Layers of calculation

 I found the following layers of calculation:

• The lowest level of calculation are the pieces. Which is pure geometry. One piece can make a total difference. Apparently, my over the top tactical training regimen has provided me with piece patterns aplenty.
• The next level of patterns are the aura of the pieces. I exercise with mate patterns, so the aura's of the pieces manifest themselves as "the box" in which we want to kill the hostile king.
• The following level of abstraction is the way your pieces cooperate. One could say "technique". Pry the castle open. Prevent the king from skedaddling away into the blue. Chase the king into the box. Squeeze the box and kill the king.
• The next level is adding logic. When a piece is B.A.D. (Barely Adequate Defended), look for attacking its defenders. That kind of stuff. CM Chua uses the term "reciprocal thinking". In stead of stopping when a variation seems to lead to a dead end, you ask yourself "why is this not working" and "can I make it work".
• After that, the level of concepts follows. In an endgame it tells you that those 3 pawns against 2 can lead to an outside passer, and that these doubled pawns are strong enough to resist their counterpart end so on. It describes which system to use in a rook endgame for defense, Philidor, Kling and Horwitsch, Vencura, Back rank defense or Long side checks etc..

The past weeks I found that the second level is causing me problems. The first level is very good, in many ways at grandmaster level, due to excessive tactical training. But level two isn't good. The levels have each their own speed. Level 1 is the fastest. Level 2 is a bit slower, but only a tiny bit. We are talking about seconds. As long as level 2 isn't in order, calculation will be slow, energy consuming and error prone. I think I know the way to fix this, and I'm working on it. The tournaments in July and August will show me if I'm on the right track.

De la Maza has always been pressing on speed during exercises. That is the flaw in his system. You need to train slow, and focus on the aura op the pieces (level 2), the technique (cooperation of the pieces, level 3) and adding logic (tree of scenarios, level 4). Due to speed during training, I'm extremely well versed in the geometrical patterns of the pieces (level 1), but I'm bad at level 2 and beyond. Forget about speed during your training. Speed should be the result of your training, not an aim in itself.

MDLM has a follow up: the woodpecker method. It has the same flaws.