Chess

Chess is one of the greatest games ever. It is challenging and ever changing. It is amazingly violent. Two opponents facing each other with the sole purpose of destroying one another. No sacrifice is too great as long as it ensures victory.

John and Roberto are my friends and they play chess. They are evenly matched. They play fast. I've watched them play hundreds of games. Usually the game is not decided until just a few pieces are left. The loser is most often distracted and makes a final, fatal mistake. It's fun.

I've played both of them and usually I lose. Every once in a while I win, or at least make a valiant effort that results in a few tense moments for the other side. John calls me names and Roberto just laughs when that happens. I'm really no match for them. But playing against a human opponent is the best. It certainly is much better than playing against a computer.

Computer chess does have its place. I'm a big fan of Chessmaster. I've owned every version since 5000. Chessmaster gives me the ability to play against the computer or against chess masters, past and present. This is done by choosing a profile to play against.

More fun is the option to review past games played between Grand Masters. I particularly like reviewing Bobby Fisher's games. It always amazes me when he sacrifices his queen and traps an opponent into resignation within the next few moves.

In that way Chess seems like management. Not intuitive. Most beginners (I place myself in that category) do everything possible to defend the queen. While a master will not needlessly through the queen away, he will also use her to his advantage if it will win the game, or at the least lead to a big advantage.

I recently watched a game between John and a beginner. I won't reveal who, as to not embarrass that person. It was interesting to watch. John played the whites and opened with a King Pawn move. The beginner followed with a KP opening, too.

After the first five moves John had the game in hand. It was obvious. He followed the fundamentals, defending the middle, deploying his knights and keeping a good pawn structure. The beginner played carelessly and did not play by the fundamentals. One obvious mistake was that after 5 moves he had not yet moved a knight. A few moves later, when he finally deployed both knights in successive moves, he moved both of them to the outside. Big no no!

Even with these poor moves there were a few interesting moments. That's another amazing thing about chess. A pure rookie can beat a master with just a few lucky moves and some careless play. No such fate for the beginner this time. With few pieces left he ultimately resigned. Better than waiting to be totally destroyed.

This game was a classic illustration of the importance of knowing the fundamentals. John knows them and the beginner doesn't. That made the contest very one sided. The best way to learn chess is to challenge good players. Playing is the best teacher. But not without understanding a few things first. The best way to learn the basics is through books.

There are hundreds of books written on how to play chess. I personally own several dozen. Chess is something that requires constant study and attention to detail. There are two books that have helped me the most. They are "Thinking Ahead in Chess" by I.A. Horowitz and "Win at Chess" by Ron Curry.

Unfortunately, the Horowitz book is out of print. I'm fortunate to own two copies. Horowitz has a simple philosophy. He thinks a person should play one opening for white and two openings for black. This simplifies things for those of us who will never be masters.

He advises beginners to learn a queen pawn opening. This is because the king pawn openings are best known and most used. When playing a strong opponent, he will likely be most familiar with the king pawn openings. By opening QP the weaker opponent plays away from the strong player's strengths. This makes a lot of sense to me.

Horowitz teaches two openings when playing black. One to use when the opponent plays KP and the other when the opponent plays QP. Strangely, the worst position, and least satisfying, is when playing black against a QP opening. It's brutal and you can soon see why playing QP as white is a great strategy.

The Curry book is a good follow-up to Horowitz. He has developed the "Curry" opening. It is a QP opening with a variation from that taught by Horowitz. It has been a way for me to vary my play and still open with the queen's pawn.

Yes, chess is a great game. It's fun to watch and fun to play. The best, for me, is when I can spend time with a friend trying to total destroy him. At least on the board with 64 squares.

That's all for now.........
5:07:43 PM    comment []