Pattern Recognition

IM Mat Kolosowski
Summary
How often do you hear that chess in 99% tactics? I’m not really sure how valid this
statement is but there’s definitely a grain of truth in it.

Tactics plays a vital role in beginners’ chess, club games or world championship
matches. There’s no doubt that the result of most chess is determined by tactical
solutions.

In this course I attempt to show you how to find those tactical ideas in your games. In
other words, I will present tactical pattern recognition the way I perceive it.

The material is divided into 5 chapters:

1. Fork
2. Geometric ideas (forks, skewers, discovered checks)
3. Decoy & deflection
4. Intermediate moves
5. Online games
 1. Fork

I have always believed that fork is the most basic chess tactical pattern but a very
effective one.

After all, you just need to be able to spot moves involving double attack or double
threats. If you master forks, you will definitely be able to elevate your play to the next
level.

In this chapter you will learn:

• how to spot pieces’ setups allowing forks,

• how to combine forks with other tactical motifs,
• why looking at the entire board may be the key to success,
• why a fork does not need to involve attacking two pieces/pawns,
• how to use forks for strategic purposes.
 2. Geometric tactical ideas

The second chapter covers 3 tactical motifs that have something in common –
geometry! In case of pins, skewers and discovered checks both open files and
diagonals are vitally important.

In order to be sharp at these tactical patterns you need to be able to spot long-range
ideas.

In particular you will learn:

• how to take advantage of a pinned piece,

• how to trick your opponent with a move order,
• how to construct a discovered check/attack ideas and utilize them successfully,
• how to use those tactical motifs for your strategic goals.
 3. Deflection and decoy

Decoy and deflection are probably my favourite tactical patterns. It’s all about luring
your opponent’s pieces to leave their optimal spots by sacrificing material.

Since these two motifs are relatively similar, I’ve decided to cover them in one chapter.

In this chapter you will learn:

• why it’s so important to determine weaknesses in your opponent’s position,

• that understanding functions performed by each piece helps in finding tactical
patterns,
• how to find the unexpected tactical blows and
• much more.
 4. Intermediate moves

Intermediate move (in-between move) is – in my opinion – the most difficult tactical

pattern but an extremely effective one. It can appear both in game continuations as well
as in calculation of sidelines.

The idea itself is actually quite easy – it is an unexpected move which is played instead
of the most forcing continuation. Yet, the surprise factor makes it so powerful.

In particular you will learn:

• how to spot creative in-between moves in your games,

• why intermediate moves are so strong,
• how Kramnik terrorized Topalov with intermediate moves and almost lost to
Mamedyarov in a similar way.
 5. Online games

At last, you will get a unique chance to see an IM playing and commenting his games
on the go.

Was anything that I covered in the course useful in blitz games? Did I win all of my
games this time?

Make sure to find out.