He is most famous for his book Thought and Choice in Chess. The book, published in 1965, was a translation of his 1946 dissertation Het denken van de schaker (The thinking of the chess player), which examined how chessplayers think.
He conducted experiments in the 1940s and later in the 1960s which involve players from amateurs to Grandmasters. He investigate the cognitive requirements and the thought processes involved in selecting a move. The participants were asked to select a move and voice their thoughts as they decided on their move.
What de Groot found was that much of what is important in choosing a move occurs during the first few seconds after seeing the position.
Four stages in the task of choosing the next move were noted.
1) The orientation phase in which the subject assessed the situation and determined a very general idea of what to do.
2) The exploration phase where the subject looked at some branches of the game tree.
3) The investigation phase' where the subject chose a probable best move.
4) The proof phase where the subject confirmed to himself that the results were valid.
He agreed with Alfred Binet that visual memory and visual perception are important attributes and that problem-solving ability is of paramount importance. Memory is particularly important in that there are no new’ moves in chess, so those from personal experience (or from the experience of others) can be committed to memory.
Does playing over games and solving tactical problems in order to gain pattern recognition an important part of improving? The question is discussed in THIS Chessable article.
After Max Euwe became World Champion, the steelworkers at Hoogovens started a chess club which held their first event in 1938. After the War, activity was resumed in 1945, and this attempt had some minor problems when English players P.S. Milner-Barry declined for professional reasons and William Winter could not get a visa. And, Swiss master m and Henri Grob ran into travel difficulties.
As a result organizers were left with Gosta Stoltz from Sweden, whose plane arrived only hours before play began, and Belgian champion Albrec O'Kelly as the only foreign players.
De Groots opponent in this game was Albrec O’Kelly de Galway (1911-1980). He spoke French, Dutch, German, English, Spanish, and Russian fluently, and some Italian. As an author, O’Kelly wrote many books and article, in various languages.
\ As a youth, he took lessons from the legendary Akiba Rubinstein, who was institutionalized in Belgium. O'Kelly won the Belgian championships thirteen times between 1937 and 1959.
Adrian de Groot–Alberic O'Kelly1–0Hoogovens, Beverwijk1946Stockfish 17
Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 f6 4.0-0 c5 The B is much more
active on c5 than on e7, however, white can gain time by playing c3 and d4
focing black to lose time by moving the B again to a less active position.
Statistically the move does not do well. 5.xe5 Although not played very
often this is probably white's best reply. 5.c3 and 5.d3 are more frequently
seen. xe5 6.d4 c6 7.dxe5 xe4 8.d3 d5 This is black's best move. 9.f3 h4 The threat if …Bg4 is unpleasant. 10.g3 Better was 10.Bxe4 and
whichever way black recaptures the position would be equal. g5 10...g4
was better. AFter 11.f4 g5 12.gxh4 gxf4 13.xf4 g8 black has a good
position. 11.d1 h3+ O'Kelly has overestimated the strength of his attack.
Or, perhaos it was a case of a stronger player takig liberties against a
weaker one. 11...xf2+ 12.xf2 12.xf2 xh2+ 13.e1 xg3+ and black is
winning. 12...h3+ 13.g2 xf2 14.gxh4 xd1 15.e2 xb2 16.xb2
is unclear. 11...h6 Best. 12.h4 h3+ 13.g2 g5 and white must play
carefully. 12.g2 Already white has a substantial advantage. e7 13.f4
Going for the kill. h5 14.c3 A lapse...white does not have time for this
and must press on with his attack/ 14.f5 g5 15.c3 Now this is OK
because black can't develop his B to g4 nor can he try ...g5 14...g5
Just a bit better would have been 14...Bg4 15.f5 15.fxg5 xg5 16.xg5 xg5 17.xd5 Black has to try 17...h4 when white is only slightly better, but he
must not play cxd5 18.b5+ f8 19.xd5 with a decisive attack. e7 20.xf7+ xf7 21.f1 xf1+ 22.xf1 e7 23.c4 e8 23...h7 24.d3
Threatening Bg6+ h6 25.g8+ d7 26.b5+ c7 27.g7 e6 28.c4 15...g4
de Groot's slight lapse last move has allowed O'Kelly to get decent play anf
now de Groot has to be careful as his K is exposed. 16.e2 d7 It's logical
to develop the B, but it allows his opponent to go back on the attack. 16...f6 opening the position keeps the attack and defense balanced. For example... 17.f4 b5 18.ae1 xf4+ 19.xf4 and things are unclear after either 19...
Kd8 or 19...fxe5 17.a4 Nice! After black's last move white's B finds a
purpose on c3...with things at a standstill on the K-side de Groot turns his
attention to the other side. 17.e6 fxe6 18.f6 f7 19.e5 b6 White's
position lacks any real punch. 17...b6 18.b4 Setting a trap. 18.e6
is a different story from last move. fxe6 19.xb6 axb6 20.e5 and the
Q-side Ps have become targets. 18...0-0-0 Avoiding the trap. 18...xb4 19.xb6 xb6 20.e6 White is winning. fxe6 21.fxe6 c8 22.e5 g8 23.g6+ 18...c5! 19.xc5 xc5 20.bxc5 c6 19.xb6+ de Groot now
conducts an attack on black's K. axb6 20.a4 20.e6 would have been much
harder to meet. fxe6 21.e5 de8 21...hf8 22.f6 Switching the action
back to the K-side. This demonstrates the great strength of white's position. xb4 23.h6 f7 24.xh5 The R is a goner. 22.f6 xb4 23.b1 a5 23...xb1 This gets the Q trapped. 24.b2 xa2 25.a1 24.f7 ef8 25.d6 c5 26.a3 xd6 27.xd6 g5 28.e5 wins a R. 20...he8 21.a5 bxa5 22.b2
Another imprecise move. 22.xa5 xe5 23.xe5 xe5 24.b2 ee8 25.f6
picks up the exchange. 22...d4 To copy and paste the note from white's
last move...Another imprecise move. The move has a point however! 22...xb4 and things get wild after 23.fb1 c5 24.e6 d4 25.c1 c6+ 26.f1 f3
with head whirling complications. 23.xa5 After this things are back on
track. 23.xd4 Falls for the trap black's last move set. c5 24.e4 24.xc5 c6+ 25.e4 xe5 26.fe1 xf5 and white gets mated. 27.f2 d2 28.xc6 xf2+ 29.h1 xe1+ 30.xe1 f1+ 31.xf1 xf1+ 32.g1 xg1# 24...g5 25.d5 xf5 26.xc5 xe5 27.xe5 xe5 28.c4 axb4 29.xb4 dxd5 30.cxd5 e4+ 31.f2 h3+ 32.e1 g2+ 33.d2 xf1 34.xf1 xd5+ Black is better. 23...xb4 There was really no better defense. 24.a8+ The rest is a mop
up. c7 25.a3 c5 26.xb4 xa8 27.e6 c6+ 28.e4 cxb4 29.xc6 bxc6 30.e5+ Black resigned. An incredibly complicated game that was for the most
part well played by de Groot. 30.e5+ b7 31.b1 a4 31...ab8 32.xb4+ a6 33.a4+ b7 34.xd4 bd8 35.b4+ c8 36.a8+ c7 37.a7+ c8 38.b7# 32.xd4 and Qd7+ will be a killer. 1–0
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