Identifying Critical Positions
“I’m great at finding the best move when I know there’s a good move to find.”
Sound familiar? If you’ve ever thought this while tackling chess puzzles, you’re not alone. In a puzzle, there’s only one good move, and you have to find it. But in a real game, there are no flashing signs that say, “Critical position ahead!” It’s up to you to determine when you’ve reached a critical moment that requires deep calculation.
Learn from Computers but Don't Try to Play/Think Like Them
Humans don’t think like computers. A computer doesn’t care if it’s a critical position; it brute-force calculates all possibilities, regardless of how complicated the position is or isn't. As humans, we can’t (and shouldn’t) play that way. Instead, we have to recognize critical positions—those pivotal moments when the game could tilt in our favor or against us.
When you determine a position is critical, you should allocate up to 10% of your original time to find the best move. For example, if you’re playing a 15|10 game on Chess.com, you start with 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, totaling around 25 minutes. So, 10% of 25 minutes is 2.5 minutes. Spending more than 2.5 minutes on a single move puts you in a time crunch. You better be sure that your time investment is worth it, because you can only think for 10% of your time, 10 times/game. The key is to balance careful calculation with practical time management.
Three Practical Puzzles: Lessons from a Real Game
The following three puzzles are taken from a game against a young, talented player, Sarthak. In this game, I ultimately lost on time, unable to keep up with my opponent’s dazzling attack. Each puzzle highlights a different moment in the game. Use 20% of your preferred game time control to solve them—so if you enjoy 15|10 games on Chess.com, you’d have 20% of 25 minutes (15+10=25) which equals 5 minutes for all three puzzles combined. Analyze each position, identify if it’s a critical moment, and write down your move and reasoning.
Time Allocation Suggestion: Spend no more than 10% of your favorite time control in minutes/seconds if you believe this is the critical position. If not, adjust accordingly.
*Do Not Go to the Answers Until You've Written Down All 3 of Your Answers*
Answers to the Puzzles
Puzzle #1 Answer
Puzzle #2 Answer
Puzzle #3 Answer
but it wasn't worth an inordinate amount of time investment.Conclusion
Learning to identify critical positions is about more than just tactical sharpness—it’s about understanding when to spend your valuable thinking time. By approaching each move with this mindset, you can make the most out of your clock without compromising the quality of your decisions. These puzzles were not just to practice your calculation skills, but your judgment of when to invest deeply in a move.
Remember, balancing your time management with move accuracy is the ultimate game within the game!
If you do this, you will no doubt...
Stay Impressive!
NM Craig C.
