According to some psychologists, Shannon wrote, the thinking process is essentially characterized by the following stages:
- various possible solutions to a problem are tested mentally or symbolically without actual reproduction;
- the best solution is chosen by a mental evaluation of the results of these experiments;
- then the solution found in this way is implemented.
It should be noted that this is an almost exact description of how a machine acts when playing chess, if we replace the word "mentally" with "inside the machine".

For example, in their answers to the questionnaire, some masters claimed that when they play without looking at the board, they can see the entire chessboard with all the squares and pieces placed on the corresponding squares in their mind's eye.
To test this statement, Binet conducted an experiment in which masters were asked at random about the color of a particular square on the board (i.e., white or black).
It turned out that most of the masters could not answer this question immediately, without thinking about it.

This material also suggests that the training of young chess players is currently carried out somewhat one-sidedly.
The training is limited to explaining different variants of the game, openings and typical, most rational continuations, and analyzing combinations and games.
At present, there are no specially developed methods for training the ability to quickly see the meaning of any position, to grasp the essential connections between its elements, which characterizes great chess masters.

On average, an experienced chess player's fixation time on one point is 0.24 seconds.
During this time, a chess player can display several board squares, evaluate the pieces on these squares, and develop a strategy for further inspection of the board.
This suggests that gradually, in the course of practice, a chess player acquires the ability to simultaneously operate on several elements of a situation.