Chess Mania

NUMERICAL CHESS – CURRENT STATE 2026

Author’s Note Before Episode 26

From Counting Connections to Measuring Their Strength

In the previous episodes of Numerical Chess, we learned how to count structural connections:
• IC – Invasive Connections
• AC – Advancing Connections
• BC – Base Connections
This already allows us to describe the numerical structure of a position surprisingly well.
As Episode 25 demonstrated, even without seeing the board it is possible to infer:
• structural balance
• strategic tendencies
• initiative vs. long-term stability
• the approximate phase of the game
However, simple counting has a limitation.
Not all connections have the same practical power.
An Invasive Connection (IC) that penetrates the opponent’s territory is usually more influential than an Advancing Connection (AC), and an AC is typically more active than a Base Connection (BC) that mainly stabilizes the structure from behind.
In other words:
Connections differ not only in type, but also in strength.
This leads to the next step in the development of Numerical Chess.
Instead of only counting connections, we begin to measure their effective influence.
Episode 26 therefore introduces two important concepts:
IC equivalents (ICeq)
A weighted measure that converts IC, AC and BC into a single structural pressure value.
TP9 (Tactical Pressure in the 9-zones)
A compact indicator that measures local tactical tension.
Together these two instruments allow us to distinguish between:
• global structural pressure
• local tactical pressure
From this point onward, Numerical Chess moves from describing structure to measuring structural force.
And this reveals something remarkable:
A chess position is not just a static arrangement of pieces.
It is a dynamic network of numerical influences, where structural depth and tactical pressure constantly interact.
Episode 26 begins this next step.

Numerical Chess: Revealing the Numerical Structure of the Game
NUMERICAL CHESS – CURRENT STATE 2026
Episode 22 – Structural Analysis [6] – Recognizing and Counting Connections [5] – Exercise 4
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Numerical Chess — Credo
Chess positions are numerical structures.
Pieces create connections that generate measurable influence.
The game unfolds through the transformation of these numbers.
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Exercise 4 – Recognizing Advancing Connections (AC)

In this exercise, the task is to count all Advancing Connections (AC) for White and Black.
The zonal AC values (shown in the green rows of the table) are, as always, already entered in the Numerical Chess Algorithm Table.
Below you can find the individual Advancing Connections generated by White and Black in both strategic zones (20-zones) and their respective sub-zones.
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White
Zone 1
a3 → {a4,b4}
b2 → {b4}
Nc3 → {a4,e4}
Rd1 → {d3,d4}
Nd4 → {b3}
Be2 → {d3,c4}
AC = 10
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Zone 2
Nc3 → {e4}
Rd1 → {d3,d4}
Nd4 → {f3}
Be2 → {d3,f3,g4}
g2 → {g4}
Rh1 → {h3,h4}
AC = 10

Black
Zone 1
Ra8 → {a6,a5}
b7 → {b5}
Nc5 → {a6}
Bd7 → {c6,b5}
Ne7 → {c6,d6}
e6 → {d5}
AC = 9
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Zone 2
Bd7 → {f5 – x-ray connection}
Ne7 → {d5,f5,g6}
e6 → {d5,f5}
f7 → {f5}
g7 → {g5}
AC = 8
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Numerical Chess
Exploring the hidden numerical structure of chess.

"No chess player in the world can truly calculate whose thinking is not based on a numerical algorithm. The term 'calculation' is simply misused. True calculation is replaced here by visualization and other thought processes unrelated to true calculation." – NUMERICAL CHESS