> Getting better at Chess is a matter of mastering pattern-recognition, I think, then coming up with
> the appropriate reponse for a given situation.

Chess playing, not really surprisingly, has been the focus of at least one famous study into the meaning of expertise.

This study showed that not only do *really* expert players know all the rules and most of the strategies, but they apparently have memorised, at some unconscious level, all or most of the possible patterns in which the pieces can appear on the board.

This makes sense, when you think about it - learning the situations you might find yourself in is a necessary prerequisite to learning what to do when you find yourself in each situation.


I don't play very good chess myself, and I can't remember the last time I won a game.

I play expert-level TicTacToe, however.

Paul