Which "Old" SuperGM's Games Should I Study First?
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Apr 27, 2017
0
#42
Tarrasch's reputation stems from superficial readers who miss the dry humor. He was always laughing at his own pronouncements and then undermining them.
Cherub_Enjel wrote:
I'd suggest the games of Morphy. The reason is that Morphy has decent positional play, of course, but his famous games show many fundamental tactical themes that pop up the most often. You also learn the importance of development and following the natural basic principles of positional play.
I wouldn't recommend Capablanca, Rubinstein, or Botvinnik (famous for their nuanced positional play) until you're at least B level.
Morphy is good to study for lessons in piece activity but he is not a super-GM or even a GM.
But if studying for lessons, Morphy is best to learn from, not the Super-GM's.
Apr 27, 2017
0
#44
Ziryab escribió:
Tarrasch's reputation stems from superficial readers who miss the dry humor. He was always laughing at his own pronouncements and then undermining them.
Ok buddyboy, you roasted me this time. I havent had the luck to read any of Tarrasch books. Congrats on your win.
Check out this recent forum thread regarding Richard Reti's "Modern Ideas In Chess". The OP has apparently transcribed it into Algebraic Notation...
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/richard-reti-modern-ideas-in-chess
Of course, the Russell Enterprises edition of the book is already in Algebraic Notation. However the OP has created, and is making available a .pgn file of the games in the book on the webpage.
CapaBlanca
@RussBell in #45: Thanks for the link! Save myself a little money! I was going to buy it.
FYI, I ended up getting used copies of both "Masters of the Chessboard" by Richard Reti and "Morphy's Games of Chess" by Sergeant.
I'll read "Modern Ideas in Chess" by Reti from the link that Russ Bell kindly provided. That should take care of my game study for a good while.
After that, either Alekhine or Capablanca. I would consider Tarrasch, but there doesn't seem to be a good English translation of his work, 300 Games.
David Bronstein, his games and his books are excellent.
"... Surprisingly, the recent translation of Tarrasch's masterpiece '300 Chess Games' ('Dreihundert Schachpartien', first published in 1896, I believe) makes this book available in English for the first time. ... I don't have the German edition any more in order to make a direct comparison, but the translation by Sol Schwarz is unpretentious, literate, and reads very well, qualities lacking in the translations of many chess books. I do take exception to the habit of capitalizing all piece names, and even such things as 'Queenside' and 'the Exchange'. Yes, nouns are capitalized in German, but that is no reason to do so in English. Okay, that's my petty academic quibble, expressed solely for the record. Admittedly, it has nothing to do with the generally high quality of '300 Chess Games'. A more serious question is whether, as the German edition did, Hays should have gotten a strong player to write updated notes to supplement the openings section. I think you could argue this either way, and in any case, it's our gain to have this classic available in English. ..." - IM John Watson (2000)
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/looking-back-part-1
"300 Chess Games" by Tarrasch...in English....
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Hundred-Chess-Games-Schachpartien/dp/1880673185/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493700115&sr=1-4&keywords=300+games
also by Tarrasch, "The Game of Chess"...
May 1, 2017
0
#52
Come on, that book was written over a century ago and Tarrasch is already dead, it should be historical heritage. WHY DOES IT COST?
Simplicity, my friend.
I enjoyed playing over the wins of Marcel Duchamp before I moved onto
'I play against pieces' by S. Gligoric which is a lovely and entertaining book. Those were good appetizers before moving on to heavier stuff like My 60 Memorable or Life and games of Mikhail Tal.
I'm not ready for endgame books though.
Mark Dvoretsky's Endgame manual, man that's a fat piece of steak to chew.
*to chew on for months.
BronsteinPawn wrote:
Come on, that book was written over a century ago and Tarrasch is already dead, it should be historical heritage. WHY DOES IT COST?
With regard to the 300 Games book, perhaps translation from German had something to do with it. The Game of Chess has been converted to algebraic.
May 2, 2017
0
#56
Are you saying that the original 300 games book in German and descriptive is free?
GEEEZ, TIME TO LEARN GERMAN.
#52, Hey Russ, in fact it's the reviews in that Amazon link that prompted my comment that Tarrasch's 300 games was in need of a better English translation.
BronsteinPawn wrote:
Are you saying that the original 300 games book in German and descriptive is free?
GEEEZ, TIME TO LEARN GERMAN.
I do not know about prices of German editions of the 300 Games book. If I am reading IM John Watson's comments (in 2000) correctly, in a German edition, there were updated notes by a strong player to supplement the openings section.
May 2, 2017
0
#59
Come on man, I trust in your researching abilities man, you are our chess.com NSA guy.
SeniorPatzer wrote:
#52, Hey Russ, in fact it's the reviews in that Amazon link that prompted my comment that Tarrasch's 300 games was in need of a better English translation.
After reading the reviews, I see what you mean. Several reviewers complain that the translator, Sol Schwarz, has taken liberties with parts of the original text annotations, essentially modifying and even negating what Tarrasch had originally written. While the reviewers point out a couple of instances of this, the extent to which this occurs throughout the book is not made clear. And since I don't know German I cannot verify any of this (via his original text), but it does give one pause about this particular English translation.
On the other hand, as 76% of the Amazon reviewers give the book 4 or 5 stars (out of a maximum 5), one should consider the possibility that the overall merit of the book surpasses any problems associated with (hopefully) a few translation inaccuracies.
Also, there is the issue of the poor production (i.e., crappy binding) quality of the Hays Publishing edition which many reviewers have complained about.
Anyone considering the acquisition of either of Tarrasch's books could profit by first reading the eminent John Watson's review of the Hays Publishing editions of the books (link below). In the review Watson points out Tarrasch's tendency toward a doctrinaire and dogmatic approach to chess theory, particularly as it pertains to the opening. That is, much of what Tarrasch asserts as chess truth has since been, at the very least, called into question in light of modern developments in the state of chess understanding. Thus it may be that Sol Schwarz' edits in his translation are simply an attempt to correct misconceptions and/or even errors in Tarrasch's analysis. If so, that might be construed as beneficial.
At the same time Watson reminds us that there is more to be learned from Tarrasch than not in the books, especially for those embarking on their first serious study of the game.
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/looking-back-part-1
Finally, some online databases containing Tarrasch's games...
https://www.365chess.com/players/Siegbert_Tarrasch
http://www.chessgames.com/player/siegbert_tarrasch.html
at the bottom of the page above there are some links to 17 games annotated by Tarrasch himself as...
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?annotatedby=10510
Tarrasch was also a closeminded nutjob, no bueno.