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farbror's Blog


    • Paddy Patzer's Pile of Books: The Slav: Move by Move

      Chess books on openings have been around for a while but they all look more or less the same. Very little thought have been invested in improving the layout or the usefulness of the opening books. There are a few gems out there but they tend to be... | Read More

      • farbror
      • | Oct 30, 2011
      • | 2621 views
      • | 11 comments
    • Paddy Patzer's Pile of Books: Chess Openings for Kids

      "Chess Openings for Kids" by John Watson and Graham Burgess   Too many opening books on the book shelves? Still wondering what you would like to play? Well known chess authors John Watson and Graham Burgess might have written the perfect intro... | Read More

      • farbror
      • | Jul 14, 2011
      • | 4246 views
      • | 9 comments
    • Paddy Patzer's Pile of Books: 1000 Checkmate Combinations

      You have heard it. You have said it. You have ignored it. Tactics-Tactics-Tactics is the bread and butter for improving chess players. Still, it is hard to follow this fine piece of practical advice. Too many chores and privileges compete for ou... | Read More

      • farbror
      • | Jun 23, 2011
      • | 3208 views
      • | 17 comments
    • Next book to be reviewed

      Nigel has a lot of interesting things to say about chess and chess training. I am really looking forward to read and review this book! | Read More

      • farbror
      • | Jul 16, 2010
      • | 2612 views
      • | 13 comments
    • Paddy Patzer's Pile of Books: Starting Out Open Games

      The Starting Out series by Everyman Chess is an obvious starting point for any flirt with a new opening. The series also contains titles on other topics than specific openings. One such example is Starting Out: Open Games by Glen Flear.I have been... | Read More

      • farbror
      • | Jun 7, 2010
      • | 2133 views
      • | 4 comments
    • Paddy Patzer's Pile of Books: Find the Right Plan with Anatoly Karpov

      We have all got lost in the Great Unkown of the Middlegame. I very well known feeling to have survived the opening phase of the game just to realize that a murky, clueless middlegame is about to start. You might survive the opening thanks to basic... | Read More

      • farbror
      • | Apr 27, 2010
      • | 2620 views
      • | 9 comments
    • Paddy Patzer's Pile of Books: Studying Chess Made Easy

      After reading and rereading the book ”Studying Chess Made Easy”, I have reached the conclusion that there is perhaps only one thing not to like about the book: The Title   It is slightly misleading and somewhat unfair to the author, Andrew ... | Read More

      • farbror
      • | Apr 9, 2010
      • | 5098 views
      • | 12 comments
    • IM Silman and the Latvian gambit

                    IM Silman has written an excellent article on "Picking an Opening Style". Here is a quote from the article: "Openings like 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 and 1.e4 c5 2.d4 (2.b4!?) 2…cxd4 3.c3 might prove appeali... | Read More

      • farbror
      • | Oct 5, 2009
      • | 3619 views
      • | 16 comments
    • Blumenfeld Countergambit: Accepted (E10)

      Have any of you tried this stuff:   Jeremy Silman describes the gambit in an almost approving tone: "THE BLUMENFELD GAMBIT: This old line (popularized by Alekhine's brilliant win with it over Tarrasch in 1922) still has supporters to this day... | Read More

      • farbror
      • | Sep 25, 2009
      • | 2490 views
      • | 12 comments
    • How Good is Good?

      I use three different sites for tactics training and those sites give me quite different estimates of my tactics skills (approximately 1300, 1500 and 1700 at the moment). Ratings are just ratings but as a professional statistician almost any numbe... | Read More

      • farbror
      • | Jun 8, 2009
      • | 2724 views
      • | 23 comments