... Option B) Demonstrate that most of your games have been decided out of the opening, and that the evaluation didn't shift multiple times after the opening ...
Is that the only way that opening knowledge can be helpful? What about sometimes managing "not to ... fall into ... lines that result in difficult positions"?
... Option C) Ignore all of the data, keep trolling and hurting the hard working new students that might benefit from learning that tactics/calculation is the #1 thing hindering their advancement. ...
Who is arguing that tactics/calculation is not the #1 thing hindering the advancement of new students?
all you people peddling John Nunn books, dat who!
... Reb, most of our audience are probably players that would end up being 800-1400 OTB, ... they should NOT be concerned about learning every variation of their opening 8+ moves deep with precise move orders... ...
Who is advocating that?
"... Overall, I would advise most players to stick to a fairly limited range of openings, and not to worry about learning too much by heart. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
... Reb, most of our audience are probably players that would end up being 800-1400 OTB, ... They SHOULD not buy an opening book, unless it is a beginners opening book explaining opening PRINCIPLES not specific variations.
"... Again this is targeted at NEW players, BEGINNERS, 600-1200 up to intermediate players of 1500. Pick an opening to stick with for a while , look at some top level games played in that opening if you want, get the general concepts, ..." - AntonioEsfandiari
Is there a reason to think that there are not opening books that can help players to find games and "get the general concepts"?
... I have only played in 4 OTB tournaments, 21 Games, I have a provisional rating of 1819 USCF but that is 2 years old and I have improved drastically since. I am studying openings now, but not by buying some stupid book. I will use chessgames.com or another resource to look at game after game in the same openings by different players, that is how I study openings, but I am not qualified enough to suggest that method to others, but I like it a lot myself.
Do you feel that you have a reason to consider yourself qualified to tell others to not use books to help them look at games for some opening?
... this forum is for BEGINNERS and what they need to know that the main thing that is preventing them from gaining their next few hundred pts is becoming more precise with calculations. ... At the 600-1400 level, ...
Is there anyone here denying that the main thing is becoming more precise with calculations?
... At the 600-1400 level, you can spend 80% of your study time on tactics puzzles, 15% on watching videos on strategy/positional play, and 5% of your time studying openings, and this might be close to optimal for most of these players
Might not the appropriate percentages depend on the abilities, preferences, goals, typical opponents, typical choices of competition, and so on? Whatever time one spends on openings, what would be wrong with spending some of it playing over a game in an opening book in order to have help with some of that "concept" stuff?
And if you do find yourself, as a noob, unable to refrain from buying opening books, please just spend MORE time doing tactics puzzles than you do on openings, ...
Is there anyone advocating that one spend more time on openings than tactics puzzles?
yes all the people shilling for all the opening books ever written
Antonio is correct. Micheal de la Maza doing tactics only, he immerse himself in tactics and became a strong player; he went from 1200 to 2040 only on tactics. I am a firm believer on tactics, even advance players need to study tactics to stay strong and improving.
I remember my friend ask me to join his team and try to politely declined but he insist; I felt I was not ready because I did not study opening felt unprepared but I study a lot tactics. In that tournament I crush two very strong 2100, 1700, 1400 and lost to two masters, not bad for not studying opening.
In fact Spongey I will give you an example. I joined chessable just out of curiosity. I received as a free gift a one hour twenty four minute long video authored by IM Christof Sieleckio. 'Keep it simple 1.e4'. Why this master felt that I may want to play these variations I have no idea. Why he thinks that without looking at my games he knows what kind of opening suits my temperament I also have no idea. Thank goodness he is not a doctor writing prescriptions for patients that he has yet to examine. Its entirely typical of the type of jive that chess masters fob off on weaker players under the guise of instruction. Most useless video evah.
de la Maza (peace be upon him)
Apparently, he had "studied openings, endgames, and other 'chess knowledge' information."
http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-michael-de-la-maza-story
... Much better than an opening book are books like "winning chess strategies" by yasser, or pretty much ANY silman book, or dvoretsky endgame manual for endgames, but a lot of these books will be hard to digest for a player with a beginners tactical arsenal. ...
"How to Reassess Your Chess, 4th Edition was designed for players in the 1400 to 2100 range." - IM Jeremy Silman (2010)
"... before discussing the specifics of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual ..., a word of warning is in order. I must emphasize that this is a terribly advanced work that I don't think is a very good way for the average player to study the endgame. ... That said, if you are up to a real challenge and have a great deal of time to devote to reading and playing over examples you will inevitably derive great value from this work. ... In my own teaching to average players I am still using Mueller and Lamprecht's Fundamental Chess Endings, which has a wonderful balance between Encyclopaedic coverage (I can find almost anything), examples that can be shortened at most points, and clear explanations that bring together endings of the same sort. ..." - IM John Watson (2005)
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/the-end-game-comes-before-we-know-it
Wow 9 hours and already 128 posts!
@steamgear It would take you years to memorize all the lines of the sicilian najdorf if you were only 1000 strength in tactics...
"Generally speaking, 'Starting Out' and 'Sicilian Najdorf' are not exactly words that one envisions in the same title, because anyone who is just starting out should not dive into the vast ocean of theory that is the Najdorf. For beginners, the time invested in studying even minor lines can be more productively used solving tactical puzzles and basic endgame technique.
...
... In some lines, a good understanding of basic principles will take you far, while in others, such as the Poisoned Pawn (6 Bg5 e6 7 f4 Qb6!?), memorization is a must, as one wrong move can cost you the game in the blink of an eye. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626175558/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen87.pdf
USCF Id
Unknown
Only opening book I have ever bought was Mayhem in the Morra, which was difficult enough for me at 1700 at the time and I only read part of it. It would be a semester of college to get through for a 1000 level player.