Stuart the Maniac's Chess System Here is the system of inquiries that I use in playing postal or over-the-board chess. Some of the inquiries are best for postal chess, some should be given more weight over-the-board. Train yourself to use these inquiries and watch your rating shoot up!

My system of inquiries in chess

©1992 Stuart the Maniac
All rights reserved

There are a number of inquiries one should make upon thinking about any move. Below is a partial list one should consider. Some of these are more important at different stages of the game, and therefore should be emphasized more. All of these factors should be at least considered to avoid strategic, tactical, or oversight blunders.

1. What squares are protected? What squares are attacked?
   • double & triple protection, attack (especially important in opening)
2. Are there any combinative elements I can exploit?
   • a. double attack
   • b. discovered attack
   • c. pin threat
   • d. decoy or deflection
   • e. interception
   • f. destruction of defense
   • g. space clearance
   • h. blockade
   • i. X-ray attack
   • j. overload combination
   • h. destruction of pawn structure
3. Are there any combinative elements my opponent can exploit?
4. Is the move I am considering better played now or after a zwischenzug (intermediate move) or a series of intermediate moves?
   • Is my "good move" a true good move or would it be more powerful if preceded by a series of sub-tactics? Is it more effective as a threat?1 (threats v. moves)
5. What is my overall plan in this position?
   • a. How can my opponent hinder or foil my plan?
     • What can I do to counter his threats?
   • b. If I am attacking, what are the focal points of my attack?
   • c. If I am defending
     • 1. Are there any counter-attacks I can plan for?
     • 2. What are the focal points of the danger? ?
6. If I forget about the move I am considering, is there a better move?
   • Or is any other move I consider inferior?
7. Has my opponent ignored a key combinative or strategic element?
   • Are there any holes I can poke in his defense?
8. Am I letting my emotional response to the game or [a] recent move[s] interfere with proper logical and systematic thought?
   • Is my opponent utilizing psychological tactics to try to throw me off balance?
9. Is the analysis complex?2
   • a. Am I confused about the position?
     • If so, should I spend a disproportionate amount of my time learning about elements of the position?
   • b. Do I feel I understand the positional elements sufficiently?
10. BLUNDER CHECK!!!
    • Are any of my pieces under attack? Will they be in the next few moves?
11. Am I in time pressure? (toward end of time-control)

Types of losses

1. Forced loss of material early on
   a. loss of [a] crucial pawn[s]
   b. loss of the exchange
   c. loss of a piece
   
2. Tactical slam-dunk
3. Slow positional crush
4. Stupid blunder

Keep track of the types of losses that you are suffering and study the types of losses that you are experiencing. See if you can find patterns in your losses and then try to avoid those patterns.

FOOTNOTES

1. Many times a pattern of action which is perceived in a move considered turns out, upon reflection, to be incompletely available or not quite happening in the position as it stands, and positional elements must be slightly altered for the plan to work. Thus, the considered move becomes a "threat" rather than a move, or an element which in conjunction with other elements could at some future time become a move.

2. Note: when faced with analysis which is especially complex, it is best to try to go over all lines seriously considered more than once, and to try to approach the analysis from a different perspective each time considered.