Master chess players are good at...expert chess players are good at...?

Question

What part of chess in your opinion are good chess players such as masters and experts good at?Different parts of the game?

Answer 1

In a way, expert level and master level chess players are only really better at recognizing familiar positions on a chess board. The more games of chess you play, the easier it is to recognize the patterns, and so certain elements of the position are very predictable. Compare that to someone who's playing chess for their first time, where nothing is familiar. Certainly, masters and experts are also very good at analyzing and calculating as well, but they are more easily able to see immediately the kind of moves that are good or bad. This also helps them see farther ahead because they can more easily eliminate the variables in whatever they're calculating, and so have less to calculate.

Edit- I note the comment below by Mr. What seems to refer to mine, and I just want to note that yes, certainly, if you take a position that you and any master, international master, or grandmaster has never seen before, they would be more likely to make the best move int he position. But really, this is almost impossible. In any chess position, there are always principles, both in tactics and in strategy. pins, forks, pawn structure, etc.  A master who is more familiar with these things will still be able to judge the position with greater skill because of past experience. Note, too, though, that a class c player may make the same move as a master in any given position, but it may take them longer to analyze. Your class doesn't mean you automatically make worse moves.

Answer 2

They can think farther ahead in the game. For Each move ahead you are thinking, the complexity involved in seeing all likely possibilities increases exponentially. Most people really only think one or two moves ahead, they may think they are seeing farther but they are really eliminating some fruitful possibilities from their minds.

Answer 3

master's are the best at thinking on the end game. they are best   at the finishing moves.

Answer 4

Masters are good at beating Experts.:)

Experts are good at underestimating me.:)  (I have many expert scalps, but no Master scalps.)

Answer 5

well...All of chess, haha.  In order for one to be an expert or Master you must be proficient in all areas of chess. The beginning middle and end.   They both need to be able to analyze and discover the best moves and course of action to take within a position.

Larry Christiansen says the difference between the classes of chess players is Tactics. This is definitely true, but I also know that the difference is the ability to create a concrete plan that is of some sort of purpose, which is the downfall of most players--plans that don't make sense, or are aimed at the wrong part of the board, or are just executed poorly.

chess isn't purely memorization, I guarantee if you took a position you and Anatoly Karpov have never seen before, he could make the best move over yours any day.