They move in pairs

The previous post can easily be interpreted as an invitation for mass absorption of chess words. Absorb 6 patterns a day and you will be a master over 8.3 years. Let us see whether we can be smarter than that.

Robert pointed me to an interesting scientific work about the nature of chunks. In stead of the assumption that chess chunks are based on the pieces-on-squares (POS) they make a case for the abstract roles of the pieces.

Since science is divided about the definition of a chunk, I continue to use the word "word". Sometimes alternated with "pattern" due to old habits.

Let's have a closer look at the problem of the previous post.

The first word is 1. Bxa8 Bxc1 (tit for tat)

This is a pair of moves that have a certain balance. White grabs a rook, and black grabs a rook back. No wood has been lost and white still has the move.

The second word is 2. Qxc8 Rxc8 (direct exchange)

Again a pair of balanced moves. White grabs the queen, and black grabs the queen back. No wood has been lost and white still has the move.

Then comes the next move 3. Bb7

That is a multipurpose move:

• It brings the white bishop to safety
• It attacks the black rook

A multipurpose move must always be met by another multipurpose move (the law of Tempo). Black must:

• save the rook
• attack the white bishop OR defend the black bishop OR create some other not ignorable CCT

But black can't. Why not? Because the black rook is handicapped. It must picket the back rank against mate.

In our quest for salient cues, we must pay attention to the function of the pieces. The roles, if you like. The moves must be judged by their multipurposeness.

I think that it is a good idea to have a separate look at matters:

• the altering of the landscape by pieces fulfilling their duties
• the move pairs that may or may not make use of the landscape or even alter it

In this specific case, the squares b1 up to and including c7 can NOT be protected by the black rook. Yet the white rook can't go there since it has to maintain the pressure on the backrank.

All MOVES are balanced except for 3. Bb7

The move itself is a dual purpose move, which is MADE POSSIBLE by the altered landscape. The duty of the black rook makes it IMPOSSIBLE to follow up with a dual purpose answer.

Working your way through the thickets of the tree of analysis is easier when can limit your considerations to one pair of moves at a time. (Tal: "they can only take one piece at a time")

You can only do so safely if you are aware BEFOREHAND how the landscape is altered by the obligations of the pieces.