The pruning mechanism II. Interfering with the LoA.
Interfering with the LoA (line of attack)
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| White to move |
3r2k1/p3pp1p/1p4pB/4q3/2n1Q3/7P/PPR2PP1/6K1 w - - 0 23
- Blue arrows: ways white's queen interferes with the LoA.
- Green arrows: ways white's rook can interfere with the LoA
Creating an escape route
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| White to move |
- interfering with the LoA e5-h2
- opening a vent with f3
Of all these options that prevent the mate in 1 of the white king, only one move stands out: Rd2 because it does two things:
- it prevents the mate
- it threatens mate
Is it a requirement of the training room (but not the playing hall) to consider all possible variations of threats at every step in the logical sequence? This seems to favor of a rational choice approach (consideration of all possible options, evaluating each option against all other options based on specific criteria, and then choosing the option with the highest score) over the recognition-primed decision making (“variation processing”) approach which uses a more intuitive basis for moving forward through the logical sequence.
ReplyDeleteI'm my own coach. Before I can decide what to study in the study room, I must investigate the material. I predicted a word salad, and I was right. Be prepared for more salad to come before I can begin to try simplifying and make it workable.
DeleteI cannot predict beforehand whether I will succeed. The position is infinite more clear now. Which is not so weird when the other possibility is to be confused ;)
DeleteI have seen some old club archives lately. I became a member 2 years earlier than I thought (in 1996, Margriet in 1997). From 1998 to 2026 I mainly spent at inventing my own method and becoming my own coach. From my point of view I entered the study room in May 2026, after formulating the Trick theoretically. Currently, I'm experimenting with the Trick to make it practical. I'm discovering areas to apply the Trick to. The actual holes in my bucket.
ReplyDeleteInsight in the mechanisms is the first goal.
ReplyDelete@Tempo
ReplyDeleteThis position is a way more complex than just the first glance correct understanding of it!
I love it! I play out a bit more with this position and it hides more ideas that can be revealed with specific lines (variations).
What I am very happy about is no matter the variations the final answers and conclusions can be answered (drawn) and deeper understanding of this type of uncommon positions can be reached.
I need a way more time to devote to understand the core ideas and elements of this position.
This specific position and the description of the ideas from the previous article simply opened the new window of opportunities to investigate, play out and draw conclusions.
What I am craving the most is the classification of the ideas that can be applied to various types of positions (all the tactical ones for the present). One of the ideas I love to compare to is the idea of FM Weteschnik from his classical tactical book "Chess tactics from the scratch" - the idea of RELOADER. If we could either create, list or figure out all such ideas, then we could quickly test these out on many various positions (puzzles).
This is what I mean by improve my tactical level signifcantly - not by solving millions of puzzles, but learning and applying 50 tactical ideas (rules) that can combine and mix all the tactical themes (motifs).
I can bet that if we had such a list and update it every week or month - in just a few months we could have pretty extensive one (let's say with 30 ideas out of 50). Then we could test these ideas and draw conclusions together with sharing the set of 10-15 puzzles for each of the concept. This way we could understand tactical complexity by solving and quickly comparing the ideas based on 750 puzzles (50x15), instead of wasting time and energy solving thousands with just a microscope level of improvement.
What do you think about that?
@Robert
Would you be able to create such a list of concepts with the help of the Co-Pilot? The most benefical would be the list of all the tactical concepts from all the sources (books, articles, chapter explanations, coaches, streamers, youtube creators, chess courses tips, hints, etc.) and have just ONE diagram (puzzle) with 2-3 sentences explanation of the solution based on these concepts.
I would be very happy to have such a list and test these concepts on either the basic set of puzzles (let's say 50 puzzles as we have one puzzle per concept) and then extend it to thousands of puzzles - especially as I have the (general) access to lichess huge database puzzles and at the same time I solve Puzzle Storm puzzles. This way I could very quickly test, see and share which of the concepts have the REAL impact on my tactical understanding and see how quickly I could improve my best score at Puzzle Storm (62). If I could get to 90 in 5-6 months it would be significant impact and we could share it with the community, right? (I could record the videos explaining each of these ideas on the set of the specific puzzles and share it on my YouTube channel).
Tomasz
@Tomasz:
DeleteI posted a comprehensive list [compiled by Copilot] of all concepts from all sources in a two-part comment (dated 12 AUG 2026) in response to the blog post "FUNction August 11, 2026". Please refer to those comments. I think that will meet your requirement.
I also have a similar list (generated by Copilot) but restricted to just the LICHESS themes; I'll upload it in three comments following this one. Between those two lists (which have lots of overlap: the original list included all LICHESS and CHESS TEMPO themes as well as from all other Internet sources), you should have as complete a list as possible.
Sorry: two parts rather than three.
DeleteNote: The LICHESS Theme corresponds to the label(s) given in the LICHESS puzzle database in field 8 “Themes”. Within that field, multiple labels are separated by the space character “ “. The “Motif” and “Sub-Motif” are the corresponding classical tactical device names.
PART I:
Copilot classification of LICHESS Themes:
This is a hierarchical, non-overlapping taxonomy that maps every Lichess theme to its underlying classical tactical device. I’ve grouped them into major tactical families, then broken them into motifs, then sub-motifs.
♟️
LICHESS Theme → Motif → Sub-Motif Mapping
A. Contact Tactics (Direct Piece Interaction)
1. Fork / Double Attack
• fork → Fork
◦ Knight fork
◦ Pawn fork
◦ Queen fork
◦ King fork
◦ Double attack (general)
2. Pin
• pin → Pin
◦ Absolute pin
◦ Relative pin
◦ Cross-pin
3. Skewer
• skewer → Skewer
◦ Queen skewer
◦ Bishop skewer
◦ Rook skewer
4. Discovered Attack
• discoveredAttack → Discovered attack
◦ Discovered check
◦ Revealed attack
◦ Revealed mate
5. Double Check
• doubleCheck → Double check
◦ Sacrificial double check
◦ Line-opening double check
6. Trapped Piece
• trappedPiece → Trapping / Domination
◦ Knight trap
◦ Bishop trap
◦ Rook trap
◦ Queen trap
◦ Domination geometry
♟️
B. Defender Manipulation (Indirect Tactics)
1. Removing the Defender
• captureTheDefender → Removing the defender
◦ Deflection capture
◦ Overloading removal
• removingTheDefender → Removing the defender
2. Deflection / Decoy
• attraction → Decoy / Attraction
◦ Luring king
◦ Luring defender
◦ Luring piece off key square
3. Overloading
• overloading → Overloading
◦ Multiple defensive tasks
◦ Collapse of defensive coordination
4. Interference
• interference → Interference
◦ Blocking defender
◦ Blocking line piece
◦ Blocking escape square
5. Zwischenzug
• zwischenzug → Intermezzo
◦ Tactical tempo insertion
◦ Threat-before-capture
♟️
C. Line / Space Manipulation
1. Clearance
• clearance → Clearance
◦ Clearance sacrifice
◦ Line clearance
◦ Square clearance
2. Quiet Move
• quietMove → Quiet move
◦ Non-forcing tactical move
◦ Hidden threat creation
3. Interference (also belongs here)
Already mapped above [B.4.].
♟️
D. King-Exposure Tactics
1. Exposed King
• exposedKing → King exposure
◦ Forcing checks
◦ King chase
◦ Opening files to king
2. Attacking f2/f7
• attackingF2F7 → Weak square attack
◦ f7 sacrifice
◦ f2 sacrifice
◦ Opening diagonal to king
PART II:
DeleteE. Pawn-Based Tactics
1. Advanced Pawn
• advancedPawn → Passed pawn / Pawn wedge
◦ Breakthrough
◦ Promotion threat
◦ Restriction geometry
2. Promotion
• promotion → Promotion tactic
◦ Tactical promotion
◦ Forcing promotion
3. Underpromotion
• underpromotion → Underpromotion motif
◦ Knight underpromotion
◦ Rook underpromotion
◦ Bishop underpromotion
♟️
F. Mating Patterns
All mate themes map directly to classical mating motifs:
• backRankMate → Back-rank mate
• arabianMate → Arabian mate
• anastasiaMate → Anastasia’s mate
• balestraMate → Balestra mate
• blindSwineMate → Blind Swine mate
• smotheredMate → Smothered mate
• dovetailMate → Dovetail mate
• epauletteMate → Epaulette mate
• swallowtailMate → Swallowtail mate
• lawnmowerMate → Lawn-mower mate
• corridorMate → Corridor mate
• hookMate → Hook mate
• knightMate → Knight mate pattern
• rookMate → Rook mate pattern
• bishopMate → Bishop mate pattern
• queenMate → Queen mate pattern
• doubleBishopMate → Double-bishop mate
• doubleRookMate → Double-rook mate
• doubleQueenMate → Double-queen mate
Forced-mate themes:
• mateIn1 → Forced mate in 1
• mateIn2 → Forced mate in 2
• mateIn3 → Forced mate in 3
• mateIn4 → Forced mate in 4
• mateIn5 → Forced mate in 5
• mateIn6 → Forced mate in 6
• mateIn7 → Forced mate in 7
• mateIn8 → Forced mate in 8
♟️
G. Endgame Motifs
• rookEndgame → Rook endgame principles
• bishopEndgame → Bishop endgame principles
• knightEndgame → Knight endgame principles
• pawnEndgame → Pawn endgame principles
• queenEndgame → Queen endgame principles
• queenAndRook → Major-piece coordination
H. Positional / Strategic Motifs
• space → Space advantage
• initiative → Initiative / tempo
• prophylaxis → Prophylaxis
• domination → Domination
• crushing → Winning advantage
• advantage → Positional advantage
• equal → Equality
• winning → Winning position
♟️
I. Meta Themes (Non-tactical)
These do not map to motifs:
• short, long, veryLong → Solution length
• practical → Human-like solution
• instructive → Instructive puzzle
• superGM, master → Difficulty tier
• opening, middlegame, endgame → Game phase
FWIW: Indenting is lost when posting a comment.
DeleteThe solid dot [•] represents the Motif name (in LICHESS terms).
The arrow [→] represents the corresponding classical Motif name.
The open dot [◦] represents the Sub-Motif.
Example:
• interference → Interference
◦ Blocking defender
@Tomasz:
DeleteI presume from your comment that you can download (if you haven’t done so already) the LICHESS puzzle database.
LINK: https://database.lichess.org/#puzzles
There are currently 6,100,952 chess puzzles in the database. If you download the compressed file [290 MB], the uncompressed file size is 1.03 GB.
Although the resulting file is in .CSV format (Comma-Separated Values), I couldn’t load it into either Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice Calc because there is a maximum limit of 2^20 [1048576] rows in a spreadsheet [unless you do a bunch of hokey-pokey stuff to get around the limit]. Knowing that limit, I had Copilot write a small HTML file [134 lines] to run in the browser to split the file into smaller chunks of 900,000 rows. That way I could look at the records in a spreadsheet, search the Themes column for specific themes, etc.
One of the very useful aspects of the LICHESS puzzles database for study purposes is field 9: “GameUrl”. This is a full URL link to the original LICHESS game from which the puzzle was extracted. It puts you into the LICHESS puzzle display page, with the details of the game including annotations. In addition to the puzzle and the categorization by themes, you can take a look at the context preceding the puzzle (including the opening) and also see how the players played until the end of the game.
@Tomasz,
ReplyDeleteI have a problem set of 1430 problems. I estimate they contain somewhere between 50 - 100 of these interesting problems that are worth describing. But it takes quite some time (and patience) to come to the essence of these positions. That is what I'm doing, and you can expect the most interesting positions on this blog. But since this position took me a few days, don't expect a book anytime soon.
Given that the 1430 problems were taken from four Chessable courses, I'm fairly certain that there are probably a lot more "interesting" (for useful training) problems than 50-100. One of the great things about Chessable courses is the density of useful material.
DeleteWhen you're trying to "SEE" below the surface level, speed should not be a primary consideration.
That is certainly true. All 1430 problems are worth absorbing. The extra selection criteria of 50 - 100 problems are due to two conditions: the special interest of Tomasz AND the added value for understanding the pruning mechanism.
Delete