Yeah, right.
Anyway, I am wondering if it helps to know that that silly bishop knight combo one always uses is called jingbang opening fuddyduddy variation?
Can you figure chess out or must you read boring books?
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Now I know why nerds love this thing. Oooh, look at me, I'm using the fancy shmancy gobbledegook opening. Imma so gonna capture your 2 inch king.
its not a question of figuring things out. its a question of knowledge which you can't acquire on your own and must take the benefit of others experience.
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Isaac Newton
rigamagic ... cool quote ... i love the latin original:
nanos gigantum humeris insidentes
Look, the thing is I don't mean to offend, my point is that after so much play, you should start to recognize patterns. Strategy is what Harry Mintzberg calls "patterns in a stream" ...
After learning from better players (and I always play 200+ points above me), one should probably figure that okay so and so pattern leads to me not being to castle and losing tempo. The thing is with books, you've got to go through so much before you get to the meat.
I am thinking coaching has got to be so much better than reading stuff - which should happen way later in the day. Two cents.
Supoverlord ... I personally love the sound of the 'Ruy Lopez' ... almost like I'm gonna come at you wearing a bandana ...
It takes a genius to figure out chess without "stupid books". I would not know how to play Lucena and Philidor position without reading. Figuring out chess by one's own intelligence is like reinventing the wheel.
Dear lord, you mean there are books on chess?
Get a chess.com membership and watch videos, do the chess mentor and tactics trainer and avoid all that book reading!
Whoa there, Alex. What are these videos you speak of? It appears also you know of these "books". Is there life outside my cave after all?
It is possible. Hikaru Nakamura, maybe you've heard of him, got to where he is today, a 2700+ professional without opening a single book. All he used to study and analyze were chess engines.
MythicTojo wrote:
It is possible. Hikaru Nakamura, maybe you've heard of him, got to where he is today, a 2700+ professional without opening a single book. All he used to study and analyze were chess engines.
that cannot be true.
You seem pretty well read for a guy who willingly chose a wifebeater avatar and who still uses the word "nerds" ;)...
Wait, you can get avatars? This is a photo of me. Well, when I was younger.
Books are my enemies ( i think they are boring, long and it makes you tired ) so.... I dont like them ;-!
you need to watch a game to figure chess out
SupremeOverlord wrote:
I'm sure if you stare at the starting position long enough you will solve chess.
best one
I've been playing chess for about 6 months and although there was a great improvement initially, I've just plateaued to an average 1000 rating. Why?
Because I'm lazy. I know that I should spend some time studying by reading books, analyzing my games and those of others, practising tactics, using chess mentor etc to improve but.....as I said.....lazy minded.
At the moment, I just enjoy playing.
QuantummKnight wrote:
I am 30ish, joined a chess club 4 years ago, I have played 150 rated games, and I now have a 1930 FIDE rating. I have maybe 10 dusty chess books, but I could never actually study any of them (Except a puzzle book or two that kept me entertained). I've learned to play mostly from doing tactics puzzles, and playing long games (no blitz). I've attended some lectures, but I find them more entertaining than useful - the information has not really been absorbed in the way that it does for me with puzzles and games (where focus is more intense).
My strenghts as a player are: 1) positional understanding, 2) creative attacking (I sometimes find moves that other have overlooked because they are unusual and strange-looking), and 3) the fact that I like to prepare for a specific opponent and find some kind of devious move order to trick them into unknown territory. Or to take a game where they won against a stronger player, and find a mistake to exploit. They will often repeat the moves. I pretend to think at the board. It's fun :-)
My weaknesses are: 1) Incomplete opening repertoire and lack of in-depth opening knowledge (no surpise here!), 2) Endgames, and like so many other adult improvers, 3) blunders (I lose concentration and forget to calculate).
You can do it without the books! At least until you reach a much higher level than your current. In my case, for example, getting to know an opening or two in depth (really learn the ideas and plans, not just memorize a few moves), is long overdue.
how do you learn the openings without books??
just out curiosity, if you are honest thats a cool achievment
What do you think?