Grandmaster Tips - The Art of Deep Calculation 

I certainly wouldn't dismiss Nf3 out of hand, but h4 is definitely more forcing and should likely be calculated first.

@@joshfriedel thanks for the precision, I just found your channel and it really is one of the best ones for actually improving at chess, love it. I think if you keep it up you will have great success

I actually think it depends who you ask. Some players would just calculate ...Rxd2 without looking at other moves, and I don't think that's invalid in any way. For myself, I prefer to evaluate first, since that gives me an idea of what I'm shooting for. I wouldn't calculate a move like ...Re3+ too deeply, but I would take maybe 30 seconds to evaluate the position if I don't take on d2, and only then proceed to calculate the lines. If it clearly wins then it doesn't matter much and I've lost only 30 seconds, but if it is more complex I like to have the evaluation as a basis for comparison.

@@joshfriedel Thank you for the reply and explanation. I wasn't aware that some strong players think that way ( Since you clarified that this is how you would approach the position, now I believe there are many others who do it that way, too). On the other hand, I could have assumed that your approach is valid, given that you are lecturing on it, but somehow I felt you made a blunder in your lecture ( since I thought that my way is the only right way), and I was clearly wrong. I sincerely apologize.

A big part of improving at it, apart from practice, is working on your "base" skills. Those would include tactics, visualization, spotting forcing moves, etc. It never becomes easy, but as your base skill set becomes stronger, you'll find the calculation of deep lines becomes more manageable.

I think your analogy explains it perfectly. And I am backed by Joshes reply that it never becomes easy; well unless you have a high IQ or your brain is designed for Chess. A computer freezes up and crashes when it runs out of memory. Our brain works around similar rules and infact we have less working memory than a computer. So there is only so much variations you can look at before you begin to run out of memory. That overwelming feeling is your brain questioning if it needs to used up longer term memory to store more variations. I can go further by saying; storing a singe random Chess position in working memory is hard. You have to remember X amount of pieces on a 8x8 board. When it comes to chess analysis; it requires a powerful hardware. No amount Chess principles will help you. That is why old Chess players retire. The best you can do you is eliminate as much options as possible. You can look at stupid looking replies first to ensure they dont work. You can look at your most powerful looking move first; instead of looking at Checks captures checks first. That is a trap that was taught to us that no serious Chess player really does. Looking at Checks first can lead you in a circular loop. Another one is compiling candidate moves. Compiling candidate moves takes up memory(which for a human comes at a premium); and it takes up time. I Think better is looking at an option; and have the principle to come back and look at other options. Here is a good principle to have. Limit your depth search (computers do this). And keep an evaluation of each final position.

Oops I was wrong...time to subscribe lol

You fell for the trap!