Thought Process

Something has happened to my thought process. I don't know about you but I have 2 minds, the weak one that I have control over and the strong one that I don't. The weak one I tell to figure out this problem and if it is easy enough it figures it out. The strong one runs in the background somewhere and I have no idea how it works. Long after the weak one has given up the strong one will wake me up in the middle of a day dream or in the middle of the night and say here is the answer stupid. It also interupts me with inane thoughts.

Anyway I can access the strong part of my mind at certain times. It is hard at work when I sleep, drive or take a shower. So on Monday before I go to bed I have been doing 100 CTS problems. I seem sharper on Tuesdays now and tactics sometimes spring off the board. The other time I can access my strong mind is when I am in the 'ZONE' There is the code zone(programming), ping - pong zone, martial arts zone, guitar zone, and now there is the chess zone.

I used to have a conscious thought process. Are Q and K on the same color / diagonal / rank file. I was trying to come up with an acronym to go through all the tactics. I rarely think about those things any more. Now most things are done automatically. Check for tactics (yes calculate) , look for positional opportunities, come up with a plan and move.

I expect that I should see a fair rating increase since I am making the transition from concentrating on the basics to concentrating on the bigger picture and the basics become second nature.