---
title: "Read the position before you pick a plan: chess lesson"
description: "A ten-second scan of material, kings, pieces, pawns and space tells you what to play for. 10-minute lesson with puzzles at your level."
canonical: "https://trychessgoat.com/learn/lesson/imbalances/"
last_updated: 2026-10-09
---

Level 3 · Plan, don't just react · 1100–1400 · 10 min

# Read the position before you pick a plan

A ten-second scan of material, kings, pieces, pawns and space tells you what to play for.

## The rule to take into your games

**With no forcing move, scan material, kings, pieces, pawns, space first.**

Part of Goat Pass: 4 steps on the board, 3 guided examples, then puzzles at your level, and the ones you miss come back until they stick. The first 3 lessons are free.

[Open this lesson →](https://trychessgoat.com/learn/#/lesson/imbalances)

Not sure this is your leak? Your free [Goat Card](https://trychessgoat.com/u/) reads your chess.com games and puts the lessons that fix your biggest mistakes first. Next lesson: [Improve your worst piece](https://trychessgoat.com/learn/lesson/good-bad-pieces/).