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Torr on CHESS Survey

Part 1. The Mission.
Did you ever take on downhill skiing ?
Well, I did, and one of the most effective ways of improving my skiing turned out to be viewing pictures in a book !
Series of pictures taken of an excellent skiier dancing down a mountainside, detailled enough for the keen eye to spot
the minute subtleties that constitute a perfect parallel turn. Studythe pictures of the expert, memorize the supporting text
and try the stuff yourself on your next trip to the Alps. It works !

This process is called modeling - for a skill you want to improve:

1 Find an expert.
2 Discover the experts' skills/strategy/approach/values/beliefs.
3 Model it - copy the ways of the expert

The survey of chessplayers

The survey on chessplayers is about modeling. It has, to me, only one goal: To provide inspiration for how you can
improve your chess. How you can improve your chess by modeling the patterns, behaviors and beliefs of the very
strong chessplayers, the experts. This is The Mission
Mission, the grand purpose of the survey. I think you'll find it worth your
while.

The results of the survey will be presented in parts in a series of linked consecutive articles. The full material of data will
be made available in the last of these articles. If you want to attain valuable inspiration for improving your chess, or if you
are just looking for tips on how to avoid all those damned blunders, you might consider to:

Read the survey articles - and improve your chess even more !

Who are the experts ?

It's clearly debatable. Kasparov and Anand would probably find most people on the planet chess-ignorants (ok, Kramnik
is around, Shirov is here...). However, in this forum we'll have those rated above 2400 as the experts and those rated
between 2100-2400 as semi-experts. The experts constitute 5 % of the participants in the survey, the semi-experts 22 %.
Semi-ignorants and worse, well, we constitute the last 73 %, as may be seen in Fig.1. The total number of participants
was 1538.
Thank you all for your contribution !

Get to the point !

I will, indeed - in the next article. Why ? Because once again I want to stress the intention of the survey:

Model the experts - improve your chess !

It turns out that one of the things you might want to do is to use a database ! (Part 2).

Torr on Survey
Part 2. Use a database !
Technical stuff
When it comes to the use of strong chess-playing programs such as Fritz5.32 or the like, there seem to be no
significant differences between the experts and the newbies (Table 2).
When it comes to the use of the internet clubs there are no significant differences (Table 3). Remembering that the
survey was scored on-line on a PC, these figures may not come as a big surprise and may not be representative of all
chessplayers alike (similar arguments should be kept in mind throughout this survey). However, when it comes to the
regular use of a database program, such as Chessbase 7.0, there is a clear correlation between rating and usage (Table
4). As many as 72 % of the experts use a database often, as compared to 35 % for those rated below 1600 (c.f. Table 4).
 So we have already found a first habit of the expert:

use a chess database - and use it often !

This puts the 'Man + machine' matches (e.g. Kasparov versus Topalov) into a somewhat different light, right ? We
experience that the very top players of the world (e.g. Kasparov) advocates the use of databases. Well, they ought to
know, don't they ? They use them !

Furthermore, we get all the top-events analyzed, commented on and brought to us in database files like via Mig and
TWIC. There's probably a reason for that. Think about it.

Personally, I increased my playing strength several-fold using chessbase for a few months, shaping up from being a
hopeless patzer to a regular one, I guess, so yes, a database is the dream for the little man too. In particular the little
man with ambitions to improve his chess.

Mig
Mig: A few questions from fans here. After Hoogovens you talked a lot about your extensive work with PC chess
programs in your preparation, which program do you use?
Kasparov
Kasparov: Well, there are many strong programs and for what I do they are more or less the same really. I use
ChessBase 7 and it comes with some programs, Fritz and Junior and I use those. Not much difference. Junior is quite
strong. There are others, some are included with ChessBase.

From Mig article 97 (20/2-99)

Study the openings and understand them

Suppose you have your database at hand, now, what would you do with it ? Well, the survey data suggests that you
should study chess openings and get a deep understanding of them. When you consider the figures given in Tables
5-7 , Tables 8-10, and Tables 11-12 then ask yourself whether it's just a coincidence how increasing rating correlates with
increasing understanding of the openings or if it is a fact that reflects some important hindsights. I find the figues very
telling, indeed, and I think they correborate well with the every day experiences over the board/screen - that you'd better
be prepared, especially for the openings.

Study the openings - understand them deeply

This is the second habit of the experts. Besides, the higher number of openings you understand and master, the higher
rating you will probably obtain (Table 6). The data clearly demonstrate that the experts master significantly more
openings than the weaker players.

Again, we can reframe a commen experience: The frustration about all the books on openings on the bookstore shelves.
There are so many of them. What do they signify ? Knowledge ! - the knowledge of the experts. I think that, by now,
you will agree to use the opening books wisely in your copy-cat mission, that is, if you still want to improve your
chess.

The next article will deal with the question of devotion (Part 3).

Torr on Survey
Part 3. Devote yourself !

Working hard ?
I once had a boss who had some difficulties in relating to other people in a relaxed manner. In every situation his
standard line was "how are you doing - working hard ?". I used to find this question hilarious, however, today Im quite
pleased with it. Why ? Because it reflects something important: You should work hard !
 This is true for chess too, surely. The results of the survey clearly demonstrates a correlation between rating and hours
of devotion per week (Table 17). The experts spend more time on chess chess. Even though there may be many different
and many valid reasons for the figures in Tables 17 one cannot escape the fact that the experts spend more time on
chess than the lower rated patzers. Thus, we have isolated the experts' habit no. 3 :

Devote more time to chess - and study harder

The study part can be deducted from Table 13-16 and Table 42. It seems that most players, strong and weak alike, find
studying 'a lot' appropiate enough, perhaps reflecting that most players above school age have other obligations in the
world than the pursuit of chess. However, 24 % of the experts think you should work hard to improve your chess as
opposed to only 9 % of the those rated sub-1600. Considering the data in Table 17 and in Table 42 in conjunction it
should be fairly safe to conclude that you should devote yourself in order to improve your chess !

Imagine the next time you hear about Kasparov's openings preparation. Imagine. Do you notice that you might already
give the word preparation a different meaning - namely emphasizing the importance of devotion ? Kasparov is
probably extremely dedicated to his preparation. Consider, just for a while, what this might imply to you.

Looking at other ballgames, just think about Bach, about Mozart, about da Vinci, about Picasso, about.....well, about all
creators, achievers, do'ers. Successful people. What do they have in common ?

The experts are devoted !

A position you can't refuse !

The data of the survey also suggest that you should focus on increasing your positional understanding. Even though
the data does not clearly disfavor studying neither strategic manoevres nor pattern recognition over positional
understanding directly or extensively, it seems you're better off getting your grips on weak squares and open lines rather
than spectacular combos or geometric blizzards (Tables 13-15). In other words, the habit no. 4 of the experts could be:

increase your positional understanding even more

Perhaps some of you have noticed that the approach to reading theory and studying the games of the masters might
alter with this finding in mind. Why ? Because a game of chess is constituted of positions from move one ! Hence, you
may study the ways of the experts with reference to positional understanding in every chessgame in any book you
have, in any pgn-file on your PC, from move 1. Say, get into position, on your marks...go
go !

The prerequisites for learning

Did you ever consider the fact that there can be no learning without memory !

Logically it follows that you need memorywhen you want to improve your chess chess, when you want to store your
just-read theory, 'photograph' your last geometrically based mate, append a positional motive to your repetoire, etcetera.
Fortunately, most chessplayers have a rather good memory at least according to the results of the survey (Table 46).
Furthermore, most players think that they can learn new things easily (Table 44) and that they generally keep an open
mind (Table 45), not bad capabilities at all, not to mention that most players consider themselves intelligent (Table 41).
Thus, most players should have an excellent foundation for improving their playing strength.

Reading these lines, some players may actively seek new powerful methods for improving their memory even more.
The bookstores are abundant with titles on mind mapping, mnemotic techniques, alpha-level learning and so forth.
Actually, many of these techniques are extremely versatile and powerful - for all kinds of learning. Generally, they
facilitate learning at the subconscious level and strengthen associative thinking
thinking. Neurologically this is evidenced by
an increased number of connections between the brain cells. Personally, I can recommend flirting with these techniques,
that is, if you want to improve your chess even more
more. Remember, true learning involves learning other ways of doing what
you can do already.
Let us summarize some of the important points for effective learning :

expand your memory even more

strengthen associative thinking

keep an open mind

The next article will deal with sour losers (Part 4).

Torr on Survey
Part 4. Sour Losers.

Act like a sportsman !

How do you feel about losing a chessgame ? Personally, I get pissed when losing... no matter the position, no matter
the opposition...and exclaiming hundreds of poor excuses why I lost is not unknown to me. Familiar with this kind of
scenario ? My guess is that the unpleasant experience of bad losers is quite common to chessplayers. However, the
data from the chess player survey clearly demonstrate that chessplayers, weak and strong players alike, are
well-behaved good losers (Table 19) and sportsmenlike good winners !(Table 21). Even though the terms 'good/bad
winners' were not clearly defined in the survey question 19, the answers give a clear picture of chessplayers being quite
well-behaved sportsmen
sportsmen.
Surprised ? Well, the data suggest that one out of four players is a sour loser (Table 19), whilst only every tenth
player is a poor winner (Table 21), whatever that may be. The figures differ only slightly through the five rating
categories, thus illustrating similar personality traits with weak and strong players alike towards these questions, perhaps
a rather unexpected finding.

Somehow I find the results above hard to believe ! Both when comparing to my personal experiences, and in particular
when considering that most players state that winning and/or losing arouses strong feelings in them ! (Table 23). More
than 75 % of the players in each rating group have serious levels of 'emotional' responses towards winning/losing. How
can you be a good loser with steamy feelings ? Beats me ! Well, perhaps chess players are just good at subliming their
feelings into the pursuit of the game...or perhaps into the analysis of their mistakes.

Improve your chess via your lost games !

The survey data suggest that all players learn from their lost games and use their learings to improve their game (Table
20) ! However, there is a slight tendency that the experts (still, those rated above 2400) use their lost games more to
improve their chess as compared to the weaker players. It should be emphasized that it is a slight tendency only,
probably not significant enough for us to conclude upon. However, we will daringly formulate our experts' habit no. 5

Use your lost games even more

to improve your chess !

"Do serious analytical work"

Alexi Shirov, Fire On Board

Increase the importance of winning !

Let us talk about the games you win. Or rather, the games you would like to win....let's talk about the importance of will
to success. The suvey data suggest that you should increase the importance of winning winning. The data in Table 22 are
quite clear on this point: 44% of the experts (those rated above 2400) consider winning 'very important', whilst 35 %
consider winning 'quite important'. The corresponding figures for the players rated below 1600 are 17 % (very important),
and 38 % (quite important), respectively. The data in Table 22 show a clear trend: the experts consider winning more
players. Is this a point you would like to reflect on now ? Well, let us formulate the experts'
important than the weaker players
habit. no. 6 :

Increase the importance of winning !

I was confident
that I could win
Alexi Shirov, Fire On Board

Get a life ! Get a chesslife !

Why do you play chess at all ? The survey question 18 examined the players' preferences towards this question.
Contrary to what might be anticipated, very few players favor the answer 'to win' as their main reason for playing. Instead,
the data (Table 18) clearly demonstrate that the low-rated players tend to play 'for fun' (40 %) and because they are
'addicted' to the game (31 %). The corresponding figures for the experts are 20 % (for fun) and 13 % (addicted),
respectively. However, the very interesting result that appears in Table 18 is that the experts play chess because it's
part of their lifestyle ! As many as 60 % of the experts prefer this reason for playing as opposed to 17 % of the players
rated below 1600. The trend is quite clear: the higher the rating, the more chess is an integrated part of your life. This
might be very logical - and for many reasons. However, you should not underestimate that the values of a person are
very powerful, very powerful motivators
motivators. Thus, you might want to integrate playing chess even more in your life life,
chess. The experts' habit no. 7 boils down to:
that is, if you still want to improve your chess

Make chess a part of your lifestyle !.

I was 14 when I realized that chess was going
to be my life
Gary Kasparov, Kasparov's Fighting Chess

The next article will deal with the central issue of personal strategies (Part 5).

Torr on Survey
Part 5. Flexible concentration.

Concentrate !
Did you ever consider, now, the impact your body posture and muscle tension might have on your chess performance ?
Did you ever find it important to have a good night's sleep before playing, or did you ever notice an urge to be quite
clear in the head and appropriately feed-off ? In short, did you ever consider how the relatedness of mind and body
influences your game ? The survey question 24 measured this aspect to some extent - the results are seen in Table 24. It
seems that for all players, weak and strong alike, about 60 % are 'somewhat tense' during the game, whilst the
bodystates 'relaxed' and 'very tense' share the last 40 % rather evenly (there are some small differences through the five
rating-groups). Thus, a modest stress-level while playing seems to be commonplace for chessplayers of all strenghts.
The physiological impact of a modest stresslevel is an elevated concentration of adrenaline (the fight hormone of
mankind) in the bloodstream and hence an increased capacity for thinking, alertness and decision-making (due to higher
blood pressure and bigger oxygen flow to the brain). Don't say that chessplayers are bodynerds !

When it comes to the phenomenon of concentration the results from the survey clearly suggest that you should
concentrate very much while playing
playing, that is, if you still, now, want to improve your chess
chess. You may consider the
data in Table 25 for a moment [*** take a moment ***] only to realize that there is a very positive correlation between
ratings and the extent of being 'very concentrated'. For instance, 42 % of the experts (rated above 2400) concentrate
very much during a game, as opposed to only 23 % of those rated below 1600. Consider what these figures suggest to
you. I'm sure you will agree to our experts' habit no. 8:

Concentration is very important !

Interestingly, concentration does not necessarily imply that you have to stare yourself blind on the board and/or the
opponent during the entire game. Actually, the experts tend to look around in the room a little more often than the
lower-rated players (Table 26). However, when it comes to the hard work of making calculations it seems that around
nine out of ten players, all strengths alike, prefer to concentrate 'on' the board (Table 31). In the next article we will
discuss how the calculations are computed.
Be flexible !
I have heard that most good chessplayers master most of the skills and techniques embedded in the concepts such as
pins, forks, double attacks, tactics
tactics, weak squares, open files, good/bad minor pieces, general positional aspects aspects,
smoothered mate, geometrical motives, pattern recognition
recognition, and so forth. My impression is that the expert players
know and use all these abilities timely. I always strive towards tactical complications, simply because of the thrill and
beauty of them [yes, Kasparov and Alekhine are my favorite players], however, often with fatal results. What do I do
wrong ? Perhaps I strive too hard ? This is actually what the results of the survey suggest ! Please consider, now, the
data in Tables 27-30 (take a very good look). The data clearly demonstrate that the expert players tend to 'play on' in a
given position, not favoring to any extreme neither tactical stuff, positional stuff nor pattern recognition (remember: they
master all of them). Analyzing these data one might be prone to conclude: hey you !, do not favor tactics untimely and
yo! have a flexible approach to chess chess. That's right, play what the position demandsdemands. Have you heard similar
encouragements before ? That's right, maybe you have ! Perhaps you might want to consider why this is so. Meanwhile,
let's formulate our experts habit no. 9:

Play what the position demands - and be flexible !

Perhaps you notice that the experts' tendency to "play on" measured in the survey questions 28 is very much at the
expense of "the simplification of the position". Thus, we could formulate a child version of habit 9, namely habit 10:

Decrease your tendency to simplify untimely

Similary, perhaps you notice that the experts' tendency to "play on" measured in the survey questions 29 and 30 is very
much at the expense of "tactics". Thus, we could formulate a second child version of habit 9, namely habit 11:

Do not 'apply' tactics untimely

I'm not telling you that it's going to be easy for you, now, to change your personal chess strategies and favorite habits.
I'm not saying it's easy for you to improve your chess. However, I'm merely suggesting that if you always do what you
have always done, you'll always get what you always got. If what you are doing does not work, do something else else.
Play another opening...file in for another combo....be flexible.....concentrate....

Chess is a matter of timing

Bobby Fischer, My 60 Memorable Games

Prepare for the concept of holistic chess

The next article will deal even more with the central issue of personal strategies (Part 6).

Torr on Survey
Part 6. Holistic Chess.

Visualize more !?
Do you calculate variations "on the board" or "in your head" ? The data from survey question 32 give some interesting
results as you may see, now, in Table 32. It appears that there is a positive correlation between rating and the tendency
to calculate "in the head" - to visualize (note: you also calculate with your brain, of course, when you calculate "on the
board"). Roughly fifty percent (50 %) of the experts visualize as compared to only 23 % of those rated below 1600. Thus,
it is tempting to suggest that you should try to visualize more during calculations
calculations. However, since half of the experts
calculate "on the board" it makes no sense to formulate an expert habit about this behaviour. At best, we can state that
some players may improve their chess by increasing their powers of visualization - increasing their abilities to
calculate variations in the head. You may consider, just for a moment now, what this implies to you.

Use your experience often -always !

often-always
We discovered in article 4 that you should use your lost games even more to improve your chess (i.e. analyze the
games carefully and learn from your mistakes). The survey question 33 measured a players general tendency to use
past experience. The results from the survey are striking (please refer to Table 33). In a position, 80 % of the experts
use their experience often/always as compared to only 31 % of those rated below 1600. The general trend in Table 33
is unmistakable: There is a very positve correlation between rating and inclination to use past experience. There
may be many reasons and explanations to these results, however, here it will merely be stressed that obviously the
experts utilize memory and past learnings more in the present state (position) than the weaker players - and that in a
perhaps more creative and successful manner. Thus, the experts' habit. no. 12states:

Use your experience more !

Holistic Chess - and baroque fuges

We discussed tactics, positional understanding, pattern recognition, and related subjects to some extend in article 5.
The survey questions 34 and 35 directly measured a players preference towards these skills - the results are given in
Tables 34-35. Please dwell a second at the Tables. Taken together the data suggest that the experts evenly consider
either positional understanding or pattern recognition as the most important skill, whereas tactics clearly is the
secondmost important skill. The experts' views are somewhat different to the pack of the players - there is a clear trend
in the Tables - hence, we can state the experts' habit no. 13 :

Positional understanding comes first

pattern recognition comes second

tactics comes third

Just to remind you, we have previously discussed the importance of positional understanding in relation to studying
chess (article 3).

Now, clearly an expert chessplayer must master all these skills mentioned above (as also discussed in article 5)
(this is evident considering all the topics typically taught in chessbooks and considering common chess theory). In fact,
many of the thought processes related to each skill can hardly be separated either in time (they may occur
simultaneously to a large extend) nor by nature (there is no such compound as a 'tactics neurotransmitter' - though it
would be cool). Furthermore, there are probably loops in the thought processes related to each skill and in the manner
the individual processes (skills) relate to and influence each other (as indicated by research by Dr. Reinhard
Munzert in Schachpsychologie, Beyer Verlag, ISBN 3-89168-045-7). Chess skills can be thought of like music themes
and voices, as in a baroque fuge by J.S. Bach, playing their own parts in their own tempi, interchanging with each other,
altering the meaning of each other, and so forth, but still defining an overall composition and a kontrapunkt - defining the
devine unification of the voices. Thus, you might understand why we could speak of holistic chesschess. All chess skills are
important - and all must be considered.

Your chess skills play delightfully together

 Chaos theory - improve your chess in n dimensions
As a player improves his chess strength the nature and perhaps the extend of these thought processes must develop
and increase. The 'dimensions' for this growth can be visualized to lay both within the skills themselves but also, in a
subtle manner, in new unique dimensions as development occurs. The new dimensions both contain all the current
leanings but also define new areas of skill, so to speak. If you think about chess in this manner, you are not far from
chaos theory and fractal images. The neat thing is, there is always room for improvement ! Just for the fun of it, now,
consider: where is your square in the figure below. What are your goals for your improvement ? Domine, qvo vadis ? Do
you discover something new ?

The next article will conclude the central issue of personal strategies (Part 7).

Torr on Survey
Part 7. Why move at all ?

Calculation and Intuition

What decides which move to make ? This was tested by the survey question 36 - the results are given in Table 36. The
data clearly demonstrate that for all players, weak and strong alike, thorough calculation and intuition decides which
move to make
make. So it appears that it's not the process of decision that separates weak and strong players. One could
speculate, however, that the experts hold a many-fold higher calculation power (ply-depth) than the weaker players.
This was also implied in our chess-fractal theory. Similarly, it's tempting to imagine that an experts' intuition is
players, probably based on larger knowledge (e.g. aquired through the
significantly different from that of a weaker players
hard study of theory), bigger experience, higher creativity and - talent ? Who knows, really ?

Most chessplayers, all strengths alike, find it at least quite important to find the best move in a position. This is
inferred from the data in Table 38.

Feelings and Intuition

We have previously discovered, in article 4, that chess brings up steamy feelings. The survey question 37 measured, to
some extent, what makes a player feel good about a certain move. The results are given in Table 37. A majority of the
players in all rating categories base their feelings upon intuition (the other options were 'thorough calculation' and
'pattern recognition'). The experts tend to favorize intuition even more than the pack of the players - indeed, there is a
positive correlation between rating and preference for intuition-based feelings. I'm not exactly sure what this finding may
imply - what does it imply to you ? - but at least it may suggest that intuition is important in chess
chess.

The results presented above suggest that intuition is involved both in the process of deciding chess moves and in the
process of feeling chess moves. But what is intuition ? To some folksintuition is knowledge that stems from a nonthinking
state of mind. Intuition could be conceived as our unconscious search engine in our subconsciousness. Clearly, intuition
makes a great range of information available to us (from our subconsciousness) and is consequently a highly desirable human
resource. To appreciate this you should behold the fact that our conscious mind can handle 7 2 chunks of information per
second as compared to 4 billion by our unconscious mind ! Thus, you may improve your chess if you develop your chess
intuition
intuition. To quote the world-famous American hypnotherapist Milton Erickson:

Your unconscious mind

is a lot smarter than you are !
Milton Erickson

Trust your unconscious mind !

Who do you think you are ?

A New Age phrase goes "The consequences of how we think is faithfully mirrored back by the outside world. The universe is a
perfect feedback device". What you you think about that ? Well, the survey question 39 measured whether a player considers
himself/herself to be strong or weak. The results are given in Table 39. Very interestingly, there is a clear positive correlation
between rating and holding the belief "I'm a strong person". As many as 63 % of the experts (rated above 2400) consider
themselves strong, in comparison to only 22 % of the players rated below 1600. The trend Table 39 is unmistakable. Hence,
our experts' habit no. 14 states:

Increase your self-appreciation - and trust your capabilities more !

If you want to make your own version of this habit, please go ahead. Remember, the habit merely stresses that an essential
part of being successful is having positive beliefs that allow you to be successful
successful. Psychologically, positive beliefs are
permissions that turn on our capabilities - that which we think is what we act on. Positive beliefs create results and success.
The later could be summed up as commitment, belief and flexibility. Not convinced ? Just look around in the world and spot the
successful people ! Consider, what they must believe about themselves and their capabilities in order to achieve what they
do (inter alia, we saw in article 3 that successful people work hard). Consider, if it makes a difference to tell yourself in your
I'm a good chessplayer - and I can easily improve my chess even more
self-talk "I'm more" as compared to "I can't play chess - and
I never will". That's right, it does make a difference, doesn't it ?

Energy in Chess
Perhaps you have read from time to time that energy in chess - whatever that may be, exactly - is of importance to
the world top players. Perhaps you have experienced lack of energy as an explanation or even an excuse for losing a
game (or not living up to a potential). Perhaps you have. Well, the survey question 40 measured a player's attitude
towards the importance of energy in chess. The results appear in Table 40. When you consider the pie-pieces in the
Table you can't help noticing, can you, the trend in the figues: there is very a positive correlation between rating and the
importance given to energy in chess. A whole 65 % of the experts consider energy 'very important' as compared to only
30 % of those rated below 1600. A further 29 % of the experts consider energy 'quite important'. Thus, we can state our
last habit of the experts, habit no. 15 :

Energy in Chess is very important

I don't know whether you associate to energetic moves, or to taking the initiative, or to endurance, or to high self-esteem,
or to will-power, or to physical strength, or to creativity, or to something else on the words energy in chess
chess, but I have
an idea that you might consider Energy in Chess even more important importantin the future. Will you, now ?

Chess Idols
Do you have an idol in Chess ? Is Fischer your man or do you look forward to the day Anand becomes World
Champion ? The survey question 43 measured the importance of having idols in chess. The results are given in Table 43.
Surprisingsly, it seems that having a chess idol is not of great importance to most players. Seen from this author's point
of view this is a big shame, since having an idol means that you have someone to model model. The kinesthetic push (the
motivation) that lies in following and modeling a person you highly valuate is considerable. I'm not telling you to get a
chess idol, I'm merely suggesting that you might improve your chess if you do so.

The next and last article will sum up the entire series of the expert habits (Part 8).

Torr on Survey
Part 8. The Tutorr's 15 Guidelines

The Tutorr's 15 Guidelines for Improving Your Chess

The data from the chessplayer survey have been presented in the preceeding seven articles. The articles have presented 15
expert habits, 15 issues in which very strong players differ from weaker ones. In conclusion, these expert habits should be
regarded as pointers for how you may improve your chess chess, yes, they should provide you inspiration and motivation for
your future work and goal-setting. Why ? Because the habits reflect the beliefs and values and skills which the experts, the
very strong chessplayers, have. Your goal could be to copy them and to model them.

Now, imagine in your mind that we extract the 15 habits of the experts and transform them into 15 useful guidelines for
improving your chess
chess. These are presented all together in the diagram below. Some readers will prefer to print this page right
away.

You can pretend anything and master it !

Milton Erickson
Which guidelines apply to you ?
You may consider, now, which guidelines that inspire your current state of chessmind the most. Surely, I don't know which
guidelines you hold in your mind now now, and I don't know when you're going to apply them, where or against whom you're
going to apply them, but my bet is that as you think about it now something in your unconscious have changed. And the
funny thing is, your conscious mind don't even have the slightest idea what it is, all for the better. Spooky stuff, ehh ? How do
you feel, now, about your next game of chess ?

You can model ! - you have always done so

How did you ever learn to ride a bycycle ? How did you ever learn to read and write, to speak foreign languages, to ...all the
things you do ? You modeled someone ! You modeled your parents, your teachers, your mates. You saw and noticed what they
did and you copied it...and copied it...until you mastered the skill and then developed your own personal style. You can model
any human behaviour if you can master the beliefs, the specific thought processes and the physiology that lie behind it. So you
can easily model a chess expert too...and it may be a very useful way for you to improve your chess. I think you know. It's
an idea...and you can consider it, can you not ?

Final remarks
The world is always richer than the ideas we have about it. However, if you use the guidelines and the concept of playing
holistic chess and let your chess step into the world of modeling
modeling, you may not only improve your chess but also expand
your current awareness. Why ? Because modeling is the process that makes excellence explicit. And what you will experience
is the peak experience of excellence yourself. Best wishes !

Disclaimer The data presented here and in the following articles can be analyzed and concluded upon in many ways
(remember that the survey was scored on-line, and that the data may not be representative of all chessplayers alike).
The conclusions presented here are mine entirely. Feel free to disagree, to have your own interpretations and to impove
your chess in the manner that suits you. The full material of data will be published in the last article of this series. If you
have questions prior to this, or other comments, feel free to mail me on torr@privat.dk

Copyright The contents on this page (graphical, textual) may not be reproduced without permission from the author.
On citations or similar use, please credit the author Dr. Tor Rnnow, Denmark (mail: torr@mobilixnet.dk).