chaalwise

Strategy

Think ahead

Before you act, look at what the other side can do next, and what your move lets them do.

Why it matters

Many mistakes are not bad plans but replies nobody looked for: the competitor who cuts prices, the colleague who forwards the email, the opponent's knight that forks two pieces. One look at their options catches many of them while they are still cheap.

The question to ask

What can they do after this, and am I ready for it?

At work

Before you announce a price change, list how your two biggest competitors and your biggest customer could respond, and what you would do about each.

In study

Before you hand in an essay, read it as the examiner will: what is the first objection they will write in the margin?

Lessons

  1. The blunder checkBefore you act, ask what could go wrong, and look at what the other side can do first.
  2. Their next moveThink through how the other side will respond, as they see it, not as you hope.
  3. Two birds, one stoneLook for the one move that serves two aims, so the other side cannot answer both.
  4. Not so fastBefore you push on with your plan, ask what the other side wants, and stop it before it starts.
  5. Pass the problem backSome positions are bad for whoever must move next. When you can, make the move that leaves the hard choice with the other side.

Shown and practised in chess: Take what is hanging, Checks, captures and threats, Is this move safe?.

Practise it in a game, about five minutes against bots: the The bonus rule lab.

Use it in a work case, a short story of linked decisions: Your first job, The rushed website, The café's coffee beans.

New to chess? The examples here use it. Play your first moves (five minutes), then learn chess from the beginning, one short lesson at a time.

Practise and review

Questions from every lesson above, in mixed order. You do not need to finish a lesson first.

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Review Think ahead questions

In the reference

  • Ask what the rule rewardsA rule or target changes what everyone does. Before you set one, ask what is the cheapest way to score on it, because that is what you will get.
  • ProphylaxisStop the other side's best plan before it starts, often with a quiet move.
  • The blunder checkBefore you act, ask what your move allows the other side to do.
  • Their next moveAfter every move by the other side, ask what it wants to do next.