Eli5: how does a pro chess player see 10+moves ahead? What does that look like?
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I used to play chess for england junior team as a kid, as many desceibed it is a case of ‘if i do this, how could my opponent respond?’ That will give you some variation of likely options. In order to evaluate what is most likely, you will keep on going down each of the available alternatives repeating the process up until you get some level of certainty that the line of moves you are hypothesizing will end positively for the opponent, in which case you need to re-evaluate the move you are considering- or if you are happy that all possibilities you can see will carry out in your favour, you make the move.
Generally as an exanple, if i was thinking 1 move ahead i would think “of i do x and put him in check, he can move his king, or block the check with a knight or rook- do any of those end in a disadvantage for me?” If not, make the move. 2 moves ahead would be considering your next move and his next response, asking the same question. All the way up to 10 in your question. This does get more complex if there multiple possible moves you can foresee the opponent making, as there can be countless lines to analyse- through game knowledge and good chess analytic skill good players can reduce the number of moves they feel the opponent may make, since they can easily dismiss them as not helpful or such.
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