bb_gum Interesting...allthough, and I could l be totally wrong here, skimming through more of the book, it claims to have a system that takes it beyond a mere opening (i.e. hippopotamus) and through a complete game to victory. I know, I know, you would be naive to think that, but it just interested me and what you guys and gals think. I should add that I am a beginner, so I can't look at it the same way as an experienced player would. Also, I have no intention of learning it, I am going to go the traditional route of learning chess. And yep, you're right, outrageous claims are usually BS - too good to be true and all that.....
What do you think.....?
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Bit confused tiger.....that link, that's not using those 8 moves is it, from what I can see...?
Every time I hear the word "system" related to openings, I run away at light speed. Let alone thinking one of them will guarantee you victory.
Although I find the hippo tricky to play against, I find it even trickier to play. But basically, it's very risky. You have to hope your opponent is affected by it psychologically, and you also have to make sure you're not going to go nuts in a really passive position (the hippo gives you a passive position in which you really have to wait for your chance, if your opponent gives you one). A lot of times you don't really want to play ...e6, ...d6, ...g6, and ...b6 all at the same time -- these moves create a lot of weird holes, like on f6, c6. And if the center ever closes up, chances are your bishops on g7 and b7 won't make a whole lot of sense.
Of course you can win games with it, but you will constantly have to worry if your position will just fall apart at some point. Why go through the trouble? Everyone is different I guess, but even among people who play offbeat openings, the hippo is still extremely rare.
With that said, it can lead to interesting strategic battles, and might be fun to try out. But you will probably lose more games than usual.
Hi all
I was browsing through Google looking at what chess-book PDFs I could download, when I came across this. It may have been discussed before, but I found the claims made in the book pretty interesting. It goes on the principle of something called 'The Beginners Game' in which you make the first same 8 moves every game. Have a look and see what you think......
http://www.beginnersgame.com/TheBeginner'sGame.pdf
Like I say, it makes claims such as "If you already play chess, then take this book seriously, because it challenges all of chess opening theory and practice. This system is better than anything you play now, or have ever played." Mmm, OK, fair enough - waddaya reckon?!