The future

Now we are officially exposed as a cult I suggest some measures against those who offend our Hero. . . :)

After 136 masterlevel problems with the aid of my new mnemonic I get an idea what the future has in store.

No brain stalling anymore.
The mnemonic definitively solved my problem of a stalling brain due to complexity. Since the mnemonic comprises the most important tactical middlegame motifs, the complex position is broken down into it's simple elements, thus freeing brain resourses. I am very, very surprised that such simple means is so effective. In fact I start to find the masterlevel problems rather easy and I look forward for the more difficult ones deeper in the database.

Score 95%
The mnemonic leads me in 95% of the cases to the correct answer. That is remarkable, to say the least. There were two kinds of problems where the mnemonic wasn't sufficient to find the solution:

Visualisation.
In a few cases I wasn't able to visualize the tree of analysis to the end, so I abandoned a line that was winning. Visualisation will not make you better in chess, lack of visualisation will make you worse though. Since it happened only in a few cases I don't worry about this aspect at the moment.

Endgame and positional play.
There are a few tactical motifs that are specific to the endgame. Here the mnemonic for common tactics is of no use. Once the mnemonic for common tactical middlegame motifs is mastered, a dedicated endgame mnemonic can be developed.
This indicates the way to go. A t some point a positional mnemonic will be necessary too.

Habitforming.
The mnemonic is an aid to perform five different scans:

• Double attacks
• Batterries
• Pin/skewers
• Overloaded pieces
• Convergency squares

The conscious application of these scans is quite strainfull for the brain. It is as if you are trying to form 5 habits at the same time. There is no easy way around this. It's my guess that it will take at least 2500 repetitions to settle the habits. There is no need to repeat the problems, as long as you apply the scans once per problem thoroughly.
This are the restraints:

• active attitude
• consciously

you can't educate your autopilot while you are on autopilot.

Base of the scans.
The productivity of the scans has the following base:

• guidance of the eyes over the board. As in guided pattern recognition.
• prevention of brain stalling

Goal of the mnemonic.
In the end the scans must become an automatic habit which is done unconscious and without effort. It will influence your speed and your ability to visualize.