What I Don't Yet Know

In October 2026, I wrote down every question I think the world’s leading expert on adult Chess brains, visualization, and conceptualization should be able to answer with a researched, defensible opinion.

A lot of those questions I can’t answer yet. Some I can answer in broad strokes, but need to understand on a deeper level. The ones I couldn't answer to my satisfaction I've listed below, grouped by topic, along with anything I’ve added since. What I do already know lives in my articles.

I’d rather work this out in public than wait until I have it all figured out. Each month, I pick the question that excites me most and research it properly. When it’s done, I publish a multi-page report, free for anyone to read.

This month's question

How can we approach training our intuition specifically so our brain's automatic suggestions are as good as they can be?

If you know of a paper, a video, or expert that may help me answer this question, send it my way.

The List

Individual neurological variation

8 questions

  1. How does aphantasia affect spatial reasoning, and does it mean someone's model is fully verbal?

  2. How does hyperphantasia affect conceptualization?

  3. How does thought and conceptualization work for someone with complete aphantasia?

  4. How, if at all, does conceptualization work differently for someone with ADHD or autism?

  5. How does dyslexia relate to conceptualization and calculation?

  6. Does upbringing and what we're exposed to as a child affect our place on the visual/verbal spectrum, or is that genetic?

  7. Why do some people experience the "seeing the matrix code" phenomenon and others don't?

  8. Does the language we use in our own heads affect how we process Chess information, and is being bilingual an advantage we can use?

Women's health and conceptualization

10 questions

  1. How does the menstrual cycle affect conceptualization?

  2. How does pregnancy affect conceptualization?

  3. How do the brain chemistry changes of postpartum affect conceptualization?

  4. How does puberty affect conceptualization, both male and female?

  5. How does perimenopause affect conceptualization?

  6. How does menopause affect conceptualization?

  7. How does postmenopause affect conceptualization?

  8. Are there differences in models between men and women as a general rule?

  9. Are there differences in the parts of conceptualization that are stronger or weaker between men and women?

  10. How do the social pressures on women in a male-dominated field affect conceptualization and cognition?

Age and developmental change

5 questions

  1. Why do our models change as we age?

  2. What are the specific differences in conceptualization between adult and child players?

  3. What, if any, shift in models do master-level players experience as they age?

  4. How do physical factors like age or gender affect the operation of working memory and the frequency or type of mistakes in conceptualization?

  5. How does a big multi-year break affect conceptualization, and how should we approach returning to the game older?

Health, lifestyle, and medical factors

6 questions

  1. How do general conditions like anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder affect conceptualization, if at all?

  2. How does brain-affecting medication in general affect conceptualization?

  3. How does dementia and Alzheimer's affect conceptualization?

  4. How does diet affect conceptualization?

  5. How specifically does sleep affect conceptualization?

  6. How does physical activity affect conceptualization?

Blindfold Chess

4 questions

  1. Why is a 2000-rated player who's never tried blindfold better at blindfold than a 1000-rated player with the same experience?

  2. Why does blindfold training of square colors, diagonals, and knight movement make players feel more comfortable with those things while sighted, and is it a placebo?

  3. What is the history of blindfold training recommendations in Chess, and why did it end up so maligned?

  4. Why do some people feel significantly more comfortable following a blindfold sequence when it's presented in writing versus through audio, and why is there a difference?

Mechanism of conceptualization

10 questions

  1. Can mistaken pattern recognition affect what we actually physically perceive?

  2. What are the physical reactions in the brain that drive the dance between our intuition and our reasoning/thinking?

  3. Are amateurs and masters really equally good at remembering random positions?

  4. How does the brain process and use board information we aren't specifically looking at over the board?

  5. What is it specifically about time pressure that makes accurate conceptualization so difficult?

  6. How is our concept and assessment of Chess positions affected by what we expect to see?

  7. What specific strategies do grandmasters use, consciously or unconsciously, to process complex random positions, and can amateurs adopt those same strategies for better conceptualization?

  8. How can we tell how many slots of working memory we have, and can it be changed?

  9. How does conscious mindset affect unconscious elements of conceptualization?

  10. Why are most of us rubbish at remembering our own games without training?

Training and malleability

5 questions

  1. Can we force our model to change for Chess?

  2. How do standard visualization training practices create visualizers into adulthood?

  3. Are there particular models that are overrepresented among adult players who have seen strong improvements, and what can we take from them?

  4. Can you overdo conceptualization training to the point that it's damaging?

  5. How do the ways we discuss conceptualization positively or negatively affect our ability to actually do it efficiently for our brains?

Practical application and cross-domain

6 questions

  1. Are there correlations between how we conceptualize in Chess and how we solve other problems in life, and can we use one to inform the other?

  2. How does conceptualization work in other comparable games?

  3. What are the conceptualization differences between over-the-board and screen-based play, and can one negatively affect the other?

  4. How should we approach opening prep to best arm ourselves for effective conceptualization in our games?

  5. Can blitz and bullet be played deliberately to positively affect our conceptualization for classical Chess?

  6. How specifically does rating affect our cognition and conceptualization in Chess, and what can we do about it?

Proudly Australian owned and operated.

This business operates on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri-Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present. Sovereignty has never been ceded.

© 2026 Don't Move Until You See It  ·  Privacy Policy  ·  Terms & Conditions