Intuition in Chess

‘’Intuition is the whisper of the soul’’ is a quote by Jiddu Krishnamurti. This man is neither a chess expert nor a famous chess player, but actually, his words thoroughly describe something directly linked to chess. So what is intuition and how it is somehow related to the game?

According to Garry Kasparov, intuition is discussed seldom in chess literature and that is because skills associated with it, are hard to sense. Frankly speaking, Kasparov is absolutely right.

The best and possibly the only way to grasp and master your intuition is to gain an experience. The question is how to gain an experience? Let us find out the answer to this question.

In every single chess player’s career happens when they are in a no-go situation during a very climacteric situation. And in this cases, they mostly rely on their situation, for literally there is no time to puzzle out all the secrets.

This is why it is a really tough part of the game. You should gamble on your intuition while deciding on your future moves. Intuition can be distinguished into two types: tactical and positional. Let us examine particular examples connected to each trove.

A positional intuition

Arguably, the greatest positional intuition idea was brought to fruition by great Bobby Fischer against another great Tigran Petrosian. 

Tigran Petrosyan was woeful during this tournament, therefore he tried to create a solid defense against Bobby Fischer. By some means, Bobby Fischer created an astonishing attack once again killing all the doubts about his unreal flair.

Black is up a pawn. What a calamity for them as they can’t prevent Rh7-h8# threat.

•    White trades their game-changing night with a bishop in Queer Street.
•    White allows rook to excel its own position on the board
•    Black has no air to breathe and every rendering is in his favor.

All these points were scored by Bobby Fischer at the time he felt that "C" line is going to be filtered and the white-lined bishop is going to conquer the game. That is what you call positional intuition.

Now have a look at another example which at the very first stare might look like it is a tactical intuition, but actually, it is not. If you get the crucial points of it then you can boast in front of your friends that you handle all the key skills about positional intuition.

Nezmetdinov, one of the greatest attackers of Soviet Union if we do not take Stalin into consideration, used the factor of rival’s undeveloped figures and created a marvelous example of positional intuition.

A tactical intuition 

Another intuition exposure, as it is mentioned above, is the tactical intuition. This one is extremely hazardous and it always conducts to win or death battle. Despite the fact that tactical intuition appears less than positional one, it is approved by experts that if it happens the game goes in favor of more experienced one. So do not squander your time and get that necessary experience.

It is highly regarded that The Godfather of tactical intuition is world’s 8th respective champion,Mikhail Tal. The only Latvian memorable master of the game is considered as the most creative chess genius ever. Hundreds of incredible masterpieces were reified by him. Have a look at one of them.

Queen sacrifice on move 11. Would you dare to do that? Probably the answer is negative unless you are Mikhail Tal.

This majestic game perfectly shows the natural ability of Michael Tal. The ability that made into reality some unimaginable chess magic. We can paraphrase tactical intuition and call it chess magic, the most admired sort of chess skill. And if it is the most superb one in the chess, then why not dive into the depth of it?