When a piece moves in a game of Chess, the position can change in many ways.
Some of those ways are obvious, and some of them are subtler.
I like to think of each move as having two main "orders" of effect.
First-order effects are very clear to us. That bishop move attacks my queen. That pawn move defends their knight. That rook is threatening checkmate.
They are active, direct results of the move that just occurred. Our brains are wired to notice active effects, so they jump out at us.
Second-order effects are less obvious. They tend to be side effects of a move, not tied as much to where the piece is now, but more to where it no longer is.
They are also a key issue in the conceptualization and calculation skills of almost every adult improver I've worked with.
Let's look at a couple of examples to show you what I mean.
White has just moved their pawn from e2 to e4.
There are a couple of very obvious things that occur. White has taken the center, and is applying pressure to d5 and f5. These effects are active, a result of the pawn ending up on its new square.
Slightly less obvious to total beginners is that it has also opened the diagonals for the White queen and bishop.
Even less obvious, and something many of us have never consciously noticed, is that the d3 and f3 squares are now slightly weaker than they were before.
In this position, White has a classic d4 structure with d4, c4, and Nc3.
If they were to play b3 here, the first-order effects are pretty clear. They would protect c4 and make a space to fianchetto their bishop.
The second-order effect is less obvious. Namely that the knight on c3 would no longer have a defender.
When we're only looking at White's position, it doesn't seem like a big deal to go one turn with an undefended knight. But it becomes a very big deal when we add in the black pieces too.
b3, Bxc3+, Bd2, Bxa1, resigns.
Looking at first-order effects alone, b3 seems like a perfectly ok move. It protects a pawn, and lets White fianchetto their bishop.
It's not until we consider the second-order effects of b3 that we see why it's a terrible idea.
Our brains like first-order effects. They're simple, clear, they make immediate sense. We are drawn to notice what a move does, rather than what the moved piece no longer does.
Second-order effects are quieter, subtler, less obvious. But they can be every bit as impactful on a position as a first-order effect. Often moreso.
It's in the second-order effects that many advantages are gained and lost.
All of this may seem pretty silly when we can see the board in front of us. Very few of us would consider playing b3 in that earlier position.
But this series is about how our brains handle future positions. And, from a couple of moves out, it becomes very easy to miss why b3 is such a bad idea.
As we calculate ahead, our brains become resistant to second-order effects. They're hard work, they take space in our working memory, and our brains are already going at full tilt.
As we push ahead, our assessment of each move becomes more and more superficial. And before we know it, we find ourselves only considering the most obvious effects of each move. Our brains have to trim down all that information somehow, and these second-order effects are the first to go.
Strengthening our recognition of second-order effects won't just reduce our mistakes, it'll also let us take opportunities when they present themselves.
Depending on your level, it's not all that likely your opponent will hang their queen in one move. But it's certainly possible that they'll move that queen and not notice they've left a pawn undefended in the process.
If you only look at the first-order effects, you will react to the queen on its new square. If you look at the second-order effects, then you win yourself a pawn.
Second-order effects are among the biggest conceptualization issues holding adults in their plateaus. It's critical, as adult improvers, that we help our brains handle them better.
It didn't take me long to recognize that second-order effects were a key issue in the conceptualization skills of adult improvers. It did, however, take me a long time to find a good way to target them for training.
Regular tactics puzzles weren't intense enough. Normal blindfold training didn't isolate second-order effects enough. I really struggled with it.
I tried and tested things for a good 2 years before I found an answer. But eventually I did.
The exercise I developed for it is called the "Find the Blunder" exercise.
In this exercise, I give you a sequence of moves. Somewhere in that sequence, one player will make a serious blunder, and their opponent will not punish them for it.
It's your job to find who blundered when, and what should have been played to punish them.
As with most of my training techniques, we do this blindfolded. If I can teach your brain to notice and retain second-order effects when you can't see the board, it'll be child's play when you can.
We train harder than we play, because we want it to be easy when it matters.
Most of my exercises are audio-based, but these use text notation. That sounds like it should be easier, but don't be fooled; most Don't Move members place this exercise style as the hardest we have ever created.
Find the Blunder exercises specifically target your brain's ability to notice second-order effects as the position shifts, and most of us are very bad at that.
As you're doing these exercises, take your time. Put the effort into understanding each move fully.
Look at the first-order effects of the move. What's the move attacking? What's it threatening?
Look at the second-order effects of the move. Did it open any vectors? Did it weaken any key squares? Did it leave anything undefended?
Ask yourself, what is now true about the position? And what is no longer true?
Somewhere in there, you'll find the answer.
And remember, these are not easy!
You probably won't get them all correct, and you probably won't finish them all in one sitting. Failure does not mean you're stupid or bad at Chess. It only means you have some work to do. It's a muscle, and you're working to strengthen it.
Your improvement will come from the struggle, not from the answer.
Ready? Let's do this.
FIND THE BLUNDER:
Read through the game below. Somewhere amongst the moves, one player will make a blunder that would swing the game heavily in their opponent's favor. Their opponent will not punish them for it. Which move was a blunder and what should have been played to punish it?
Exercise 1:
- Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. d3 c6 4. Ne5 Nf6 5. Nd2 Nbd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 *
Exercise 2:
- e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nf5 Nge7 6. Nxe7 Bxe7 7. Bc4 *
Exercise 3:
- 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 *
Exercise 4:
- d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Bd3 Ne4 8. Qc2 Nxc3 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. bxc3 *
Exercise 5 (for the strong conceptualizers among you):
- d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O O-O 9. Ne5 Nbd7 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 11. f3 c5 12. e4 Qxd4+ 13. Qxd4 cxd4 14. Nd1 Bg6 15. Bg5 Rac8 16. b3 h6 17. Bxf6 gxf6 *
Take your time with them. Solve them one-per-day if that makes it less daunting for you. But keep trying! (Except maybe that last one. Feel free to skip that.)
Second-order effects are such an issue for so many adult improvers. If you improve your brain's ability to recognize and handle them, you can drastically improve your clarity, decision making, and calculation.
To continue your training of second-order effects, take an all-in approach.
When you're playing training games, focus on identifying these effects after every move. When looking at puzzles, identify the second-order effects of any moves in your calculation.
Make it a habit to look for these things, and eventually your brain will learn to do it automatically.
Or, if you prefer a more isolated and intensified approach to second-order effects and other parts of conceptualization training, you can join us in the Don't Move members system.
Here's to the journey,
Aiden
