How Grandmasters Play Chess

In his book The Game Of Chess, Siegbert Tarrasch, one of the greatest players of his time, famously said: "It is not enough to be a good player, you must also play well." Indeed, all great tournament results, ratings, and titles boil down to a simple concept of playing good moves. So, the big question is: How do grandmasters find their moves?

Generally, the process of finding a good move consists of two parts. First, your intuition (which is a product of knowledge and experience) provides you with candidate moves to consider, and then you calculate if these moves actually work in this particular situation.

While the calculation part is more or less clear, the process of finding candidate moves is confusing for less experienced players. In this article, I'll try to explain how it works. To do it, I'll use a blitz game as an example. I chose a blitz game because when we don't have time to think, we usually play moves based on intuition rather than calculation. Therefore, it makes it easier to see what is the first thing that pops up in grandmasters' minds when they think about their moves. The following game of GM Mikhail Antipov is a good example.

This is the first interesting moment. To play this pawn sacrifice, Antipov spent just six seconds. While it could all be his home preparation, I doubt it. According to Chess.com's opening database, this move was played three times before this game, and White won every single one of them. For example:

So, why did Antipov sacrifice his central pawn without any hesitation? Well, this move just feels right! White's king is stuck in the center, so the classical strategy in such situations is to open central files for an attack. The following well-known game is one that any "schoolboy" should know:

Let's get back to our main game. In the following position, it took Black just 16 seconds to sacrifice his queen, even though he had a pretty decent response of 15...Qb6 getting out of the unpleasant pin on the d-file.

Why was it so easy for Antipov to part with the lady? Well, first of all, a similar idea was played many times in similar situations. The following classical example is the first that comes to mind:

Besides, it was easy to see that after the queen sacrifice in our main game, the white king would be in a mating net. As a matter of fact, White got so confused that he blundered a checkmate in one on the very next move! But it is next to impossible to defend such a position, especially in a blitz game! For example, if White plays 17.f4, which covers the e1-square, Black still delivers a checkmate. Can you find it yourself?

Was it easy for you to solve this puzzle? It should be if you know the following classical game that is featured in most textbooks on tactics:

You are probably wondering what White's mistake was in our stem game and if he could defend against Black's attack. An engine will show you such possibilities (for instance, 15. Bd3 developing his Bishop instead of the suicidal 15.Nf5), but to be honest, I don't like White's whole plan with 0-0-0. Yes, his move 12.0-0-0 was not a mistake, but it is extremely difficult to defend such a position in a blitz game. Besides, as the old chess joke goes: "What's the difference between queenside castle (0-0-0) and kingside castle (0-0)? It is an extra zero that goes straight into your cross table!" Yes, as a rule, castling kingside is much safer, and the next well-known GM Mikhail Botvinnik's win clearly shows why:

So, how do grandmasters find their candidate moves? It is all about pattern recognition! There are thousands of big and small chess patterns, both positional and tactical, and an experienced player can see many of them in a split second! As I demonstrated today, a knowledge of classical games is a very good foundation for the pattern recognition process, but of course, you can learn a lot by studying modern games as well.

Just try to analyze these games critically. Instead of just enjoying the beauty of another one of GM Mikhail Tal's attacks, ask yourself some basic questions: "What were the most important elements of the attack?" and "How did Tal prepare and execute the attack?" Also, "How can I use these patters in my games?" As you build up your own inner "database" of chess patterns, you'll see that good candidate moves pop up more frequently when you're playing your own games!