this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2024
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What does it mean to visualize a chess position?
I don't exactly "render" the board or pieces. It's like when you look at a board, and then make connections and feel whatever you feel, I just recreate those things.
I assume it's similar to other people, but the phrase "not being able to create images" sounds like people do "render" things in their head.
It's not the same as seeing it visually, but yeah I'd say it's a mental "render". Sort of like how having a song stuck in your head isn't the same as actually hearing it.
You move the pieces around in your mental picture of the board to reassess what the potential position would look like.
That's so far removed from how my brain actually works, it might as well be magic. I simply stare at the board and make mental notes which spaces would have which pieces, but there's nothing visual to it. Take away the board and I can't do a thing to plan my next moves.
For the record, I also never have any songs stuck in my head. When listening to stuff, I can recognize wrong notes and such, but I cannot in any form listen to music in my head. Heck, I can barely hum the tunes of my favorite songs after listening to them hundreds of times.
It's incredible how our brains can accomplish the same things in different ways.
It's not like the average player can picture the full board state and play blindfolded chess like some GMs can, but I'd expect that it's pretty normal to visualize pieces on potential spots for tactics.
I can imagine what the board state would be if my piece is there, I just don't create a mental picture of it.
It's not the same. Aphantasisa is the total absence of being able able to picture things mentally. I have it to a degree except it takes me some effort to picture things. I can't imagine scenes from books. I get like a fleeting image.