Ramblings and ruminations on chess in Milwaukee and SE Wisconsin, the USA and the World

Archive for September 1st, 2006

The (F)utility of GM Writings?

Friday, September 1st, 2006

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and research lately on the idea of teaching chess, and I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that there are few things more generally useless to the developing player than books written by GMs. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but the exceptions are very few indeed.
As [...]

Position or Material?

Friday, September 1st, 2006

“Don’t look at chess this way because it is romantic. It is, but look at chess this way because it is the way to win. Contrary to the general notion, a positional advantage — that is, a better disposition of your forces generally — is always easier to exploit than an equivalent advantage in material, [...]

The Tyranny of Pawns

Friday, September 1st, 2006

[Speaking of players who grab a pawn and head for the endgame]“Here we see the tyranny of the pawn in its vilest and most nauseating form. But there are degrees, and even in master play we find weak moves being made through an insufficient contempt for pawns.” ~ C. J. S. Purdy