Friday, September 28, 2007

Thanks for the advice, guys!
























Even after only a few lines of My System (Hattip Blue Devil and Christian) the paradox between piece activity and moving center pawns is solved. As Nimzowitch says, a pawnless development would be preferable. The problem with that is that your pieces can easily be chased away by enemy pawns . With control over the center you create secure homes for your pieces. He compares development with the mobilization of troups during a war. A single pawn at e4 already makes c3, d3, e3 and f3 a secure home. As he states it, during development only pawnmoves in relation to securing the center are appropriate.

I like the book very much and I'm going to read it from cover to cover. I have accumulated so much questions in the previous months, that I hope I can get a lot of answers from it. The first pages that I read are literally packed with information already.

I don't like the book of James Watson. Basically he says that in occuring positions concrete analysis supersedes general rules. Then he starts to proof that 60 times, writing a book full. Since I'm already convinced after example 2, the remaining 58 are a bit too much. Allthough I have read the book and admire the scrutiny, I didn't get much out of it. There is no area of knowledge where concrete analysis doesn't supersede general rules. But after I finished My System, I will have a look at what Watson says about the subject. Hattip to Blue Devil.

I will try if I can find the Art of the Middlegame. Hattip Samuraipawn.

4 comments:

  1. Wow I never saw anyone following my advice so quickly! You'll never regret purchasing this book. Your cheerful comment encourages me to grab it from my shelf right now and read it again. After all I have the pleasure to play an IM in exactly one week, so I should be prepared to show my best chess!

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  2. I like to keep a little "swung" in my study to prevent that it becomes a burden.

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  3. the art of the middlegame by Euwe-Kotov was writen before the era of mindless autofritz, and cogent writers like Euwe HAD to be able to concisely construct lines of reason, and narrow down lines that below master level players would absorb better.

    as good as Igor Stohl is, he, too piles on line after line, and lines from those lines. we all already have computors but what we want and need is narative and a guide through the labinrinth.

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