tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097677957983331811.post526516563027737693..comments2023-09-17T15:39:36.781+01:00Comments on Sverre's Chess Corner: Another Claim to FameSverre Johnsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796086172553035906noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097677957983331811.post-89239049690914382182008-10-07T21:14:00.000+01:002008-10-07T21:14:00.000+01:00I have the Povah book somewhere (probably at my pa...I have the Povah book somewhere (probably at my parent's house which for the moment is my book depository) and I remember I quite liked it. But if I remember correctly the difficulty of his examples varied quite a lot. I suspect he either didn't quite remember how a relative novice thinks about chess or he didn't sufficently define his target audience.<BR/><BR/>Joining a chess club definitely is a good idea if you haven't already done so. I used to consider it impossible to becoming a decent player without joining a club. But that was in the days before Internet, strong chess computers and huge game databases - so I may have to reconsider that opinion whenever I find the time to do some thinking.Sverre Johnsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00796086172553035906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097677957983331811.post-32792603653185002062008-10-07T15:35:00.000+01:002008-10-07T15:35:00.000+01:00This is a question that has concerned me as I don'...This is a question that has concerned me as I don't think I extract the most from opening books.<BR/><BR/>My best result has been doing exactly what Watson recommended and physically playing through games from a book, restting the pieces etc and working through variations.<BR/><BR/>I did this with a significant part of Bellin's "Winning with the Dutch" and gained a lot from it.<BR/><BR/>Admittedley, I also followed Bellin's instruction to play through a number of the main games to get a feel for the opening, and then go back to play through variations.<BR/><BR/>I recently bought a second-hand book called "Chess Training" by Nigel Povah. Interestingly, in this pre-computer book ( 1981 ) he tells how he re-vamped his opening from the Sicilian Dragon to the Sicilian Labordonnais-Lowenthal ( if that is correct :). He actually worked through what little opening theory there was and kept his results and self-analysis.<BR/><BR/>By so doing, he claimed that he understood what the opening was about so was more prepared than his opponents at the time.<BR/><BR/>Possibly, computers, Chessbase etc , the availability and the ease of use of such software, has made us more lazy, so we want instant knowledge and results, rather than realising that we have to work to obatin them !<BR/><BR/>I think ( though I haven't done this so far ) a chess coach will also help focus, and joining a chess club to bounce ideas around is also good.<BR/><BR/>ZPAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097677957983331811.post-91591028123160394152008-09-19T06:15:00.000+01:002008-09-19T06:15:00.000+01:00The link leads to a Watson's book review 87 at che...The link leads to a Watson's book review 87 at chesscenter.com. Quite early on - before the actual reviews - there is a paragraph starting "This dovetails nicely with a question that I keep getting, that is, how one should be studying books these days, and in particular opening books".<BR/><BR/>In case you had a problem with copying and pasting the link, I give it a separate line (and remove the first part which is superfluous in most browsers):<BR/>chesscenter.com/twic/jwatsonbkrev87.htmlSverre Johnsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00796086172553035906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097677957983331811.post-40638545768741437552008-09-19T03:43:00.000+01:002008-09-19T03:43:00.000+01:00I can't find the part of Watson's article that you...I can't find the part of Watson's article that you are talking about.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097677957983331811.post-45056708266757318442008-09-15T14:24:00.000+01:002008-09-15T14:24:00.000+01:00A very interesting question which I may not be the...A very interesting question which I may not be the right person to answer. There are some interesting thoughts by John Watson at http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/jwatsonbkrev87.html in which I basically agree.<BR/><BR/>Probably the most important thing is to become personally involved with the subject you study - not passively absorbing the author's assumed wisdom but asking questions and analyzing interesting byways yourself. This we try to encourage in various ways in our new "Win with the Stonewall Dutch" and I am quite curious how readers and reviewers will react.Sverre Johnsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00796086172553035906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097677957983331811.post-78379207932894801612008-09-12T18:47:00.000+01:002008-09-12T18:47:00.000+01:00What do you think is the best way to study your op...What do you think is the best way to study your opening books and opening books in general?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com