How do some chess players know how to make their moves quickly without thinking?
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 at
12:09 pm
Very interesting question that I asked, huh? I asked this question because I noticed that some chess players make their moves quickly without having a time to think.
Star if you like my question!
Bramblyspam and Andrei, nice answers! I agree that it’s not about playing quickly. I see what you two are saying; you are saying that the more you play with diverse players, the better you can recognize the patterns.
I love how you back up your answers with excellent details.

It’s not that they think quickly. They’ve played lots of games and seen lots of positions before, so in most situations, they already know which moves make sense (and which ones don’t) without needing to think. It’s quite common for a chess game to have a couple key positions that merit a deeper think, while the rest of the game consists of pretty obvious moves that don’t require much thought from an experienced player.
Much of chess is really pattern recognition, although there is of course more to it than that.
Its not that they do not think, its just that they have trained themselves to think quickly. That is why it is said that chess expands your mental capacity.
They train themselves to look for specific things and moves quickly, which to a novice player may appear as though they do not even think.
good chess players (like myself) have been playing for MANY years….it takes practice to be able to move quickly
a good tool is a digital chess clock…lets say your average time is 50 minutes per game…you ALWAYS set it at 50 minutes….about 6 months later, go to 45 minutes….etc, etc, etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzrap8Vtyq8
If you are playing them online and can’t see what they are doing then they are cheating by having a chess program make their moves for them. How do I know this? Because I once played a very fast player and then broke out my chessmaster program and put it on Chessmaster. This was an old version of Chessmaster but that other guy whipped it in under 2 minutes. When I accused him of cheating, he left quickly, because he knew I knew what he was doing. Why do people do this because I guess it is fun for them on some level.
If it’s in the opening, the moves may well have been learned by heart.
If it’s later on in the game, there may be an obvious weakness in the opponent’s position which is asking for immediate exploitation, or it may be a type of position which has occurred so many times that the move is "by rote".
The main thing to remember is that you don’t move very quickly unless you’re 100% sure of what you’re doing!
Because if you r a slow player they think thier moves way ahead before you make your move and the only way to throw them of is to think ahead and play quickley
Give those players credit. They have many strategies they use and can switch them according to the situation. We all start out slowly with stuff like this but with practice and knowing how to play the game, anyone can make moves with little thought.
Oh and of course, playing online barely counts as many players have a program that gives them possible moves to make in very little time. To cheat at a game like chess…for shame. They wouldn’t last a minute in a real strategy situation like the strategists of China.
Assuming you mean "good moves", experience.
I’m not that good, but give Kasparov (Or whomever, I’m old:)) 5 seconds per move and me 15 minutes per move, and I’ll win. (Well, maybe.:))