Why You REALLY Blunder – Unseen Threats Revealed

The Art of Chess Calculation:

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00:00 Introduction
01:12 Missing the Threats Behind Enemy Recaptures
03:09 Missing the Threats Behind Enemy Retreats
05:07 Quiz #1
06:51 Quiz #2
08:39 Conclusions

Chess is a cruel game. You can play a perfect game and then make a single mistake that can cost you the game. This means we have to be careful at all times – and pay attention to the opponent’s threats generated by their last move.

As a coach, I witnessed players do not really internalize actively checking for threats that are presented as a result of the opponent’s last move. Especially if that last move was a retreat or recapture. In those cases, the algorithm tends to falter and people forget to actively search for threats behind those moves. This video highlights this by instructive examples from real games.

The lesson is clear: regardless of whether the opponent’s last move was a retreat or recapture, we must still actively ask the fundamental question of whether that move presents a threat we must address. If this process fails even on a single move, you can lose any chess position…