There’s one skill in Chess more important than any other.
It’s important to study openings, and learn the endgame.
But they’re not the most important things to master.
It’s how well you see the board in your head that matters most.
It’s the skill that separates the Grandmasters from the amateurs.
You watch any acclaimed Grandmaster of the last 50 years. When in a tricky position, they look AWAY from the board.
Beth Harmon in the Queen’s Gambit, based on how actual Grandmasters act in games, looks at the CEILING to find the best move.
Hikaru, Danya, and Magnus do it ALL THE TIME.
If you want to get better at Chess, you need ask yourself one simple question:
Can you trust the board in your head?
Chess is a game with no hidden information. We see the whole board in front of us when we play.
When we lose a game, it’s not because our opponent happened to be holding a card.
Or has upgrades to their pieces that we don’t have.
We lost because we missed something. Because we couldn’t see it.
If we see the Chessboard more clearly than our opponent, we win. Chess blindfold practice