Answers.Body: <p>I found a very useful guide to thinking about both positional and tactical situations in an online course offered by VisualWize, who make chess visualization training software.  You can find it <a href="https://chessfox.com/free-chess-course-chessfox-com/" rel="nofollow"><strong><em>here</em></strong></a>.</p>
  
  <p>You might find the portion of the course on positional evaluation helpful.</p>
  
  <p>There are both sections of content and exercises to practice what you've learned. I have not tried their other training courses, which go into this material in more depth, but this course struck me as comprehensive and effective.</p>
  
  <p>I admit to using an amalgam of different methods that I've learned from 
  multiple sources, but this is the closest I can find to a comprehensive system.</p>
  
  <p>You can also try a variety of chess training apps offered by ChessOK on the PC, and Chess King on Android (and probably Apple) - these are the same people, in two different markets.  On Android, their "Strategy" app offers a limited number of theoretical topics for free, plus a corresponding set of problems that cover Development, Space, Attack on the King, Attack on the Queenside, and Defense/Counterattack.  For a small charge (less than $10), you can buy the rest of the course, including 13 more topics in areas like: weak squares, positional sacrifices, hanging pawns, improving your pieces, pawn structure, open files and diagonals, etc.</p>
  
  <p>Andrew Soltis wrote a good book on choosing a strategic move (well, any move) called <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0713489790" rel="nofollow"><em>How to Choose a Chess Move</em></a>, in which he offered a short course in "priyomes", which are short plans to be used in certain types of positions to accomplish a short-term objective.  Unfortunately, there is no catalog of priyomes anywhere, since there 10's of thousands of them (apparently), but you get a good introduction to the concept.  Also, Mauricio Flores Rios' book, <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1784830003" rel="nofollow"><em>Chess Structures</em></a> discusses quite a few openings, their tabiyas, and the types of plans each offers for both sides. That makes it a kind of catalog for priyomes for the openings.  These aren't software, but you can't always have everything...</p>
  
  <p>Arthur Van De Oudeweetering has written an interesting book on 40 less well-known (but actually fairly frequently-occurring) priyomes that he has identified, which is called <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/905691538X" rel="nofollow"><em>Improve Your Chess Pattern Recognition</em></a>.  I'm working my way through that book, and adding the patterns to my pattern store, because they're surprisingly common (and effective).  He also does something I don't see often in chess training materials: he complements the normal "<em>Do's</em>" with some "<em>Don'ts</em>", pointing out some of the kinds of anomalies in the position that could render the pattern ineffective or even dangerous.</p>
  
  <p>He has now published a sequel, called <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/9056916130" rel="nofollow"><em>Train Your Chess Pattern Recognition</em></a>.  I haven't seen this one, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't live up to the original. BTW: An Amazon reviewer has warned against buying the Kindle version of the 2nd book because the figurine characters don't render properly; the first book's Kindle edition is fine.</p>
  
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Answers.UserDisplayName: jaxter
Answers.Body: <p>Positional Motifs are known as Priyomes, and can generally be described without using chess notation, such as "To win, White must open the c-file, double his rooks and infiltrate the seventh rank." You get the idea. There are several books that have been written about them - a google search will reveal those to you. But, one in particular stands out - 100 Chess Master Trade Secrets by Soltis. Chapter One: Twenty Five Key Priyomes is what you might be looking for.</p>
  
  <p>Good Luck.</p>
  
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Answers.Text: Thanks for including this reference, Mark. That book does a nice job of introducing the concept as well, but has the added benefit of digging into a few of the major ones in some depth.
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Body: <p>Tactics have motifs like skewer, pin, fork, weak back rank etc which can be used to guide you towards candidate moves. </p>
  
  <p>Are there similar positional motifs? </p>
  
  <p>I think Silman's imbalances is close to what I'm asking for, but is a bit too higher level and not especially useful in generating candidate moves. His concept of dream position is something to target in 10+ moves, and I find it hard to implement in practice. (Yes, major piece ending with his backward pawn is good for me, but we have 4 minors to trade, what's the first move?)</p>
  
  <p>I'm looking for something less blue-sky and can give guidance for the next 1-2 moves. Example: h4-h5 against king side fiachetto; c4 is more powerful when opponent puts B on d6 (usually with opposing pawns in d4,d5). </p>
  
  <p>Of course, just as a pin does not always lead to winning a piece, these are ways to generate candidate moves and everything needs to be checked in a concrete position.</p>
  
  <p>Also, are there any training software/website like chesstempo, but on positional puzzle? I tried chessimmo, but its positional puzzles are mostly opening moves (I only did the free ones though).</p>
  
Tags: <positional-play>
Title: Positional motifs and training websites/softwares/apps?
ThreadText: # Positional motifs and training websites/softwares/apps?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2016-10-18)
  
  Tactics have motifs like skewer, pin, fork, weak back rank etc which can be used to guide you towards candidate moves.
  
  Are there similar positional motifs?
  
  I think Silman's imbalances is close to what I'm asking for, but is a bit too higher level and not especially useful in generating candidate moves. His concept of dream position is something to target in 10+ moves, and I find it hard to implement in practice. (Yes, major piece ending with his backward pawn is good for me, but we have 4 minors to trade, what's the first move?)
  
  I'm looking for something less blue-sky and can give guidance for the next 1-2 moves. Example: h4-h5 against king side fiachetto; c4 is more powerful when opponent puts B on d6 (usually with opposing pawns in d4,d5).
  
  Of course, just as a pin does not always lead to winning a piece, these are ways to generate candidate moves and everything needs to be checked in a concrete position.
  
  Also, are there any training software/website like chesstempo, but on positional puzzle? I tried chessimmo, but its positional puzzles are mostly opening moves (I only did the free ones though).
  
  **Tags:** positional-play
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2016-10-18. Score: 3 | Accepted answer
  
  I found a very useful guide to thinking about both positional and tactical situations in an online course offered by VisualWize, who make chess visualization training software. You can find it [***here***](https://chessfox.com/free-chess-course-chessfox-com/).
  
  You might find the portion of the course on positional evaluation helpful.
  
  There are both sections of content and exercises to practice what you've learned. I have not tried their other training courses, which go into this material in more depth, but this course struck me as comprehensive and effective.
  
  I admit to using an amalgam of different methods that I've learned from
  multiple sources, but this is the closest I can find to a comprehensive system.
  
  You can also try a variety of chess training apps offered by ChessOK on the PC, and Chess King on Android (and probably Apple) - these are the same people, in two different markets. On Android, their "Strategy" app offers a limited number of theoretical topics for free, plus a corresponding set of problems that cover Development, Space, Attack on the King, Attack on the Queenside, and Defense/Counterattack. For a small charge (less than $10), you can buy the rest of the course, including 13 more topics in areas like: weak squares, positional sacrifices, hanging pawns, improving your pieces, pawn structure, open files and diagonals, etc.
  
  Andrew Soltis wrote a good book on choosing a strategic move (well, any move) called [*How to Choose a Chess Move*](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0713489790), in which he offered a short course in "priyomes", which are short plans to be used in certain types of positions to accomplish a short-term objective. Unfortunately, there is no catalog of priyomes anywhere, since there 10's of thousands of them (apparently), but you get a good introduction to the concept. Also, Mauricio Flores Rios' book, [*Chess Structures*](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1784830003) discusses quite a few openings, their tabiyas, and the types of plans each offers for both sides. That makes it a kind of catalog for priyomes for the openings. These aren't software, but you can't always have everything...
  
  Arthur Van De Oudeweetering has written an interesting book on 40 less well-known (but actually fairly frequently-occurring) priyomes that he has identified, which is called [*Improve Your Chess Pattern Recognition*](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/905691538X). I'm working my way through that book, and adding the patterns to my pattern store, because they're surprisingly common (and effective). He also does something I don't see often in chess training materials: he complements the normal "*Do's*" with some "*Don'ts*", pointing out some of the kinds of anomalies in the position that could render the pattern ineffective or even dangerous.
  
  He has now published a sequel, called [*Train Your Chess Pattern Recognition*](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/9056916130). I haven't seen this one, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't live up to the original. BTW: An Amazon reviewer has warned against buying the Kindle version of the 2nd book because the figurine characters don't render properly; the first book's Kindle edition is fine.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2016-10-19. Score: 2
  
  Positional Motifs are known as Priyomes, and can generally be described without using chess notation, such as "To win, White must open the c-file, double his rooks and infiltrate the seventh rank." You get the idea. There are several books that have been written about them - a google search will reveal those to you. But, one in particular stands out - 100 Chess Master Trade Secrets by Soltis. Chapter One: Twenty Five Key Priyomes is what you might be looking for.
  
  Good Luck.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Thanks for including this reference, Mark. That book does a nice job of introducing the concept as well, but has the added benefit of digging into a few of the major ones in some depth.  
  
  ---
  
  