Hunches (feelings or guesses based on intuition rather than known facts) are generated by the unconscious mind after rapidly sifting through past experience and cumulative knowledge.
Often referred to as “gut feelings,” intuition tends to arise holistically and quickly, without awareness of all of the information. For example, analytic thinkers, when asked to describe a dining table might say it is made of dark wood and can seat six people. A holistic thinker may explain it is a space for getting together and sharing a meal.
Information can register on the brain without conscious awareness and influence decision-making and other behavior and psychologists believe that it relies on powers of pattern-matching. The mind combs experience stored in long-term memory for similar situations and it then presents judgments based on them. That sounds like pattern recognition in chess.
It's similar to the phenomenon known as "highway hypnosis." Also known as white line fever, it is an altered mental state in which a person can drive great distances, responding to external events in the expected, safe and correct manner with no recollection of having consciously done so.
It was first described in 1921 and described as driving in a trance-like state while gazing at a fixed point. A 1929 study suggested that it was possible for motorists to fall asleep with their eyes open and continuing to steer.
I experienced this many years ago. After returning from a week long field exercise at the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, instead of resting up and leaving on Saturday morning to visit my parents, I left that afternoon shortly after we returned from the field.
It was dark when I reached the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I remembered getting my ticket and the next thing I remembered was pulling up to the toll booth to pay my fare; I had driven 170 miles with absolutely no recollection of having done so!
Intuition is often referred to as gut feelings, as they seem to arise from some deep recess. These gut feelings are often correct, but not always! Studies have shown that even after analyzing a lot of data, the information itself may not tell people what to do; that is where intuition can serve as a guide.
It is possible to hone your intuition? To some degree intuition stems from expertise which relies on knowledge. Consequently, strengthening one's intuition requires increasing one's knowledge.
When similar moves are made in similar positions a player is often said to have an intuitive style. Some players, it seems, just intuitively see how and where their pieces are best placed. Tal was one. He once claimed that very often the decisive argument for or against a particular continuation was, "It's good. I just know it is!"
[Event "Tbilisi"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1988.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mikhail Tal"]
[Black "Gennadi Zaichik"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B82"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "1988.??.??"]
{Sicilian Scheveningen} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 {Compare Tal's sacrifice in this
game (14.Nd5) with a similar sacrifice (16.Nd5) against Larsen.} (2... Nc6 3.
d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 O-O 9. O-O-O Qc7 10.
Ndb5 Qb8 11. g4 a6 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 b5 14. g5 Nd7 15. Bd3 b4 16. Nd5 exd5
17. exd5 f5 18. Rde1 Rf7 19. h4 Bb7 20. Bxf5 Rxf5 21. Rxe7 Ne5 22. Qe4 Qf8 23.
fxe5 Rf4 24. Qe3 Rf3 25. Qe2 Qxe7 26. Qxf3 dxe5 27. Re1 Rd8 28. Rxe5 Qd6 29.
Qf4 Rf8 30. Qe4 b3 31. axb3 Rf1+ 32. Kd2 Qb4+ 33. c3 Qd6 34. Bc5 Qxc5 35. Re8+
Rf8 36. Qe6+ Kh8 37. Qf7 {1-0 Mikhail Tal-Bent Larsen Bled 1965}) 3. d4 cxd4 4.
Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. f4 {Tal eschews the usual solid 6.Be2 in favor of this
side line which is hardly inferior to the better known Keres Attack (6.g4).} a6
7. Qf3 Qb6 8. a3 Nc6 9. Nb3 Qc7 10. Bd3 Be7 11. Bd2 O-O 12. O-O b5 {[%mdl 32]}
13. Rae1 (13. Kh1 Bb7 14. Qh3 Rfd8 15. Rae1 b4 16. axb4 Nxb4 17. Nb5 axb5 18.
Bxb4 d5 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. e5 {as in Alsina Leal,D (2540)-Asis Gargatagli,H
(2473) Barcelona 2012 with equal chances.}) 13... b4 (13... Bb7 {was played in
De Leon Justo,A (2054)-Camejo,R (2288) Lisbon 2001 which continued} 14. Qh3
Rfe8 15. g4 b4 16. Nd1 bxa3 17. e5 {Much netter was either 17.bxa3 or even 17.
g5} dxe5 18. fxe5 Nxe5 19. Rxe5 Qxe5 20. Rxf6 Be4 {and black has huge
advantage.}) 14. Nd5 {Tal sacrifices a piece for the initiative, which black
is forced to accept. This move was probably be considered intuitive when Tal
played it, but although humans probably can't calculate all the lines
Stockfish can it 14.Nd5 is its first choice, but it evaluated the position at
no more than equal.} (14. axb4 {This natural move does nor achieve anything.
In fact, black is a bit better after} Nxb4 15. Nd4 e5) (14. Ne2 {is less than
satisfactory also.} d5 15. e5 Ne4 {with an active position.}) 14... exd5 (14...
Qd8 {loses out of hand.} 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 16. e5 {Attacking both the N and B}
dxe5 17. Qxc6 Rb8 18. Qe4 {Threatening mate.} g6 19. fxe5 Bg7 20. Bxb4 Bb7 (
20... Re8 21. Qf4 {winning}) 21. Qe3 Bd5 22. Nc5 {with a huge advantage.}) (
14... Nxd5 15. exd5 exd5 16. Qxd5 bxa3 17. Bc3 axb2 18. Bxb2 {White has the
makings of a very dangerous K-side attack.}) 15. exd5 Bg4 {Black actually has
a number of ways of keeping the chances equal. The purpose of the move played
is to force white's Q off the long diagonal.} (15... Nb8 16. axb4 Re8 17. c4
Bf8 {is equal.}) (15... Na7 16. axb4 Bb7 17. c4 Rae8 {is also equal.}) 16. Qg3
{Let's take stock of the material: white has a P for a N, but the position is
equal. Black can maintain the status quo by retreating his N, but it would not
improve his position.} Nxd5 {This turns out to be the best decision!} (16...
Nb8 {the disadvantage of this move is the lack of activity black has for his
pieces.} 17. axb4 {White has made progress...he now has two Ps for the N.} Re8
18. Nd4 Qb6 19. Kh1 {White has an active position.}) 17. Qxg4 {Materially
white is now a P ahead, but black has equal play.} Nf6 18. Qh3 d5 {One
annotator thought this was questionable because it deprives black of his
Q-side counterplay. On the other hand, Stockfish declares it to be the best
and evaluates the position as quite equal. That said, it's pretty clear that
black is on the defensive and so his position is more difficult to play.} (
18... bxa3 {is probably satisfactory, but practically speaking it likely
didn't look so good to Zaichik.} 19. Bc3 g6 20. bxa3 {white is somewhat better,
but he would still have to find a way to continue keeping the pressure on and
there is no clear way of doing so.}) 19. a4 Rfe8 20. Kh1 {This may seem a bit
odd, but removing the king from the long diagonal is a useful precaution.} a5 {
A small slip, but one one that leads to black's defense being more difficult.}
(20... Na5 21. Nd4 (21. Nxa5 Qxa5 22. Re5 Qxa4 23. Rxd5 {The R is immune
because of the mate threat on h7} Qc6 {with equality}) 21... Nc4 22. Bc1 Bc5 {
and black has adequate play.}) 21. Qf3 (21. c4 {was well worth playing.} Bf8 (
21... bxc3 22. Bxc3 {and the two Bs and Q aimed at black's K can't be good.})
22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. cxd5 {The N on f6 cannot abandon the defense of h7} Ne7 24.
Rc1 {with excellent play.}) 21... Bd6 (21... Rad8 {would keep things equal
after 22.Be3} 22. c4 {This is no longer playable because after} dxc4 23. Bxc4
Nd4 {suddenly it's black who is calling the shots.}) 22. c4 {By opening the
c-file Tal initiates play on both sides of the board. 22.Be3 was also a good
move.} bxc3 23. Bxc3 Rxe1 24. Rxe1 Bb4 {An almost imperceptible slip after
which Tal is back on the attack!} (24... Nb4 {keeps black safe.} 25. Bxf6 {
This loses its punch with the N on b4.} Nxd3 26. Qxd3 gxf6 27. Qxd5 Rc8 {
Black is a P down, but his pieces are active enough that he should be able to
hold the game.}) 25. Bxf6 {The loss of the exchange is of no consequence
because white has more than enough compensation in the form of his two raking
Bs.Was it Tal's intuition or did he calculate many moves deep?} Bxe1 (25...
gxf6 {is even worse.} 26. Rc1 Qb6 (26... Qd7 27. Bb5 Rc8 28. Qe3 {Black has no
useful move.} Qd6 29. Bxc6 d4 (29... Rxc6 30. Qe8+ {wins}) 30. Qg3+ Kf8 31. Bb5
{White is a piece up.}) 27. Qg4+) 26. Qh5 gxf6 27. Qxh7+ Kf8 28. Qh8+ Ke7 29.
Qxa8 {The smoke has cleared and white has clear advantage, but realizing it,
especially with Qs on, will still requie care.} Bf2 30. Bb5 Nd4 31. Qe8+ Kd6
32. Qf8+ Ke6 33. Nc5+ Kf5 34. Bd7+ {Accuracy is still required!} (34. g3 {
for example is met by} Nxb5 35. axb5 Bxc5 {and black should win.}) (34. h4 {
trying to run with the h-Pawn is met by} Nxb5 35. axb5 Bxc5) 34... Ne6 {
White still has to be careful!} 35. Qxf7 (35. Nxe6 {is out of the question.}
Qc1#) (35. Bxe6+ {hands over the advantage after} fxe6 {The N still can't move
on account of the mate on c1, so...} 36. g4+ Kxg4 37. Qg8+ Kf3 38. Qg2+ Ke2 39.
Qg4+ Kd2 40. Nb3+ Kc2 {The K has managed to flee to safety and it's black who
has winning chances.}) 35... Qxc5 36. Qxe6+ {Equally good was taking with the
B.} (36. Bxe6+ Kxf4 37. Qxf6+ Ke3 38. Qe5+ {etc.}) 36... Kxf4 37. Qxf6+ Ke3 {
White still has to guard against that pesky mate threat on c1.} 38. Qg5+ {
More efficient would have been 38.g6, but it really does nbot matter that much.
} Kd3 39. Be6 (39. Bf5+ {was even better.} Kc4 40. Bc2 Qd4 41. Qc1) 39... Kc4 {
Black plays on. Practically speaking it may look as if his position offers
some forlorn hope because of Bs of opposite color and the fact that Qs are
still on.} 40. Qf4+ Bd4 (40... Kb3 41. Bxd5+ Qxd5 42. Qxf2 Qd1+ 43. Qg1 {
is hopeless.}) 41. Qc1+ {But with the Qs gone the Bs of opposite color just
can't save the game.} Kb4 42. Qxc5+ Kxc5 {[%mdl 4096]} 43. b3 {It's all over!
Here Black could have resigned, but he plays several more moves through
inertia.} Kd6 44. Bc8 Ke5 45. g3 {[%mdl 32]} Ke4 46. Kg2 Bc5 47. Bb7 Bb4 48. h4
Bc3 49. Kh3 Be1 50. g4 Ke5 51. g5 d4 52. Ba6 Bb4 53. Kg4 Ke4 54. g6 Bf8 55. Kg5
{Black resigned} 1-0
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