Dan Heisman

I am a big Dan Heisman Novice Nook Fan and find things in his articles consistant with the Rapid Chess Improvement ideas. I went to chess cafe and downloaded the archive of his articles
which give a good 40 7-11 page articles.

http://www.chesscafe.com/heisman/heisman.htm

I am interested in his Seeds of Tactical Destruction. Those elements in a chess position that lead to the possibility of tactics and if they don't exist most likely a combination doesn't exist. At some point I would like to create a mental checklist of them ( a mnemonic might be handy here)

they are

*loose pieces
*pieces that can be attacked by enemy pieces of lesser value
*one or more pieces that can be attacked via a discovered attack
*pinned or skewerable pieces along the same rank ,file diagonal
*pieces or squares vunderable to a knight attack
* overworked pieces (pieces guarding more than one piece of square)
*inadequately guarded pieces
* falling way behind in development
*pawns nearing promotion
*King uncasted or lost pawn protection with Queens on the board
*Open enemy lines for Rooks, Queens and Bishops to your King
*Pieces that have little mobility and might easily be attacked
* a large domination of one side's forces on the board.

For those interested in the article it is the 5th Heisman Novice Nook.

Also Hi to everyone who checked in yesterday. Glad to be aboard.