Cognitive Chess

While deciding on a move, many chess players get stuck replaying the same tune in their heads and slip into a kind of daze. Progress depends on calculating accurately and picturing future positions clearly, which is harder than it sounds. Russian grandmaster Konstantin Chernyshov wrote this volume to sharpen exactly these two abilities.

The book contains 500 exercises and an additional 250 puzzles, a large body of practice material for students and the coaches who work with them. Most tasks follow a sequence of steps: form a mental picture of the arrangement of pieces, judge the positions that result, and then work out the correct continuation. Every exercise and puzzle is meant to be solved without looking at a board.

The author's regimen asks serious players for a disciplined commitment. The material begins with simple examples and grows more demanding as the reader moves forward, so it suits those ready to take their game to the next level.