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Tal
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« Reply #165 on: August 28, 2012, 09:33:04 AM »

In 1924, 16 nations submitted a team of its best players to see which came out on top. It proved to be a successful format and has been repeated about every two years since.

Today, there are expected to be over 140 nations sending forward their elite.

With a couple of notable exceptions (including Magnus Carlsen - although tbf Norway has no chance of winning and he does normally play), there is a wealth of Super-GM talent, as well as people at the lower end who would be little more than top county players here.

There is a separate tournament for women (a sister tournament?), which is standard fare, as nations simply don't have the strength in depth without Y chromosomes, so this offers an opportunity for competition.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8436 is the chessbase preview but you might well prefer to see the event's coverage by the Yorkshire Chess Association:

http://yorkshirechess.org/

There is even a gambling opportunity, with a £5 fantasy competition. Have a look at the site, because there are previews and tips. Remember that the higher the rating number, the stronger the player and the lower the board a person will play on, the weaker the opponent will be (you have to play in strength order, which isn't necessarily the same as rating - Gawain Jones will be playing ahead of Nigel Short).


EDIT: apparently entries for the fantasy competition are now closed. Shame I missed this yesterday or we could have had some fun with it.
« Last Edit: August 28, 2012, 09:39:27 AM by Tal » Logged

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Tal
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« Reply #166 on: August 28, 2012, 09:52:56 AM »

I should also explain that the event takes place in Istanbul, in case anyone near Yorkshire was thinking of making a trip. No I've no idea either why Yorkshire Chess is covering the event, but it is and the website looks excellent.

In more pantomimey news, former World Champion, Garry Kasparov was cleared of the protest charges on Friday, following his dramatic arrest at the trial of the Pussy Riot band members.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8431

The biting allegation remains, although there seems to be evidence to suggest he didn't do it. Bonkers.
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« Reply #167 on: August 28, 2012, 11:34:06 AM »

I want to recommend a chess book. It is called 'Simple Chess' by Michael Stean:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simple-Chess-Michael-Stean/dp/0486424200/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346149473&sr=1-1

It was written ages ago but it is a great book for anyone who is interested in chess, plays a bit, but would like to extend their play beyond simple tactics ("he moves there, then I move there" etc) and start understanding chess strategy and positional play. I remember it had a massively positive impact on my game back in the day.
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Tal
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« Reply #168 on: August 28, 2012, 01:10:50 PM »

Excellent stuff. I know next to nothing about Michael Stean, except that he was a prominent English player in the 70s and 80s.

I started out with an opening book. My father took me to a tournament and, while I was playing, he walked along the aisles, looking at what everyone was playing as their first move. Then he went to the bookstall (there's one at every chess comp) and bought a book on an opening that no one had played: 1.f4 (P-KB4). It was only a flimsy thing really but it gave me an edge early on knowing I was surprising the opposition.

The opening is still played but I wouldn't recommend deviating too heavily from the norm. Get the basics right first and then experiment.

On the back of that book suggestion, for those who have got a handle on the fundamentals - say anyone getting to 1200 - I cannot recommend highly enough the Super System of chess books: My System by Aron Nimzowicz.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/System-Chess-Classics-Aron-Nimzowitsch/dp/9197600539/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346155089&sr=1-1

There is not one great player in the last 80 years that hasn't read it. It is written simply and logically and is as relevant today as it ever was.
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« Reply #169 on: August 28, 2012, 02:17:27 PM »

On the back of that book suggestion, for those who have got a handle on the fundamentals - say anyone getting to 1200 - I cannot recommend highly enough the Super System of chess books: My System by Aron Nimzowicz.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/System-Chess-Classics-Aron-Nimzowitsch/dp/9197600539/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346155089&sr=1-1

There is not one great player in the last 80 years that hasn't read it. It is written simply and logically and is as relevant today as it ever was.

I am going to completely disagree with you about this one Tal!

I would strongly recommend NO-ONE to read My System unless they are already a very strong player. And by strong I mean a lot stronger than an average club player. I suspect it has screwed up the games of far more 'competent but not better than that' players than it has helped. This would include me. I read it when I was a decent club player (around BCF 135). I was simply not ready for his esoteric hypermodern ideas, since I had not yet fully internalised the classical concepts which he was attacking.

Obviously it is a wonderful book and hugely important/influential in the development of chess theory. And of course almost every top player will have studied this book. But benefiting from this book is only possible if you already understand a ton of other stuff, and without this knowledge it is going to harm your game not help it. Any player who reads this thread who has not already heard of My System would be far better off reading other stuff first and waiting a LONG TIME before reading Nimzowitsch. If they are good enough to benefit from this book they will already know about it!

Same principles behind which openings to play. Everyone should start off playing 1 e4 as White, and then move on to d4 later. They should answer 1 e4 with 1... e5, and answer 1 d4 with 1 ...d5. Only when they have mastered the concepts behind direct control of the center can they even begin to understand the hypermodern ideas of indirect control. You have to learn to construct before you can deconstruct. For the same reasons, most players would gain MUCH more from studying the classical games from a 100+ years ago than playing through modern grandmaster games from this era. And they'd enjoy them more too.

Edited to say: Obviously some of his concepts are really important for those just starting out in chess as well as more advanced players. For example his explanations of outposts, pawns chains and the blockade are really good, and much of this can be understood by less advanced players and will help them rather than confuse them. However, these things are also discussed in other books that are much better for players who have not reached the standard of being a strong club player. Obviously if a weaker player is reading this book in conjunction with a skilled chess coach then my advice above is less relevant, since the coach will know exactly which parts of the book to focus on and which parts to keep his student away from until later. However, I would be very surprised if any truly great coach would even begin to introduce this book to a student until he had worked on a TON of other stuff with him/her first.

Don't get me wrong, I think this book is ACE... and it should definitely be read at some point in one's chess development. I just strongly believe that most players read it far too soon.
« Last Edit: August 28, 2012, 02:33:15 PM by Honeybadger » Logged
Tal
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« Reply #170 on: August 28, 2012, 02:44:28 PM »

Fair enough for you to disagree. I do stand by my view on it, though.

You are right that no one should try to run before they can walk and I would agree that understanding that control of the centre is important in the opening and such concepts is essential, but the same can be said of any book designed for already competent players - hence the comparison to Super System.

However, the thing that most frequently separates the stronger players from the others is that they are complete players and this is where the book helps.

The book should be hard to read; it should challenge, make you think, make you research and analyse. Not all of the concepts will be easy to digest but I don't agree that it would be harmful for sub1700 players to read it.

It is the kind of book you can go back to and I suspect that's partly what you are getting at.

It will always be true that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. If I came on here and explained that bishops are generally better than knights in the endgame, it wouldn't be long before I had a slew of complaints from people who had lost games despite doing as suggested.

Understanding the game isn't easy - I'll let you know when I get there Smiley - and there will be plenty of occasions I could dig out from my own games where I have played a move because of a particular concept (opposite coloured bishops, knight v bad bishop, attack the base of the chain, jumping off rooks), only to find I had made a fatal error because I had mis-applied the principle.

It is all a learning curve and this is why I believe it is (if not essential, because that is a strong word) useful for developing players to see what Nimzowitsch had to say.

Always keen for debate on these matters. The healthier the thread is the better.
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« Reply #171 on: August 28, 2012, 04:16:38 PM »

couple of books I got ,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chess-Puzzles-Improve-Your-Game/dp/023399713X/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346166168&sr=1-5

this one has some nice problems but it helps you look for pins/forks etc in games so improving it

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opening-Repertoire-Attacking-Player-Cadogan/dp/1857441966/ref=sr_1_33?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346166315&sr=1-33

below county level standard (2000 grade ) , there is no need to study chess openings , just a good understanding will do like this book
its better to study endgames than openings in general , they will come up at some point
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Tal
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« Reply #172 on: August 28, 2012, 05:46:32 PM »

All book suggestions are good and keep them coming.I think it might help if I address the thread more generally on this.

Simple, straightforward openings are always a good start. The aim is to develop quickly, find a safe haven for the King and have everything pointing in the same direction for an attack.

Kasparov says that the player who has completed his development first has "won" the opening. It's a simplistic assessment but not unmeritorious. The game is so much easier when you have completed your development (and by that mean made pawn moves to occupy or defend at least some of the central four squares, moved each of the bishops and knights into helpful positions (not necessarily attacking, but doing something) and decided what to do about the king (castle one way or the other, or leave it in the middle because you are attacking the flanks)) and you will play games online where the other chap only develops some of his material and you walk through him.

Lots of openings have all this in mind and the main variations will show that there is a typical plan for both Black and White. This is important because it gives you a starting point for your plans; you understand why the bishop moves to b5 in the Ruy Lopez, rather than c4 in the Guicco Pianissimo.

Misplaced pieces from the opponent are less relevant for new starters than for experienced players, but it remains the case that it is important for players of any level to put their own pieces on logical squares. You always want to make the best move on the board and the easiest way to get close to doing that is to have a reason behind every move.

When you tell some Railbird your exit hand and he says "you bet too much on the flop", you will likely have an answer prepared (even if it is mathematically and objectively suboptimal). The same should always be true in chess.

Don't fear getting the wrong move but know why you made it. When you look back and realise that was the root cause of all your problems in the game, you can start to work out what went wrong.

It's so easy for me to sit on a busy train and act like Socrates. I make, have made and will continue to make just about every mistake in the book. We can only try to improve and learn from those mistakes.
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« Reply #173 on: August 29, 2012, 09:49:00 AM »

I feel the best chess book around has been overlooked.



Also available in .pdf
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Tal
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« Reply #174 on: August 29, 2012, 10:30:50 PM »

Very chess content light; almost entirely narrative. One of the best known stories in chess: Bobby Fischer v Boris Spassky.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0571214126/ref=mp_s_a_6?pi=46x75&qid=1346274887&sr=8-6





And the best chess film - genuinely highlights the strange world of junior chess - is Innocent Moves (later retitled The Search for Bobby Fischer):     



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Tal
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« Reply #175 on: August 29, 2012, 10:31:55 PM »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Innocent-Moves-DVD-Joe-Mantegna/dp/B00009V8YD
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Tal
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« Reply #176 on: August 30, 2012, 10:37:38 PM »

I've spoken of a few characters on this thread so far, but I remembered one of my favourite stories this afternoon and it just so happens to involve our friend, Mr Blackburne.

It is a curious and charming quirk of storytelling that the background gets contorted, mis-remembered and embellished by the person telling it and, over the years, you end up with a mish-mash of details. In varying reports over the years, the incident took place in New York, Vienna and “On the Continent somewhere”. The words used vary just as much, apart from the most wonderful and glorious piece of Englishness you might ever encounter. Even Blackburne’s opponent differs! Rather than regurgitate the views of others, I shall tell you how I reckon it, as the kids say, went down…

Blackburne was playing in a tournament in 1899 against the Austro-Hungarian master Lipschütz, about whom comparatively little is known (including, I should add, his first name). A contemporary described him as a "frail little man, with a gentlemanly mien and manners and an extravagantly long, pointed nose - the Cyrano of Chess". As the name might suggest, Lipschütz was Jewish and, upon being checkmated by a Blackburne moment of inspiration, Lipschütz declared:

Der alte Geneff hat mich mattgesetzt!


From what we have learned of Blackburne, it will come as little surprise that he wanted to know what his opponent had announced to the crowd. He approached a man he knew and trusted, Jacques Mieses. Mieses was a strong player of the time and spoke both German and Yiddish. Blackburne explained that he knew “der alte” to mean “the old” and that “hat mich mattgesetzt” means “mated me”, but he had never heard of a “Geneff”.

Mieses looked sheepishly in the face of the dominant figure before him. He knew that “Geneff” is a Yiddish term for a crook.

Wisely, Mieses gave broad responses but Blackburne was having none of it. When Mieses offered that he was sure that Lipschütz would have meant it as little more than a jocularly endearing term, Blackburne realised that he would not be getting a straight answer out of his friend. Like a true Englishman, he had a better idea.

Blackburne asked Mieses whether one could be a Geneff and a gentleman at the same time.

Mieses thought for a moment, before assuring him that one could. With that, Blackburne thanked his friend for his assistance and went away satisfied. How could anything be considered an insult when it is possible to be that and a gentleman at the same time?
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« Reply #177 on: August 30, 2012, 11:47:50 PM »

For those who like more chess than story, here's a particularly instructive game from another chap we've discussed before, Alekhine. Here is a link to the game:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1011854

This was one of the games Alekhine played in a simultaneous display in Paris in September 1913 and has been dubbed “Pratfall”, because the unwitting opponent was a Mr Prat.

I’m going to analyse the game a little bit, just so that those who want to take something out of it beyond the story can do so. Those who want to skip through can, of course, read at a pace that suits.

The opening is a Queen's Gambit. White doesn’t mind Black taking the pawn on c4 because it reduces Black’s influence on the centre and, if Black tries to hold on to the pawn (which he will do in some variations) with pawns to a6 and b5, White can attack those with pawn to a4 (one of the key concepts in Nimzowitch’s book My System is attacking the base of the chain of pawns and, in that set up, this would be attacking the b5 pawn. So, if Black elects not to defend the pawn, White can recapture with his bishop in a couple of moves and have a nice centre.

When Prat took the pawn on c4 in this game, he had already used a move defending the d5 pawn with e6. In doing so, he blocked in his light-squared bishop on c8, which, although far from terminal, is something Alekhine himself regarded as a subtle error.

What happens is that Alekhine begins to dominate the centre. Eleven moves in, White has those three lovely pawns on c3, d4 and e4 and two fantastic bishops, cutting Black’s position in two. The Black knights have so few squares. He’s done nothing obviously wrong; just been a little bit passive. And already he’s squirming in his chair, as Alekhine works through 20 boards, ponders briefly, makes another developing move and wanders on. 

15 moves in, now. Have a look at the position after Black’s fifteenth move. He is so cramped and White has an abundance of space. Here comes the killer blow. Remember how the light-squared bishop for Black hadn’t been developed? Well that means that Black is vulnerable on the white squares away from that bishop, such as the ones near the king. This is where the pieces all come together: the light-squared white bishop on c4 has that delicious diagonal towards the king. The queen has a path to hitting the white squares on the right hand side of the board, too. How to expose the weaknesses in the Black position?

16. Nxf7! 

POW!! BIFF!! ZOK!!



Alekhine himself comments in his book that, although White can get the piece back if he wants, this move was the start of an elegant combination he had seen.

After White plays 18.Bd6, even though Black has an extra knight, what use is it? He has an extra pistol but no bullets. You could throw a thimble over the pieces, they are that close together. Again, White has a completely commanding position and Alekhine was in no mood to let Prat off the hook.

On move 21, Prat manages to kick the bishop off that merciless diagonal. As is the custom in simultaneous games, when Alekhine approached, Prat would have made his move immediately and Alekhine would respond in something between 10 and 60 seconds. Alekhine made his next move and declared “Checkmate in ten moves against any defence, sir”.

How you like dem apples?

He didn’t even move the bishop: he sacrificed his queen! Prat resigned just before being checkmated. I should add that, at that time, it was common to declare that checkmate would follow in a certain number of moves, particularly when masters were playing amateurs. It wasn’t an angle-shoot!

A ten move forced checkmate, which started with a queen sacrifice, where only a twentieth of his attention was on that game.

Oh to be that good!
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« Reply #178 on: August 31, 2012, 01:01:45 AM »

The stories are great and balance the thread. Who in the chess world could be described as the Stu Ungar of chess and why please?
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« Reply #179 on: August 31, 2012, 06:16:41 AM »


Alekhine made his next move and declared “Checkmate in ten moves against any defence, sir”.

How you like dem apples?


Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

I do hope you persevere with this Thread, Tally.
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