Candidate Move - History

History

The idea of candidate moves was first put forth by Grandmaster Alexander Kotov in his book Think Like a Grandmaster. In it, Kotov recommended looking for several moves that seemed feasible – the so-called candidate moves – and then analyzing those moves one at a time. Although this idea had been practiced by expert chess players for some time, it had never been explicitly articulated, and was relatively unknown to players at the amateur level.

The idea quickly caught on, and is now considered standard doctrine among chess players at all levels. Many beginning players are taught about candidate moves as soon as they learn to play the game, and the idea is often referenced in other chess books.