Becoming a stronger player is every chess player’s dream. Since the day we step into the chess world we commit ourselves to an eternal quest for self-improvement. We all want the same. Of course, it doesn’t take long to realize that chess is an extremely complex game; it is not only the amount of knowledge you must acquire but you must also apply that knowledge move by move, taking one decision at a time. Another thing about chess is that you must shape your competitive character, have strong nerves and basically develop a strong personality in order to keep up the battle against your opponent for several hours. Many players lack this aspect and therefore never reach their goal, even though their chess ability was pure class.

Position visualization is a very important ability. This ability allows a chess player to calculate tactics precisely multiple moves ahead and most importantly it makes it possible to picture and evaluate the final position correctly. This is exactly what Magnus Carlsen was referring to when he was asked how many moves ahead he can calculate. Carlsen replied that the trick is to evaluate the final position, not simply to calculate the moves.

Most chess players know the fundamental training rules. In order to improve at chess, they need to play more games, solve tactics, work with the books, and so on. Ironically, following the rules without good understanding may be something that prevents them from reaching new heights. Chess masters know very well that oftentimes breaking training rules will help a player much more than blindly following them.