KW explains Bent Larsen's
8-Point Method for Assessing Moves
[August 16th-22nd 2011]

Bent Larsen's 8-Point Method
for Assessing Moves

What type of pawn structure is it?

What is good and what is bad about my position?

Which pieces do I want to exchange, and which do I want to keep?

Which side of the board should I play on?

What is my dream position?

What does my opponent want to do?

Can I take a step in the right direction?

Which moves are worth taking a look at?

5. What is my dream position?
Ask, "If I were allowed to make several moves in a row, what would they be?"

(KW, August 16th) So if I could make several moves in a row, and at the end it could be my move, here is the position I would want:

KW explains Bent Larsen's 8-Point Method- Point 5

As you can see, I ignore Black's moves at this point. That is for questions #6, #7 and #8. This is a key part of the role of strategy, knowing what setup you are trying to achieve. This may change as the game progresses, but it helps to know where you are going.

The YELLOW arrows show the first move. Starting from the left, I would want to move a3, to protect b4 from the Knights. I would give serious consideration on b5-b4 to move a4, blockading the Queenside, except for c3. I am assuming Bxg5 as one of the first moves, so Nfxg5 comes almost immediately.

With the Knight on g5, Bg2-e4 is a real threat against h7 (GREEN arrows are second moves and threats).. Qh5 is also a threat. With the Bishop moved to e4, the King can move to g2, allowing the e1 Rook to move to h1, and the a1 Rook to move to e1. The h2 pawn along the way would have moved to h4(defending the Knight)-h5-h6. Mate would happen in 2-4 moves, starting either Bxh7 or hxg7.

Another example would be my discussion on July 7 as I discuss the relative merits of 5 different possible ways to proceed from the first 4 moves.

I follow it up with How To Develop A Plan. This is discussing how to insert a possible dream position (different opening repertoires) into an existing position to see what would work best. As you can see by these two examples, finding a dream position can happen very early in the game to set up the rest of the game.