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Alexander Kotov – Candidate Moves & Critique

Alexander Kotov's advice to identify "candidate moves" and methodically examine them to build an "analysis tree" remains one of the most famous concepts in chess literature. This page critically examines that system.

Kotov in Brief

Alexander Kotov

Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (1913–1981) was a Soviet chess grandmaster, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific author.

His trilogy—Think Like a Grandmaster, Play Like a Grandmaster, and Train Like a Grandmaster—focuses not on where pieces should go, but on the method of thinking itself.

The Big Question: "How Many Moves Do You Look Ahead?"

Critiquing "Think Like a Grandmaster"

Is the book a useful tool or a "dangerous conceptual weapon"?

Deep Dive: Kotov vs Panov (Example 2)

Deep Dive: Example 3

Deep Dive: Example 4

Deep Dive: Example 5

Two Russian Projects in Opposite Directions

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