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| Posted by drgandalf uskidscompute.com 5/28/2003 17:48:53 Play online chess |  Subject: Better Tactics BookMessage: Tactics is my weakest area in chess. I have studied Reonfeld's, "Chess Tactics for Beginners" and found it outstanding for a primer. I have studied in part Alburt's "Tacics for the Tournament Player", Chernev's "Combinations", and Znosko-Borovsky's "Art of Chess Combinations. However, all three are too difficult for me. For those who are familiar with the mentioned books, do you have any suggestions regarding some other book which would be easier than those mentioned? |
| Posted by buddy2 uskidscompute.com 5/28/2003 18:02:37 Play online chess | Tactic good bets Message: You can't be too bad at 1728, better than I am. But for a good read, as well as practical tactics, I like Josh Waitzkin's Attacking Chess (Fireside Chess Library). For an encyclopedic treatment try Laszlo Polgar's Chess (5334 problems, combinations, and games. I got it on sale for about 10 bucks. Best of all buy Ct-Art 3.0 Tactics by Convekta (they have their own website) based on M. Blokh's classic book on tactics. The program times you, rates you, breaks tactics down into difficulty levels as well as themes. Play a lot of blitz on ICC and others and get beaten to a pulp a hundred times, then you get sharper! |
| Posted by tovmauzer uskidscompute.com 5/28/2003 18:10:49 Play online chess | Not sure if it is easier... Message: but "Art of Attack in Chess" by Vukovic is great book. ——— Chess Championship Match Remains Tied After Game 3 Is Drawn — After two decisive games, Game 3 of the World Chess Championship match in Sofia, Bulgaria, ended peacefully Tuesday with a draw. The match score in the best-of-12 match is now 1.5-1.5. Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, the challenger, had White, as in Game 1, and again opened with 1 d4. Viswanathan Anand of India, the chess champion, who had blundered badly in Game 1 after he used the Grunfeld Defense, switched openings in Game 3, opting for the solid Slav Defense. Topalov tried to steer the game toward complicated and unclear positions, which he likes, by offering a pawn sacrifice at a couple of junctures. But Anand avoided any risks, declining Topalov’s offers and ... |
| Posted by baseline uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 05:53:29 Play online chess | drgandalf Message: "How to Create Combinations" by Vladimir Pafneutief Hypermodern Press 1996 is a very nice book it also includes 50 fo V.Pafnutieff games He was a very well known California Master. "Test Your Chess IQ: First Challenge" Cadogan Books has alot "425-450" positions in a series of tests which allow you to estimate your playing strength. ——— Fide world chess championship: Topalov takes on Anand — The Bulgarian challenger finished the first game in brutal style. After two games, the score in the Anand-Topalov world championship match is even. Bulgarian Topalov won the first, but Anand struck back in the second. As is often the case, the moves off the board play a role too. Anand's flight to Sofia was cancelled due to the ash cloud, so he was forced to make a 40-hour car journey from Frankfurt. He asked for the first game to be postponed by three days, but the organising committee – which includes Topalov's manager and Bulgaria's PM – rejected the request. The match only started after the International Chess Federation insisted on a compromise of one ... |
| Posted by clemens uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 08:45:06 Play online chess | What about.... Message: Fred Reinfeld's "1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations"; I kinda like it, pretty cheap, too. ——— Anand Wins Game 2 to Square Title Match — Viswanathan Anand of India, the reigning world chess champion, beat Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in Game 2 of their world chess championship match to even the score at 1 point each. Anand had lost the first game after a terrible blunder, but he bounced back with a fine performance on Sunday. The match is a best-of-12 with a prize fund of two million euros (about $2.7 million). Although not a blistering win by Anand, it was efficient and workmanlike. He actually was worse out of the opening but slowly and surely outplayed Topalov, who finally made a couple of errors that allowed Anand to force a winning endgame. The ball is now in Topalov’s court and it will be interesting ... |
| Posted by drgandalf uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 10:53:25 Play online chess | Message: I went through Reinfeld's 1001 books, and found them to offer great practice exercises. However, I am looking more for the basic theory, basic maneuvers, basic landmarks, rather than exercises. I understand "Art of Attack" is more advanced than "Art of Chess Combinations". In a survey of books in terms of difficulty, ACC is rated 1200-1599, while AoA is rated 1600-2199. Polgar's book is outstanding, but more a series of increasingly difficult exercises. I have heard high remarks for Waitzkin's Attacking Chess. Buddy2, could you tell me more about the book and why you recommend it? Also, I have CR-ART 3.0. I find it very helpful, but I need more of a theoretical approach. What is this M. Blokh's classic book on tactics? Have you read the book. Baseline, I will try to find out more on Pafneutief's book. However, the gap between you (2200) and me (1700) is significant. Brilliant players tend to recommend books they find easy, while the rest of us find them very difficult. I need a spoonfeeding book. Does Pafneutief presume much or are his explanations brief? Thank you for your help, all of you. ——— Topalov Wins First Game of World Chess Championship Match — Veselin Toplaov of Bulgaria got off to a great start in the world chess championship match as he won Game 1 after Viswanathan Anand of India, the world chess champion, blundered. The game was barely out of the opening stages when Anand erred in a dynamically balanced position. Facing checkmate, he resigned after only 30 moves. It was a startlingly quick and unexpected beginning to a match that many experts have said is too close to call. Anand, who has been world chess champion since 2007, is ranked No. 4 in the world, but has been ranked No. 1. His ranking has slipped recently as he prepared to defend his title. Topalov is ranked No. 2 and was ... |
| Posted by clemens uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 10:57:04 Play online chess | Message: Is there such a thing as a theory of tactics? You can of course learn the basic motives which keep appearing in actual games (which you do with exercise collections), but apart from that every position is different and has to be calculated to the end, that is, if it is tactical in nature, of course. What is there to be explained by general rules of thumb and theories? ——— Volcanic ash checks Vishy Anand's preparations for world chess championship — Volcanic ash made the first move at the world championship match in Sofia, where Veselin Topalov has the white pieces in game one, starting at 1pm UK time today. All games are live on the internet. Topalov and the titleholder, Vishy Anand, play best-of-12 for a massive Bulgarian government prize fund of €1.2m for the winner, €800,000 for the loser. Anand was trapped by travel chaos at Frankfurt last Saturday and had to take a 40-hour car journey, extended due to visa problems, to the Sofia Hilton. After the tired Indian appealed for a three-day postponement, which the Bulgarian organisers brusquely rejected, the World Chess Federation (Fide) ruled a compromise ... |
| Posted by macheide uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 14:09:20 Play online chess | drgandalf Message: Dear friend, There are many excellent books on tactics. I´ll recommend you one: "Chess Tactics for Advanced Players" by Yuri Averbach. It´s a masterpiece. Regards, macheide. |
| Posted by chesstickle uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 14:44:35 Play online chess | dude Message: if you don't know any chess tactics how come you teach people to play chess? what exactly do you teach them? (or do you just take the cash and run??) |
| Posted by drgandalf uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 16:07:23 Play online chess | Chesstickle Message: You became a member this month. You do not know of the consequences of insulting posts. You claim to be 69 aged. At that stage in life, it is inappropriate to call anyone "dude". Being below 1400 GK rating is an ideal time to read and ponder and ask questions and assistance. But you have too low a rating to claim arrogance. I encourage my students to remain humble when engaging in chess. I practice that trait also. I have spotted my chief current weakness, and I want to overcome it with the firmest foundation. I am humble enough to ask for assistance and to carefully evaluate the responses. Unlike persons like you, I seek to improve deeply, not quickly. If you check my games, you will see I have considerable tactical competence. However, my theoretical foundation, my sureness, my incorporation of tactics into my chess experience is lacking. Perhaps your skills need no improvement. My students ALWAYS seek insight, rather than victory. And, they improve firmly and solidly. Since you do not know me, my strudents, my teaching methods, what I charge, and how my students perform, maybe there is wisdom in your not sounding like a trouble-maker. Quite frankly, no one is interested in pettiness. Prove your worth on the chess board. |
| Posted by chesstickle uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 16:13:26 Play online chess | ? arrogance Message: Do you know what arrogance means? if so you don't use the word properly. I have neither stated nor overstated my competence. My point is what does an average player such as yourself have to teach but the basics to poor players. Why not let your students be taught by somebody who knows what they are doing? ..And don't be so ageist....dude |
| Posted by buddy2 uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 20:11:48 Play online chess | meanspirited Message: It's amazing what kind of mean-spirited, nasty people jump out from under rocks when you ask an honest question. I was a teacher for 35 years and was always asking questions about my field. But there was always someone who said "and you call yourself a teacher?" I don't agree with clemens about a "theory of tactics." There ARE patterns (like backrank mates) which you recognize after a few losses. These patterns (skewer, fork, x-ray, etc.) can be learned so the player can see them almost immediately. Josh Waitzkin's Attacking Chess begins by breaking down combinations by types, then goes through his career as a beginner, junior, and on up, showing in a quiz fashion where he went wrong or right. I'm sure you're aware of the controversial Rapid Chess Improvement by Michael de la Manza that claims one can shoot one's rating up into the 2000 range by intensive study of TACTICS. A lot of top players call it garbage,but I think he has a point. |
| Posted by buddy2 uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 20:19:09 Play online chess | Blokh book Message: Oh, Combinational Motifs by Maxim Blokh. "CT art 3 is based on this tome," according to de la Manza. He says it's difficult to work with because the combinations are arranged by theme and not difficulty. I've never actually seen the book. Convekta might sell it. I read somewhere that ALL combinations are based on double-threats. At first I thought that was oversimplification, but the more i thought about it the more it sounded right. |
| Posted by mercy uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 21:51:40 Play online chess | What a freak!! Message: Some people just need to keep their comments to themselves. Especially when it is evident that they do not know how to play Chess. drgandalf never said he does not know tactics. he simply said that tactics is his weakest point. My OTB rating is 2175+ and I am STILL taking lessons from people better then me while teaching people at or below my level. I can shoot up to 2500+ and I will still have a lot to learn from other players. Even from players rated lower then myself. drgandalf has the right idea!! I had some of my biggest learning jumps just from identifying my weaknessess and then working on them. Doris |
| Posted by brobishkin uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 21:53:19 Play online chess | Dr. Gandalf... Message: If "Tactics for the tournament player" or "The art of chess combinations" was too complex... Try "Tactics" from the Winning Chess series by Yasser Seirawan... He has a great way of explaining each chess tactical term... Try it... Bro... |
| Posted by r_lawrence uskidscompute.com 5/29/2003 23:04:34 Play online chess | If you're interested in cd's .. Message: I have a great tactical training cd which covers many motifs and gets progressively more challenging. Its called the Tasc Chess Cd .. from Intelligent Computer Chess Products. |
| Posted by macheide uskidscompute.com 5/30/2003 04:15:07 Play online chess | buddy2 & mercy Message: Dear fellows, Thanks a lot. It is very refreshing to read your posts. I agree with you both, but english is not my native language. You said exactly what I think. Thanks again. Your friend, macheide |
| Posted by drgandalf uskidscompute.com 5/30/2003 08:59:54 Play online chess | I wish to thank Message: buddy2, mercy, brobishkin, r_lawarence, and my friend macheide for their comments. I have studied Seirawan's "Strategy" and found it easy and enjoyable. Although I learn more from Alburt's books, I believe Seirawan IS the correct answer to my problem. Then, I will follow that up with Alburt, then Znosko-Borosky, then I will try Pafneutief. I will also use CT-ART 3.0, Reinfeld's 1001, and Polgar's massive exercise books. I learn best from a book, if I already know 75% of the content. Studying books on the same topic with increasing sophistication may be a sound way to invest my time. Thank you once again all who contributed responsibly on this thread. Many other players who are in need of tactics training will find your comments important also. |
| Posted by clemens uskidscompute.com 5/30/2003 13:00:20 Play online chess | buddy2 Message: That is exactly what I said! I said that there are motives which you learn by doing exercises (or, as you mentioned, by losses), but I think that a few patterns to be learned cannot be called a "theory of tactics". |
| Posted by buddy2 uskidscompute.com 5/30/2003 14:16:08 Play online chess | Misunderstood Message: OK, clemens. Sorry about the misunderstanding. The closest thing to a universal "theory" as I said, is the double threat theory of combinations, if it can be called that. De la Manza in his much maligned book Rapid Chess Improvement mentions 1. improve piece mobility 2. prevent opponent from castling 3. trade off pawns 4. keep queen on board. He is of the opinion 99% of games are decided by tactics, not deep strategy. The other end of the stick is SEEING the tactic when it's under your nose. The thinking part has been written about by Kotov (How to think Like a Grandmaster) Silman, and others. How many of us have analyzed games and seen brilliant combinations we missed completely OTB! |