Checking all checks is important

Hi all

I have had some excruciating painful and annoying losses recently - those where I thought I was straightforwardly completely crushing some legends of Lichess - who ended up even winning the tournaments in question. Here are two of those major pain games:

Personal example #1 - Game vs IM BahadirOzen

Black is just better here so far:

Still crushing my IM opponent

I even have thorn pawn now - what can possibly go wrong?

What on earth is Bh3? Maybe the best swindle chance

And then I blow all the work up in a quick explosion with the move Kg8??

I could have just taken on h3 and allowed the "clever" check Ng5 because it is ultimately HARMLESS. Being able to distinguish between HARMLESS tempo gainers and DANGEROUS tempo gainers is an art form in its own right.

Qa2 CHECK (Ouch!)

The tables have turned I managed to turn a won game into a lost game. I missed a key check. And this isn't the first time.

Final position - punishment for missing a critical check

And yes he ended up winning the Daily Superblitz even ahead of GM AlexSur81

Example #2 - Crushing my favorite GM Alexsur81 in this position

What could possibly go wrong for White here? Still winning

Where should king go after Qa1 check?

DONKEY ALERT!

I have just allowed Ra6+ and now black is winning. I should have played Kf5 and there aren't DANGEROUS checks but just HARMLESS ones. A good skill to be able to distinguish these kinds of checks. Wnat tempo-gainers can you let the opponent have? What one's are more dangerous?

So I seem to be overestimating positions and missing key tempo gainers. Initially, I did some google searching and came across "Tempo Prophylaxis" somewhere - and treat moves like checks, captures, and major threats like mate in 1 as "Tempo gainers". But sometimes these aren't significant tempo gainers. You can sometimes avoid auto-recapture as example or counter threats with threats. The big one is CHECKS. This is the most painful type of tempo gainer in chess. And if we distinguish through calculation between: "HARMLESS CHECKS" and "HARMFUL checks" then one can say we are doing some meaningful "Tempo prophylaxis".

But on the other hand, this can be looked at in simpler terms. Basically, we have some lucrative plans or moves - but put "those in check" by checking all checks and other DANGEROUS tempo gainers. This final stage of checking one's own downsides of one's own plan - as opposed to the opponent's position has sometimes been called "Falsification". For chess players, I believe the most important type of basic falsification is to check all the opponent's checks and dangerous tempo gainers and adjust one's moves as appropriate.

Anyway, I also have some GM Example games to show

Adams game example #1 - Howell vs Adams

Ng5 huge mistake

Adams plays f5+ and turns the tables here. If only White had calculated this one check and just doubled rooks instead. Chess is a pain, isn't it?

Adams game example #2

White just played the casual Rd1

Qc5 - OUCH!

Oh dear - Adams made the 2500s in that British event edition look like bunnies!

Key Takeaway points

• The fancy term "Falsification" in chess terms is important to falsify our seemingly completely crushing plans and moves. Steps of falsification follow (probably not possible in bullet chess but maybe blitz onwards) :

Step back from your amazing intended plan and moves

1. You have been crushing the opponent based on the downsides of THEIR position
2. Now it is time for you to check the downsides of your chosen plan and it's particular move order
3. First, make sure at minimum you check all the opponent's checks
4. Then check all the most DANGEROUS tempo gainers
5. Notice any flaws - consider changing your implementation - and recheck 1-5

Falsification needs time - you first need to have a convincing plan conceived and then start fine-tuning it by taking out its downsides. A top priority here is to check the most dangerous tempo-gainers the opponent has. Start with checks and then look at more subtle tempo gainers.

I hope you enjoyed this blog and start falsifying your seemingly crushing moves more - otherwise you won't be able to crush those resilient IMs and GMs that lurk around Lichess! Even worse you get swindled by them in otherwise completely winning positions if only... if only you checked the most dangerous tempo-gainers

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I hope you enjoyed this blog :). Any likes and follows are really appreciated. Also, I also have some interesting chess courses at https://kingscrusher.tv to check out.

Cheers, K