Logic as the nec plus ultra

Boring down 

From the amount of views of this page I can draw conclusions about how difficult the treatises are that I present to you. There is a slow decline from a few hundreds views per post to about twenty nowadays. I completely understand that.

Yet I make my biggest progress now. Not in terms of rating, but in developing an improvement method for adult chess players. And actually not only for chess, but for any domain where an adult learner is stuck for years. I even expect some lowering of my rating, since I play without compromises. I play for feedback, not for points.

But since I'm basically thinking out loud, gratefully making use of every feedback from commenters I can get,  it may well look boring or difficult to grasp, especially if you have missed a post or two.

Don't worry, when I have reached some definite conclusions, I will take some time to write the essence down in a more clear and attractive manner. Just make sure to stay in touch.

Use your systems

For sake of simplicity I refer to thinking as system 2 and to intuition as system 1. There is a lot more to say about this, which we have said over the years. But I use this simplification for people who tend to forget which system does what.

If you have tried to follow some advice I have given you over the years for how to solve a problem, you might feel a bit like this:

If so, I'm sorry for that. But I will try to clear the air between us a bit.

Rule number 1: only work on system 2.

Since we cannot work on system 1 directly, it works counterproductive when we try to do so. System 1 looks over the shoulder of system 2 and works its miracles from there.

Our work is to let system 2 do the right things. So system 1 can works the right miracles. On which issues should system 2 focus?

• Logic
• Frequency of occurrence

If your system 2 is occupied with bs, so will the miracles of system 1 assist your system 2 with creating bs.

Logic is the forte of system 2. With logic you can create narratives, and narratives are the ultimate way to visualize positions in the future. One of the miracles of system 1 is that it can visualize positions based on a narrative.

Logic can be used for all phases of the game. It should be the only instrument you play. It is the only way to stay away from the chaos when you try to play multiple instruments at the same time.

The biggest concern of logic is the frequency of occurrence. You must invent reusable logic. That is not as impossible as it might sound. Have a close look at the post from April 16th unraveling the logic behind mate

Logic that doesn't occur in each and every game is useless to spend time on. Summary:

Rule 1: only work on system 2

• focus on logic
• let your logic be reusable
• don't work on system 1
• Focusing to the point where system 1 is ignited is a task of system 2
• Repetition is a result of focusing, not something that should be strived for separately. More than twenty repetitions are totally normal to grasp something completely.

There is only one rule. 

The tasks of system 1

With the following tasks we should NOT interfere:

• SEEing. System 1 knows how to SEE.
• Abstraction. System 1 knows how to recognize a CARICATURE while it has only seen real faces.
• Cue building. System 1 knows how to build the cues.
• Salient cues. System 1 knows how to handle them.
• Stepping stones. System 1 Already knows how to visualize from a narrative
• PoPLoAFun. That should be handled by system 2. It is chess logic.
• CCT. That should be handled by system 2. It is part of the chess logic. See Apr 16th link above. 

Summary

You only need to work on reusable chess logic with system 2. Make lines of attack the heart of your reusable chess logic. Since lines of attack occur in each and every game, and play a role in the considerations of any move. I hope I released your burden a bit.