We're adults. We got stuff going on. Chess, for most of us, is a hobby. An escape.
We do all we can to carve out some time to study, to play, maybe to go to tournaments. We work those things around the rest of our lives, our families, and our work.
Finding the time is hard. But we do it because we love it. And because Chess gives us something that we don't find anywhere else.
When we've made the effort to block out the time, push the world to the side for a moment, we want to ensure we're using that time wisely.
I think that's a primary emotion of the adult improver: a whole lot of anxiety over how to use our time wisely. Then a whole lot of frustration when we don't.
Ironically, the focus on effective use of time can paralyze us. It can certainly help, it's what led me to visualization after all, but we can feel trapped by it too.
If you're reading this, you've put some of your valuable time into my content already. You've read my emails and articles, you understand the power of conceptualization and why you need it.
But then you have to make the big decision…
"How do I work this in to my limited training time?"
I want to give you the answer in this article.
Conceptualization training is a multiplier for the rest of your Chess.
The better your brain can handle and process the raw information of Chess, the more easily you'll be able to take in and use the knowledge from your other training and in your games.
But, multiplier or not, it's still just one of the many things you could be training.
Firstly, I do not recommend focusing on conceptualization to the exclusion of all else. Don't approach my work like a big course to be completed, a race to the end. That's not the path to best results.
The students and members who have had the best results are the ones that do their conceptualization training alongside other work.
Every now and then I hear from a member who has spent 3-4 months totally focused on their conceptualization, but struggles to see the impact in their games.
They find they can now handle blindfold positions quite well, get deep into variations in their head, play full blindfold games, and read notation far more easily. But the muscles haven't transferred to their sighted games.
I was worried the first few times I heard this feedback, but after working with some of them and a bit more research I found the reason and how to resolve it.
Conceptualization training is about building your brain's ability to process and handle Chess information more efficiently.
We use blindfold exercises because they put the maximum amount of pressure on exactly these functions of your brain. The pressure forces your brain to adapt and build the skills you need.
But there's still a difference between blindfold and regular Chess.
If you aren't always linking the blindfold training back to your regular Chess, there's a chance your brain will start to treat them as separate things.
That's why the people who do conceptualization training alongside playing and other training get the best results. Their brains get regular opportunities to apply their growing mental muscles to their regular Chess.
That brings me to the most important of the three modes of conceptualization training: the stretch.
The best value-for-time thing you can do is spend 10-15 minutes at the start of each Chess session training your conceptualization.
Starting each session with a little blindfold work primes your brain for anything that's to come ahead.
Blindfold training puts more strain on your Chess muscles than anything else you could do in that session, so it sets you up to find any conceptualization in the rest of your training easy by comparison.
Driving 40 miles an hour feels pretty zippy if you're coming up from 0. But it feels slooooooow after you've just been going 60 or 80.
We can get a similar effect from this stretch. If you've just done a 10 move game blindfolded, it's pretty easy to remember where the pieces are in your calculation. That's a great spot to be.
Some users describe the Chess experience post-stretch as "seeing the Matrix code". Their brain handling the information of the position so well that it shocks them.
(The effect isn't that extreme for everyone, but you should feel some effect. If you don't, reach out and I'll see how I can help.)
Don't push too hard in these stretching sessions. You don't want to tire yourself out.
Warm up the muscles, prime the engine, and get your brain ready for some serious Chessing.
To accelerate your growth, add in a regular "push" session.
Every week, fortnight, or month (depending on how much time you can devote to training), spend a session focused entirely on your conceptualization.
Your goal in this session is to give 100% of your energy to developing this skill, and to leave nothing in the tank. You're pushing as hard as you can. You want to be totally mentally exhausted at the end.
It's in the strain that our brains are forced to develop the skills, schemas, and systems we're trying to build.
These sessions could take as little as 20 minutes, or up to an hour or two. But you want to push until your brain makes it clear to you that it's done.
When the clarity is fading, the mental glitches are increasing, and you're feeling drained, stop there.
Last, and the easiest for you to start immediately, is to fill little moments throughout the day with conceptualization work.
There aren't a lot of ways to actively improve your Chess while you're doing dishes or at the gym. Thankfully, audio-based conceptualization training does work while you're out and about.
The Chess Visualization with Don't Move podcast is rapidly approaching 400 episodes (numbers stack up FAST when you're releasing daily episodes). Each week, we put out 4 conceptualization exercises for free, and there's a huge backlog. Find it on Apple, Spotify, or in your favorite podcast player.
If you're not the type to listen to podcasts, try carrying around a "Meredith" mate-in-2 puzzle or some Find the Blunder exercises. Write the notation down on an index card or make them the background on your phone.
(Meredith puzzles contain between 8 and 12 pieces. Big enough to push our conceptualization skills, but small enough that we can quickly memorize the position.)
Chip away at the answer whenever you have a moment.
I've put six exercises into the P.S. to get you started.
There's plenty of free stuff on the podcast you can use, but the full Don't Move Training System is there for you whenever you're ready to take that leap.
Add conceptualization training into your regimen in the above ways and you'll feel the difference over time.
You don't need to go all-in on this stuff. It's a multiplier, and is best done alongside your other Chess work.
And if you're struggling to feel those benefits after doing the above for a month or so, send me an email. I'll see what I can do to assist.
Here's to the journey,
Aiden
P.S.
Here's the exercises I mentioned earlier. Copy them down somewhere and carry them around with you.
All the below are White to play and mate-in-2.
Meredith Mate-in-2 exercises
N. Easter, 1929
White has Kf1, Rb4, Rh1, Bb3, Be1, Na4, Nd4
Black has a3, Kb1, Ra1, Ra2, Bb2
J. M. Rice, 1958
White has g6, Kh4, Qe8, Bh8, Nf6, Nf4
Black has f5, Kh6, Rb7, Rd7, Ba2, Nf8
B.P. Barnes, 1970
White has b4, e4, Kb6, Qd5, Rb5, Ba2, Ne5, Ne6
Black has c4, c5, e7, Kf6
Find the Blunder exercises
Somewhere in each sequence, a player blunders and their opponent does not punish them. Find the blunder and the appropriate punishment.
FTB #1
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nf5 Nge7 6. Nxe7 Bxe7 7. Bc4 *
FTB #2
1. d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3 g6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Ng5 Nxd4 8. Nxh7 Nxh7 9. Bd2 Bg7 10. Qg4 O-O *
FTB #3
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 b6 7. Nf3 Bb7 8. e3 d6 9. b4 a5 10. b5 Nbd7 11. Bb2 Ne4 12. Qc2 f5 13. Be2 Ng5 14. d5 Qe8 15. Nd4 exd5 16. cxd5 Bxd5 17. Qxc7 Rc8 18. Qxd6 *
