From: jdd@engr.ucf.edu (Joseph Dumas)
Subject: Re: Request Book Recommendations
Organization: engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando
	    <1993Jan12.131709.28042@eye.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 22:45:50 GMT

In article <1993Jan12.131709.28042@eye.com> (Kevin Stokker) writes:
>In article <C0p0xq.Ly2@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> (Randall Julian) writes:
>>In article <1ffbwwcp511@tweekco.uucp>, (Jay Whitley #824 @5054) writes:

>>|> I agree with Jerry Wilcox's recommendation of Chernev's "Logical Chess
>>|> Move-by-Move."  The question I have is:  are there any other books
>>|> explaining every move (to the novice-to-average player) that aren't
>>|> cryptic annotations?  Chernev's explanations are very good...any others
>>|> like his?
>>
>>I am a beginner, and I've made great strides playing over the games in 
>>"Logical Chess...".  But recently I got "How to Think Ahead in Chess",
>>by Horowitz and Renfield (sp?).

Reinfeld, I believe...

>>...  Sicilian dragon for e4 and
>>Laskers defense for d4.  It has about five fully explained games for each of
>>the three systems which illustrate variaous points...

>Sicilian dragon?  Yeeks!  This is a highly volatile and theoretical opening.
>Especially the Yugoslav Attack (9. Bc4, 9. 0-0-0, 9. g4).
>I'm quite surprised this is recommended as a starter opening system.

You have to remember this book was written by Horowitz and Reinfeld...
not to knock them...I don't have the book myself but I would guess it
was written about 30-40 years ago.  The Yugoslav Attack system came
into favor a few years *after* that...so no way could the authors have
included it (or not recommended the Dragon because of it).

If you are a beginner (or even an intermediate player) and essay the
Dragon against someone who plays the Yugo, you are apt to get blown off
the board in spectacular fashion.  Then again, if their knowledge is
that much more comprehensive than yours, you are probably destined to
lose anyway (that's what being a beginner means).  But you probably
would do better playing another opening, like, say, the Caro-Kann (oh,
no, not that discussion again! :) in which you are more likely to live
long enough to learn something before losing.

>>...I am considering going to chess club meetings, but I don't know how to
>> make the time spent there count.
>
>Go over games, endings, openings, (in short, chess) with strong players.
>Don't just play speed chess, which will do harm as well as good.
>
Well, don't *just* play speed chess (unless that's what everyone else is
doing ... playing blitz games *will* teach you more than doing nothing).
A bit of blitz on a regular basis should help you learn to think quickly
... which will come in handy in a tournament one day when (not if) you
get into time pressure.  But try to balance it with slower play and
analysis with stronger players.  Often clubs will have "one game a week"
tournaments with semi-fast time controls (G/60, G/30 or the like).  That
lets you get in a semi-serious game, some time for analysis with your
opponent, and still play a few blitz (or bughouse) games before going
home.

Joe
-- 
    ---------->  Joe is jdd@engr.ucf.edu (Joseph Dumas) <----------
"How about a nice game of Chess?"
"No, let's play Global Thermonuclear War."
"Fine."