Incorrect/Dated Chess Books As A Source Of Entertainment And As Inadvertently Educational...

Growing up in the seventies there were far fewer books on chess than now. One of the most informative books I have is William Winter's "Chess For Match Players". First published in the 1930s. It has a solid section on the middle game as well as endgames, together with a dozen or so annotated games from the masters. I cannot recommend it for the level of player above beginner but the more accomplished player may find it interesting. It was last updated in the 1950s.

Winter askes to decide whether we consider ourselves "positional" or "combinative" players. Depending on which, he groups openings according to these two categories. He recommends the Queens Gambit for both sets of players and the Sicilian and KID for combinative players,  and so on. As a fourteen year old not having any coach whatsoever other than monthy games with the local vicar and my town chess club, I found the book's didacticism very reassuring. I mean in chess "a bad plan is better than no plan", as they say...

Over the years I've occasionally revisited this book. And from time to time found the former didacticism akin to dogma

Winter says he cannot recommend the Nimzoindian because he regards the Samisch has being the refutation. The Samisch is now regarded as one of the weaker tries for white I understand, and the Nimzoindian is something that white often avoids.

In his analysis of the Sicilian Dragon, Winter recommends 1e4 c5 2Nf3 Nc6 rather than d6 aiming for the Dragon by this route. He regards the Richter  as less of a threat to black than the Bronstein attack. That is, black should prefer 1e4 c5 2N3 Nc6 3d4 cd 4Nxd4 Nf6 5Nc3 d6 6Bg5 , stopping g6 rather than 1e4 c5 2Nf3 d6 3d4 cd 4Nxd4 Nf6 5Nc3 g6 6f4 with ideas of e5

I revisited the Winter section of the Sicilian after watching some of Simon William's excellent Sicilian Dragon DVDs. And I realise for over forty years I've regarded the Nc6 variation - aiming for the Dragon - as superior to d6 simply because Winter's commentary was so ingrained in me. Amazing what (chess) "truths" are so deep rooted in us they often go without challenge...