Progress update

I read the first 8 pages of HYRYC (How to reassess your chess) yesterday. Topics taught were King vs King opposition and flanking.

I also came across this really cool problem. It was a mate in 2, but I can't find the problem. The king was in the middle of the board and every escape square was blocked by his piece or covered by one of my pieces.

I finally 'saw the whole board' for the first time and the problem was easy to solve. What I noticed is that I scanned each one of my pieces, made a note on the board which squares they covered and 'colored' the squares next to the king a different color in my mind, but I couldn't remember which squares were covered twice.

If I could've remembered which squares were covered twice which cost me a ton of time to solve the problem. I had to see what pieces I could move so that I could find mate w/o letting the king move from his square.

This is really important, not just finding quick mates, but being able to find the best tactic in as little time as possible is essential.