Majicman Notes

The 3 phases to winning chess games—and wars.

The chess master never aims for checkmate at the beginning of a game, but rather patiently proceeds in 3 distinct phases.

Phase 1: PROBE the opponent’s position for subtle weaknesses, and POUNCE on the smallest mistake.

Phase 2: PILE UP on that weakness in a coordinated attack, forcing the opponent to contort his uncoordinated resources into a defensive posture attempting to protect that weakness, and while his resources—and attention—are focused at that point, and it looks like the position may just hold…

Phase 3: PIVOT—and deliver the knockout blow somewhere ELSE on the board!  While your opponent has been preoccupied defending the initial weakness, he has lost sight of other vulnerabilities, which have been left defenseless.

PROBE—PILE UP—PIVOT, the knockout blow is never delivered at the initial point of attack.

Adam Robinson, American educator, freelance author, and a US Chess Federation Life Master. He is the co-founder of The Princeton Review.