I have a few books I haven't finished but I do still intend to finish most of them.
Confessions: chess books you did not finish reading
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Crazychessplaya wrote:
No idea why this happened, but there is a whole bunch of chess books I did not finish reading. And I don't mean the opening/middlegame/ending books with thousands of lines and variations. Just chess related books that are great reads. Here is my list:
Sosonko's The World Champions I Knew. Got stuck on the long chapter on Tal; it is much longer than other chapters. Will definitely have to finish it. Hesse's The Joys of Chess. Kind of like The Complete Chess Addict, but more hardcore in terms of games, analysis, problems and examples. Got through about 3/4ths. Kmoch's Pawn Power in Chess. The bizarre jargon (leucosomething for white squares weakness ?!) turned me off. Great book though. Need to return to it someday. Kasparov on Kasparov, volume two out of three, I think? Must be half way through. Excellent book. Soltis' Pawn Structure Chess. Wait a sec, I just bought it last week, so maybe it doesn't make sense to put it here.A leucocyte is a white blood cell.
"Leucopenia" is the word used by Kmoch. Just looked it up.
Leucopenia is a medical condition - a lack of white blood cells. A bit cutesy /odd to describe white square weakness.
On the other hand, I do think the use of "colourful" language can help with learning as it can provide a memory-anchor for a concept (position, manoeuvre, etc.) - provided it is not overdone to the point of distraction.
ETA: I skipped a couple of chapters in the entertaining The World Champions I Knew because Sosonko had copied them verbatim (as far as I could see) from previous books. I thought that was a bit naughty.
you don't have to read them - put them under your pillow and sleep on them.
fburton wrote:
ETA: I skipped a couple of chapters in the entertaining The World Champions I Knew because Sosonko had copied them verbatim (as far as I could see) from previous books. I thought that was a bit naughty.
I too had this deja vu reading some of the stuff on Smyslov, for example. I've read his Russian Silhouettes and The Reliable Past, but that was a long time ago. He has his column in New in Chess magazine; maybe that's were the stuff was lifted from?
Naughty Sosonshchik, indeed!
Edit: whoa, looks like a google hapax logomenon:
I think 99% of us fall into this category.
Jan 7, 2015
0
#11
the only chess book I have ever read every word, cover to cover (5-10x at that) is Eric Schillers 'Unorthodox Chess Openings'
573 pgs of the most nonsensical moves to be played in a paragraph, with about a parapgraph or so dedicated to each.
Jan 7, 2015
0
#12
excerpts you ask?
Reti Opening Penguin variation: 1Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.rg1
Analsysis: The penguin is going to find the waters icy indeed after the simple moves shown below:
3...g6 4.b4 -the promising move, I think. but the iudea of Rg1 is so bad white cannot find any way to get a good game.
Excerpt 2: Twyble ATTACK: 1.Nc3 c5 2.Rb1
Analysis: This drunken rook move accomplishes nothing.
Thanks mr. Schiller!
Ah, Nimzowitsch's "mysterious rook move"!
I'd say I've finished 90% of the books I've started. Usually it's just opening books I don't read cover to cover because they are for reference only.
No idea why this happened, but there is a whole bunch of chess books I did not finish reading. And I don't mean the opening/middlegame/ending books with thousands of lines and variations. Just chess related books that are great reads. Here is my list: