tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57726894266049739.post8792700982880060709..comments2024-03-28T11:37:38.689-07:00Comments on Chess Skills: Back to the Mines: Training LogJames Stripeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13437334325501974461noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57726894266049739.post-67728302463644473972012-07-25T06:14:57.255-07:002012-07-25T06:14:57.255-07:00Watson's books have a good reputation. Chess O...Watson's books have a good reputation. Chess Opening Essentials, Stefan Djuric, Dimitry Komarov, Claudio Pantaleoni is another multi-volume work in the same vein.<br /><br />FCO has 479 pages, and the current MCO has 798 pages. That is much more than Ideas Behind the Chess Openings and Fine's edition of MCO. Nonetheless, players' memory capacity has not increased, and neither has their free time.<br /><br />Surprise is as important as a small objective advantage. The best moves for a 2000 player are not necessarily the same as those for a GM. We have to be able to play the resulting positions. We have to be pragmatic.Geoff Fergussonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677387413949625511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57726894266049739.post-8614585222162130332012-07-23T20:20:58.451-07:002012-07-23T20:20:58.451-07:00Thanks Ed, and welcome! Smyslov is one of the grea...Thanks Ed, and welcome! Smyslov is one of the greats. My 2011 summer chess camp was built around his games.James Stripeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13437334325501974461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57726894266049739.post-91509404152329433912012-07-23T12:36:19.930-07:002012-07-23T12:36:19.930-07:00Three cheers for the sentiment that amateurs tend ...Three cheers for the sentiment that amateurs tend to devote way more time to openings than they should. Along the lines of books explaining general principles for multiple systems, another instance is Watson's _Mastering the Openings_ series. (Nice blog, by the way. I just noticed it by way of a search engine hit for a Smyslov post of yours; he's my all-time favorite.)Ed Deanhttp://chess.stackexchange.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57726894266049739.post-43357904127504082602012-07-23T00:39:36.930-07:002012-07-23T00:39:36.930-07:00Practical opening books are hard to find, despite ...Practical opening books are hard to find, despite the large number of opening books published. Fine is out of date, but Starting Out type books can be very helpful. I recently bought a copy of Fundamental Chess Openings. It looks good for explaining the basic ideas and main lines of all the openings and giving an appreciation of their history (which helps in their understanding). Cheap too.Geoff Fergussonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677387413949625511noreply@blogger.com