Offering my 0.02 on chess:
Some people play the game for the game, but applying chess to real life, which is more important for a wider audience? It has taught me this lesson:
Quickness and fluidity of pattern recognition (the basics) allow for extra mental energy to psych out your opponent or for calculation.
If you're better at recognizing a pattern and you instinctively know the response (i.e. you have your basics down), it's from that base you can use creativity or simply outgun your opponent with your understanding that's akin to "a second nature."
Example: You play a French Defense against an experienced White player? Better know and watch out for the "Greek Gift sacrifice." I can recall it from memory, since I've used it so many times against the French: the White light-squared bishop's sitting on d3, eyeing h7. Knight on f3 ready to hop onto g5, covered by a bishop on c1. Queen on d1 ready for backup on h5. Add to that the Black knight is deterred from defending h7 because of a white pawn on e5, and that Black can't contest the b1-h7 diagonal, and this gives rise to 1.Bxh7+! which in many cases will be game over. Experienced players know and start preparing for this long before the actual sequence breaks out.
It's not a stretch to apply this idea (that you need to know the basics) to other areas of life.
Quote: (04-01-2014 12:20 AM)cardguy Wrote:
I read somewhere that chess is 90% tactics and 10% strategy.
So - in a sense - it is not the super deep strategic game some imagine it is.
This statement is certainly correct if you're under 2000/sub-expert. Basic pattern recognition (do you know your forks, skewers, pins, and discoveries) will go a long way.
If your rating is under 2000+/sub-expert, you should focus on these.
At higher levels, more nuanced play is common, such as sacrificing a pawn for control of an important square, or prophylactic maneuvers designed to deter the opponent from activating his pieces.
Credibility: My ELO is 2100+ (US Chess Federation Advanced Expert), 6 years as private chess coach, 14 years of competitive experience.