The Enigma of Chess Intuition

Book excerpt: Nobody doubts that intuition in chess exists. It is part of the arsenal of every chess player, next to well-known weapons such as tactical skills, the ability to calculate variations and endgame technique. But how does intuition in chess work, and where does it take us? Intuition is by far the vaguest and hardest to grasp subject in chess, and consequently the least studied. Acclaimed author and experienced chess trainer Valeri Beim takes the bull by the horns and explains, with hundreds of well explained examples, when intuition comes into play, why some players have better intuition than others, what the functions of intuition are, how it differs from pattern recognition, and why your intuition gets weaker as you get older. Valeri Beim deeply analyses and dissects how chess players think and demonstrates that each of us has the power of making intuitive decisions. You will learn how you can train and develop this human gift. Beim uses plain language and illustrates his findings with sparkling tales about Fischer, Carlsen, Tal and other greats in chess as well as with instructive examples of practical play. A thought-provoking, yet highly accessible work.