How does a game of chess work between two top level players? Do they have to think like 25 moves ahead to find any sort of opening against the opponent?
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Seeing moves ahead is not as profound as it might seem.
Here is an example of what “looking ahead” looks like for each turn ahead you can see.
1. Being able to see all the pieces on the board and their potential moves.
2. Being able to see what each piece will be able to do after that potential move.
3. Seeing the best potential moves for you and your opponent based on the second move and how to either prevent this or capitalize on it.
4. Adjusting your previous strategy around the reaction to your previous best move to prevent a counter strategy which would give your opponent an advantage.
This sequence changes drastically based on the position of the board.
Good openings can be studied relentlessly due to the limited nature of their potential positions/responses that can allow for powerful starts to games.
End games fall under the same idea, where you can study the potential combination of multiple pieces and how to win with them.
Mid game becomes a game of pattern recognition. Little chess puzzles to see the consequences of combined positions. Recognition of piece orientation. It is unlikely to ever see an exact position but you can always catch glimpses of positions where a bishop/pawn/rook can be used against a rook/knight/queen or something similar.
It becomes like data packages. The chess player is not looking at the board in front of them but the potential for recognisable positions that they have considered and planned for.
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