Chess Visualization with Aiden Rayner

Train your Chess brain while on the go!

Chess Visualization with Aiden Rayner

About the show

Improve your Chess and master visualization while on the go! Featuring science-backed exercises, insights, and lessons designed to make your adult brain better on the 64 squares.

Brains are awesome. Yours included.

Episodes

  • 🎉 Models of the Masters (Saturday Fun Episode)

    August 1st, 2026  |  34 mins 16 secs
    chess, conceptualization, visualization

    I discuss the conceptualization spectrum and break down some of the most interesting models I've run into in my half-decade of researching this stuff. And I try (and fail) not to go on tangents about cool Chess conceptualization stories.

  • ⚡️ Aphantasia and the Visual-Verbal Spectrum

    July 31st, 2026  |  14 mins 53 secs
    chess, conceptualization, visualization

    If you can't create pictures in your head, does that mean you must use words instead? I break down some new insights I've run into, and suggest that may not be the case.

  • 🧠🧠🧠 The Spice Melange (Vigilance Exercise)

    July 30th, 2026  |  11 mins 13 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    Vigilance Exercise: Follow the sequence of moves from a position and decide at the end which of two moves should be played.

  • 🧠🧠 One Needle, Big Haystack (Position Exercise)

    July 29th, 2026  |  6 mins 19 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    Position Exercise: The audio will tell you where each of the pieces on the board are and whose turn it is. Find the best move!

  • 🧠 Splayed Out (Awareness Exercise)

    July 28th, 2026  |  6 mins 16 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    Awareness Exercise: Listen to the locations of all the pieces in the position, then answer the questions to test your awareness.

  • 🧠 Jaws of a Draw (Hybrid Exercise)

    July 27th, 2026  |  5 mins 50 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    Hybrid Exercise: The audio will tell you where each of the pieces on the board are, then read a series of moves from that position. When prompted, try to identify the best next move.

  • State of the Pod, and What's Next

    July 25th, 2026  |  14 mins 1 sec

    Aiden address the plans for this next phase of the podcast.

  • 🧠 Thinking with Portals (Illegal Move Exercise)

    July 22nd, 2026  |  6 mins 48 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    Illegal Move Exercise: The audio will lead you through a series of moves from the beginning of a game. Somewhere in there, a player will make an illegal move but the game will continue anyway. Find the illegal move.

  • 🧠 Omnipotence (Lost Piece Exercise)

    July 20th, 2026  |  11 mins 6 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    Lost Piece Exercise: The audio will tell you the position of most of the pieces on the board. Can you work out where the missing piece is meant to be?

  • 🧠🧠 Miss Zhu (Awareness Exercise)

    July 16th, 2026  |  8 mins 38 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    Awareness Exercise: Listen to the locations of all the pieces in the position, then answer the questions to test your awareness.

  • 🧠🧠 Slip of the Thumb (Find the Blunder Exercise)

    July 15th, 2026  |  9 mins 26 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    Find the Blunder Exercise: The audio will lead you through a series of moves from the beginning of a game. One player will blunder and the other will not punish them for it. Can you find the blunder and the best punishment?

  • 🧠 Two Rooks > Queen (Hybrid Exercise)

    July 14th, 2026  |  8 mins 10 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    Hybrid Exercise: The audio will tell you where each of the pieces on the board are, then read a series of moves from that position. When prompted, try to identify the best next move.

  • 🧠 Development Is the Most Important Thing (Opening Exercise)

    July 13th, 2026  |  1 min 49 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    An exercise to train your conceptualization, strengthen your mental board, and improve your Chess.

  • 🧠 Layers Upon Layers of Pressure (Game Exercise)

    July 12th, 2026  |  2 mins 47 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    An exercise to train your conceptualization, strengthen your mental board, and improve your Chess.

  • 🧠 Pair o' Bishops (Position Exercise)

    July 11th, 2026  |  1 min 28 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    An exercise to train your conceptualization, strengthen your mental board, and improve your Chess.

  • 🧠 Greco Beats the Philidor Defense (Opening Exercise)

    July 10th, 2026  |  1 min 58 secs
    chess, exercise, visualization

    An exercise to train your conceptualization, strengthen your mental board, and improve your Chess.