Chess Study
Chess as a controlled laboratory for thinking: decision-making with complete information, long-horizon planning, and pattern recognition under strict constraints. My study leans classical—clarity over complexity, structure over spectacle.
Why Chess
Chess offers something rare: a fully specified world where outcomes are earned by reasoning rather than randomness. The rules are simple, but the implications are vast—an ideal environment for training disciplined attention, evaluating trade-offs, and separating intuition from wishful thinking.
I approach chess as an intellectual practice, not a competitive identity. Rating is a byproduct. The primary goal is clarity: improving visualization, building reliable positional judgment, and learning how strong players convert small advantages into inevitable outcomes.
The deeper I study, the more chess mirrors engineering and research: progress comes from feedback loops, error analysis, and a long-term mindset. The board is simply a clean interface for the same mental habits.
Study Philosophy
Understanding Over Brute Force
I prioritize strategic patterns that compress complexity: pawn structures, piece coordination, prophylaxis, and endgame logic. Calculation matters—but it becomes precise only when it is guided by positional understanding.
Classical Games, Annotated Deeply
I study master games with an emphasis on decision points: why a plan was chosen, what alternatives failed, and how small advantages are preserved across phases. The 1900–1970 era is a strong baseline for instructional clarity and clean technique.
Visualization and Memory Training
Regular blindfold work to strengthen internal board representation. Starting from reduced-material endgames and scaling upward, focusing on accuracy and stability rather than speed.
Current Study Areas
Capablanca’s Method: Simplicity as Power
Capablanca is the model of high-signal chess: moves that look obvious after you understand them. I study his games to internalize clean development, accurate simplification, and the art of preventing counterplay before it exists.
Key themes: Prophylaxis, structural advantage, phase transitions, and endgame technique as an extension of middlegame planning.
Currently studying: Karlsbad 1929 themes (space and conversion), New York 1924 technique games, and practical queen endgames with minimal risk.
Endgames as Proof of Understanding
Endgames expose the truth of earlier decisions. Without tactical noise, everything becomes principle, geometry, and timing. My focus is on building reliable conversion technique and durable defensive resources.
Areas of focus: Lucena and Philidor foundations, rook activity rules, practical queen endgames, opposite-colored bishops, and common drawing mechanisms under pressure.
How Chess Thinking Evolved
I compare strategic ideas across eras: Steinitz and the logic of accumulation, Nimzowitsch and the hypermodern reframing, and the Soviet tradition of systematized preparation through Botvinnik.
Chess history reads like research history: competing schools propose hypotheses, test them over decades, and refine shared understanding through contradiction and synthesis.
Lichess Accounts
I use Lichess primarily as a study environment: analysis, endgame practice, and structured review. If you want to follow training sessions or see recent games:
Main: lichess.org/@/playerdem
Alt / Study: lichess.org/@/proferdm
Chess as Cognitive Practice
Chess reinforces skills that transfer directly to technical work: visualization mirrors system architecture thinking, pattern recognition resembles debugging, and long-horizon planning aligns with research strategy. The real training is the discipline: focused study, honest review, and systematic correction of repeated mistakes.