the source
“…Many players think they could play a good game ‘if they only knew the openings.’ This idea is really crazy. You can improve your opening play at any stage of your career. Make the most of your early years by using them to improve your intrinsic chess skill, rather than memorizing moves, which has [...]

The tactics portion of my coaching notebook is coming along.
I’ve been working with a lot of younger kids this year, and they’ve been highlighting the need for some sort of methodical instruction in those areas, and all of my usual teaching aids are too advanced for them. The first thing I need to work with [...]

In case you’re interested, I hacked the Chessbase output. As a result, after automatic processing, is almost valid. Only three errors. I’d have to rewrite their javascript to get the count any lower. I may yet do that, but I’m not that desperate.

Started working with HTML files generated by Chessbase. I have *never* in my professional career seen such absolute shoddy workmanship. Period. The HTML and javascript it generates should be taken out and shot, just to put it out of our misery. Just because I’m sick and twisted, I popped it into the W3C’s HTML validator. [...]

Ironic trend in the spam comments…I’m starting to see lots of comments with phrases like “Too much spam” and “Delete all this spam.”
The irony is the comment itself is spam. Sorry guys, you’re still not getting through.

I don’t intend for this blog to become a personal journal, but I can’t resist the urge to note here that this week I won my very first “normal” time control event. First place clear by a full point, no less. Hooo-hah. Ain’t it fun when work pays off?
We now return you to your regularly [...]

No, I don’t mean all books, or even all chess books. Just the majority of them. You know the ones I mean. Khalifman’s leventy-seven volume set on the opening for turquiose according to Rex Reed. The umpty-leven page tome on the latest variation on move 23 of the Ruy.
Seems like everyone writes chess books for [...]

“I’m always staggered when I see a 300 page book containing an in-depth analysis of some sub-variation of the Sicilian Defence - who actually reads all that?”

“You also have to be honest with yourself. Be ready to accept that much of what you are doing is wrong; that is the only way to get it right. The best thing that ever happened to my chess was when I went to the Soviet Union in 1986. I was crushed game after game. [...]

goes to the person who wrote a detailed post in italian hoping to sell real estate in Indiana.