The pruning mechanism

Why am I convinced that a set of  1430 problems is enough? Because the first few problems showed me what I'm after: the pruning mechanism. That is why I don't hesitate to dedicate six hours to delving deeper into just one problem.

The first task is to describe the whole mechanism. Naturally, that'll turn into an utter trainwreck of a word salad. Hence, the next step will be to remove all redundancy and try to make it workable.

Of course, there is more to discover in these 1430 problems. But to enrich my chess logic with a workable pruning mechanism should already make a huge difference. Study is always more profitable when you know what you are after.

White to move

3r2k1/p3pp1p/1p4pB/4q3/2n1Q3/7P/PPR2PP1/6K1 w - - 0 23

The first step is to find the primary threat which should be addressed first, before all other considerations.

Here is an attempt for a hierarchy list. Don't be bothered by my odd approach, II try to get rid of the layers of confusion.

Prio	Piece	Who’s	Capture	Threat unavoidable	Threat avoidable	Pre threat	Additional threat
1	K	his	Not allowed
2	K	his		X Mate
3	K	his			X Check
4	K	mine	Not allowed
5	K	mine		X Mate
6	K	mine			X Check
7	K	his				X Mate in 1
8	K	mine				X Mate in 1
9	Q	his	X
10	Q	mine	X
11	R	his	X
12	R	mine	X
13	B	his	X
14	B	mine	X
15	N	his	X
16	N	mine	X
17	Q	his			X
18	Q	mine			X
19	R	his			X
20	R	mine			X
21	B	his			X
22	B	mine			X
23	N	his			X
24	N	mine			X

In the future this list can be extended by positional questions.

As you see, the list of my threats is interwoven with a list that concerns counterplay. Be it by defense or by counter attack.

As far as the position is concerned, the priority is 8, the first thing is to address black's mate in 1 threat.

Now let is see what the possibilities are to prevent the mate in 1 threat. This is what Stockfish has to say about it:

Move 2 to 7 concern either to interrupt the LoA (line of attack) between Rd8 and Kg1 or to create an escape for the white king.

Move 1.Rd2 both interrupts the LoA and introduces an extra threat: black getting mated on the back rank.

This is my first attempt to a more structured approach.