100 additional Move Ahead exercises to develop visualisation and calculation skills.
Calculation by visualising the future positions is what will count.
– José Raúl Capablanca, Chess Fundamentals.
If you are not familiar with the Moves Ahead mode of training please click this link for the introduction video from the first course.Moves Ahead 2 follows the wonderful reception of the first course and comprises a collection of carefully selected checkmate variations that are ideally suited to
develop fundamental visualisation and calculation skills.
COURSE UPDATE! Null Moves
The course includes one of the latest features of Move Trainer 2:
Null move support. All those previously unclickable threat lines are now blue clickable moves. This greatly enhances the course by being able to play through those sometimes difficult to follow lines.
Who is the course for?
In
Moves Ahead 2: Calculation Fundamentals, the particular focus is on helping beginners and casual players to improve their fundamental visualisation and calculation skills.
In recognising that intermediate and advanced players found a number of the Moves Ahead 1 variations challenging, Moves Ahead 2 was developed to better match the developing skills of beginners and casual players by intentionally lowering the skill level required to successfully complete the course.
Does this mean the course is not suitable for intermediate and advanced players?Even though the course was designed with beginners and casual players in mind, the course is a good complement to Moves Ahead 1 in expanding the number of variations available for intermediate and advanced players to test their visualisation and calculation skills.
The Method of Study
There are two modes of study: Basic and Advanced.For both modes, you are presented with up to four
candidate moves of which only one delivers the quick checkmate. The recommended method is to
visualise each of those candidate moves on the board and to
calculate all the possible moves that may, or may not, lead to mate. Learners are recommended to not play a candidate move until a significant amount of time has been given analysing all the candidate moves.
As a
basic method consider each candidate move until either mate has been calculated or ruled out. Do this for each candidate move. Even if you are confident you have found the correct candidate move by eliminating the alternatives, the best learning results from calculating and visualising all the moves to mate.
As an
advanced method consider each candidate move and when the mate has been calculated, determine whether the alternate candidate moves will lead to a
winning, drawing, or losing position. You will be able to check these against the annotation symbols in the commentary.
When the student is certain that the correct candidate move has been found, the moves can be played through and later reviewed with Chessable's MoveTrainer. The main line and all the alternative candidate moves are explained in the analysis of the variation.
The method is simple,
the task requires effort,
but the results are worth it.
Course Structure.
There are six training chapters and one reference chapter
♔ 2 Moves Ahead – 10 mate-in-2 variations with only 2 candidate moves
♔ 2 Moves Ahead – 15 mate-in-2 variations with 3 candidate moves
♔ 3 Moves Ahead – 10 mate-in-3 variations with only 2 candidate moves
♔ 3 Moves Ahead – 15 mate-in-3 variations with 3 candidate moves
♔ Test 1 – 25 mate-in-2 and 3 variations with a few having 4 candidate moves, and because it's a test, there are a few mate-in-4 variations with 2 candidate moves.
♔ Test 2 – 25 mate-in-3 and 4 variations to help you step into the next level of play.
♔ A reference database of 100 games.
Tests 1 and 2 are also particularly suited for intermediate and advanced players to test their visualisations and calculation skills.
To emphasise: This is a course you need to spend time on. It's not a rush through memorisation course, or a hit and miss course of randomly trying different moves, but a course to develop visualisation and calculation skills.
What others are saying about the series …
There are a wide range of tactical and sacrificial elements in the main line and in the candidate lines as well. The quality of production is very high. There is an attention to detail that is unparalleled in my other purchased courses. Ample commentary brings a feeling of completeness on every page.
('comfortable', a Chessable user.)
... this course is delivering on its intended goal of training visualization and calculation with a clear end goal of checkmate. ... AlanB has devised two very powerful methods with “Moves Ahead” and “Forwarding and Reversing”. Combined with a balanced diet of endgames and annotated master games this could be the most effective training for under 2000 that I have yet come across.
('comfortable', a Chessable user.)
The study method AlanB proposes here, with its candidate moves, is undeniably very useful for beginners (and beyond) to improve visualisation and calculation. ... Above all, Moves Ahead’s method helps me to have a better approach to tactics in general.
('KarlArthur', a Chessable user.)
About the Author
Dr Alan Bester (PhD) resides on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast of South Africa. Alan is passionate about chess and while playing league chess in the mid-1990s was invited to give chess lessons to a group of scholars in the local school. The Chessable platform has enabled him to now share his chess learning experiences with a wider and an international community.
Alan is the author of the highly rated The Unexpected Mate, The Reversing Mate Series, Reversing and Forwarding the Tactics of Bobby Fischer, and the free On the Attack series which have together attracted thousands of students.
As Chessable staff, we'd also like to remind you that the high quality of Dr Bester's chess work has led to endorsements from leading coaches and players such as GM Alex Colovic.
