversely, any combination of "like" ("similar" or "matching") file and rank coordinates (even+even or odd+odd) is a Black square. This means that a1 and h8 are both black squares, since both a=odd and 1=odd, and since both h=even and 8=even. And again, e4 would have to be White (odd file, even rank), as would h3 (even file, odd rank).

So I guess the quickest formulation of the mnemonic is something like: "unlike" coordinates = White, "like" coordinates = Black?
Or: "unmatched" coordinates = White, "matching" coordinates = Black?

Or, more controversially, think of the recent Obama vs McCain presidential race, and you'll recall that "the White 'square' was no match..." [just kidding]

-- Hank

[cofresi]

This is a pretty cool system. I had worked out something very similar but based on a combination of letters and numbers. I'll try this one too.

However, I find interesting that the author of the course made explicit instructions AGAINST these heuristics. I think in month 3, he warns NOT to use the a1 + 1, b1+1 ... method. Why not? He doesn't say.

But I think the reason is that the board must be visualized, and not just calculated with these formula. These heuristics do the job for you of telling you color of square, but that doesn't help you to "see" the board. I'm trying to work on "seeing" the board by other methods.

I'm putting the squares into a context, by seeing how pieces move onto the square or how they are connected to other squares. Example: I'll think about the e4 square on the long white diagonal, the bishop from g2 passing through the square, the pawn on d3 protecting the square, the knight on c3 defending the square. Or I'll think about the Queen from d8 to a5, checking the King and forking h5. These scenarios help visualize the board and think of piece-square combined.

It does take lots of practice as they said. But it gets a little easier each time.

Thanks for the heuristics --

[HangingKing]

Yeah, this was my worry too.

Hank's method is fine, like any other algebric calculation i do, and i will use it at the beginning to help me. But for the moment it is the only way to get answers.

For example you told about the diagonal, i still have to think for a while (or use algebric) to determine how much squares there are between let say b3 and e6 ?

[chesstiger]

I just did test A and test B at the start of visualizationof month two. Test A wasn't that difficult, only a bit problems with the last question about the knight but with a little bit of thought that too was solved so test A result equaled 100%.

Test B was another cup of coffee. Trying to see the board was a nightmare but to my surprise i got 100% on it. All this without seeing the board in my mind, still counting the squares of diagnals (a3-b4-c5-d6-e7-f8) ... .

So acording ICS i am very advantaged in board visualization but in real time i actually suck at it. So instead of their suggestion of do some blindfolded games or go over games without using a board, ... i will just do those daily exercises they provide. Who knows, maybe by doing these i will (finally) get a real mental image of the board (+ pieces) in my mind to analyse on during actual gameplay so that my analysis will improve.

[zmaster]

To my surprise, I scored 100% on both the A & B board visualization test. In the past, I have done board visualization training but never with any consistency or much improvement. What I now realize from the ICS lecture, is that I must train consistently over a long period of time in order to see “real” improvement. My son and a good friend of mine both have much better board vision than me and can easily play a blindfolded game of chess. Both are 2300+ strength players, my friend is a FIDE Master. When I play blindfolded chess I get confused after about 20 moves. My FM friend is a big believer in visualization training. After 38 years of playing in chess tournaments, I feel a lot of my ability to see to board is from experience playing tournament chess. I stopped trying to play blind folded chess because it was “too hard” and require intense concentration for me to play. Now, I realized, that for me to improve I must do all the hard work that I have avoided in the past. I still have trouble seeing many variations and combinations beyond 5 moves. At the end of a long series of moves, it is very hard for me to see the board well enough to evaluate the position or see other candidate moves. In the past, I have been reluctant to do the hard work of visualizing long variation, now I will do the hard work to see those variations. I will practice the recommended exercises to improve my board vision. I am looking forward to see what a year of board visualization training will bring.

[Blue Devil Knight]

Impressive, I didn't do so well on the test

[Tweety]

I did the board visualization test a few days ago, I got a perfect score on both tests, however I am going to follow their recomendation as if I did them wrong. I believe a chessplayer should know the chessboard and chessmen as good as he can, after all they are our job tools and if we want to improve we should have better understanding of the battlefield and the warriors, it will make us good General.

[karpyan]

There's quite a lot of literature on visualisation around these days, but I haven't found anything else in terms of step by step exercises that deals with the development of visualisation from 'scratch' so effectively. I don't think its in doubt that knowing the board mentally is very beneficial - the habit of players like Svidler, Shirov and Ivanchuk calculating for significant parts of the game by looking away from the board has attracted a lot of attention. Tisdall ('Improve Your Chess Now') is good on this subject, but for a blindfold beginner like myself, his tests and examples are a stage too far. Tisdall uses the example of Alexander Beliavsky, who works through five games a day without using a board. If I remember, Lasker's Chess Manual also emphasises the importance of knowing the chessboard. Also, Wetzell's 'Chess Master at Any Age' has some interesting training ideas on visualisation/projection.

I have a feeling that this skill is extremely important, and I like that ICS has a step-by-step daily programme for improving it. That said, I'm only on Day 9 of the first month....

[chesskang]

Thanks for the headsup I started the vision drills on day 1...Of month 2

[teckeon]

Something that may help us with visualization is an online tool. The online version is free.

http://chesseye.alexander-fleischer.de/o/#

[Sponsored content]