Seeing the Final Position Clearly

Every board on this page is live. Move the pieces by tapping or dragging, click any move in the lines to see that position, and press ↺ to start again.

6.1 The Ghost Piece Problem

Here is a mistake almost every player makes. You calculate a line three moves deep. In your head, the knight has jumped from f3 to e5 and then to c6. But when you look at the final position, you still "see" a knight on f3 — because that is where it stands on the real board in front of you. You count it as a defender of e5 or of the king, and your whole calculation is wrong.

We can call this a ghost piece: a piece that you have moved in your head but that your eyes still see on its old square. The opposite also happens — a piece that has been captured in your line but that you still count as an attacker.

6.2 A Checking Routine

When you reach the end of a line in your head, before you decide anything, do a quick inventory:

1. Which pieces have moved? Name each one and its new square: "My knight is on c6, his bishop is on g4."

2. Which pieces have been captured? Take them off your mental board. Say it: "The f6 knight is gone."

3. Which lines have opened or closed? A piece that moved may have uncovered a file or diagonal; a piece that arrived may have blocked one.

4. Now run the CCT scan in the final position — for both sides.

6.3 Training Exercises

Visualisation improves quickly with short, regular practice. Here are three exercises you can do anywhere, even without a board:

Square colours. Ask a friend (or yourself) to name a square — "e5", "b7", "g2" — and answer whether it is light or dark without looking. Then name the diagonals that pass through it.

Knight routes. Picture an empty board. How many moves does a knight need from b1 to h8? Name every square on the way.

Blindfold openings. Play through a short opening you know, such as 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6 4.♗a4 ♘f6, entirely in your head. Then answer: which squares does the bishop on a4 attack? Is the e4 pawn defended?

The puzzles in this chapter train the same skill. Each one shows a position before some moves are played. You must make those moves in your head, and only then find the winning idea in the new position.

6.4 Worked Examples

Study each example as if it were a puzzle: cover the solution, calculate, and only then read on.