Not-so-logical chess move by move for beginners

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jgmiddlebrooks

Here's the premise:  I am a beginner and have been playing mainly opponents in the 1000-1200 USCF range. All of us know a few moves (say 6-8) in a basic 1. e4 e5 line. But after that, the moves quickly go out of any "book" lines. It's not that folks are throwing away material, but the moves are certainly not the best.

 

Is anyone aware of a book(s) that tries to do the following say for a given move:  White made move "x." That move was not the best in that position and here's what she should have done. But given White moved "x," Black should have responded "y" and here's why.  But, alas, Black responded "z." Given Black's not-so-great "z," White should now respond with "a" and here's why.

corum

Not exactly. But I know what you mean. One of the limitations of the a lot of the chess literature out there is that for any position the author only analyses the best couple of moves leaving the beginning to wonder about other moves that look interesting; why are they bad?

I once had a great chess book where there would be a position on each page and you had to decide on a move, and then you turn the page and it might say, if Nc2 (10 pts), O-O (8 pts), Qc2 (7 pts), NxN (5 pts), any other move (0 points) which was half way there. 

Because of this I wrote an app 

https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id1096289047?mt=8

where you play through a grandmaster game and try to predict the move. For every possible move you could make, you then get a score and some words about why that move is good or bad. It's free so if you have an iOS device feel free to try it.

ed1975

Interesting Corum. Does your app just test random GM positions or entire games? And do you know any good guess-the-move apps for Windows or Android that test you on entire games?

ed1975

Sorry I can now see you've already answered my first question :)

kindaspongey

Maybe try

Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

Starting Out: Open Games by Glenn Flear (2010)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626232452/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen134.pdf

WHAT'S THE BEST MOVE? (1995) by Larry Evans

Cherub_Enjel

If you're confused with anything, feel free to ask questions about positions in your own games. The game analysis section of the forums is for that purpose. 

Unfortunately, very little chess material is out there with what you have in mind. Dan Heisman's books are somewhat like that though, which is what I'd recommend. 

dan_boisvert

Hi Gill. And, yes, I know what you mean!

Hopefully others have better ideas, but the best I can come up with so far is Fundamental Chess Openings. https://www.amazon.com/FCO-Fundamental-Paul-Van-Sterren/dp/1906454132

I can bring it to the club Tuesday night if you'd like to look it over. Just let me know.

jgmiddlebrooks

Good suggestions so far. 

 

Dan, thanks for the offer but I will be spending Valentine's Day evening with my bride. Otherwise I might get clobbered!

dan_boisvert

Uh oh...!!  I forgot it VD was Tuesday!!  Thank you for saving !! happy.png

IpswichMatt

OP, have you looked at John Bartholomew's video series "Climbing the Rating Ladder" ? If not, google it. He's an IM and plays games against lower rated players whilst he talks about the game. There's one video where he plays people below 1000, once for 1000-1200, 1200-1400 etc. Each is about an hour fifteen mins.

They are hugely entertaining IMO and I believe they are exactly what you are looking for.

dan_boisvert

Wow, Matt, those videos are indeed excellent. Thank you for pointing us to them!

IpswichMatt

No problem Dan.

I'm watching the 1400-1600 one tonight 

kindaspongey
dan_boisvert wrote:

... Fundamental Chess Openings. ...

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626173432/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen128.pdf

http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/FCO_Fundamental_Chess_Openings.pdf

RussBell
jgmiddlebrooks wrote:

Here's the premise:  I am a beginner and have been playing mainly opponents in the 1000-1200 USCF range. All of us know a few moves (say 6-8) in a basic 1. e4 e5 line. But after that, the moves quickly go out of any "book" lines. It's not that folks are throwing away material, but the moves are certainly not the best.

 

Is anyone aware of a book(s) that tries to do the following say for a given move:  White made move "x." That move was not the best in that position and here's what she should have done. But given White moved "x," Black should have responded "y" and here's why.  But, alas, Black responded "z." Given Black's not-so-great "z," White should now respond with "a" and here's why.

While there is no book that is devoted to dealing with openings in the precise way you describe (I own LOTS of chess opening books, so I'm reasonably confident about this), the book that comes closest (that I am aware of) to addressing similar scenarios is...

"Taming Wild Chess Openings" by John Watson...

https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Wild-Chess-Openings-Board/dp/9056915703/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487059506&sr=1-1&keywords=taming+wild+chess+openings

It deals specifically with what the author calls the good, the bad and the ugly of chess openings...the book is actually quite interesting, and useful (IMO)....at the very least, it should suggest some ideas for those kinds of situations where opponents deviate from the mainstream openings, variations and lines.  As the title suggests, it is not a book around which to build what would generally be considered a sound opening repertoire.

By the way....the following list might be of interest....

Good Chess Opening Books for Beginners and Beyond....

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/good-chess-opening-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

kindaspongey

http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2015/6/30/a-review-of-watson-and-schillers-taming-wild-chess-openings.html

MickinMD

There are some move-by-move opening books, of course, not completely exhaustive but their strengths are you get an IM's or GM's opinion on the ideas behind the opening moves. For example, Cyrus Lakdawala's The Caro-Kann, Move-by-Move (2012) has helped me see things like what kind of pawn structure I should be aiming for depending on how White reacts, when to try to post a N at d5, and what kind of attacks both sides can consider.  If White moves out-of-order or moves a piece to the 2nd or 3rd rank when "book" says the opposite, it's usually no big deal: I know where I want to go.

Benedictine

I highly recommend Logical Chess Move by Move by Chernev.

turk505
IpswichMatt wrote:

OP, have you looked at John Bartholomew's video series "Climbing the Rating Ladder" ? If not, google it. He's an IM and plays games against lower rated players whilst he talks about the game. There's one video where he plays people below 1000, once for 1000-1200, 1200-1400 etc. Each is about an hour fifteen mins.

They are hugely entertaining IMO and I believe they are exactly what you are looking for.

This^

 

John Bartholomew's insanely instructive and fun to watch

kindaspongey

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627015516/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen163.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf

chrka

Euwe's Chess Master vs Chess Amateur might be a good fit.