My chess playing used to be very dull. I achieved a 2000+ plus by pretty much not hanging pieces. I didn't even play dynamically with White. (A friend once suggested I publish an opening book called "A Complete Defense for White.")
An old Inside Chess article featured the long chess career of Jacques Mieses(1865-1954). The Grandmaster once quipped, "I can be accused of playing bad chess, but I can never be accused of playing boring chess!" That has become my motto!
I'm a 49-year-old chess hack, and there's not much I can do about the fact that soon I'll be a 50-year-old chess hack, etc. But just maybe I will play ONE tournament game in my life to be worthy of showing off to my chess friends!
Michael de la Maza wrote an award-winning series of articles for Chess Horizons Magazine called "400 Points in 400 Days." Basically, all de la Maza did was study nothing but tactics and his rating skyrocketed and he eventually won the "Class-A" prize at the World Open. He more fully expounds on his method of study in his book, "Rapid Chess Improvement."
Another rallying cry for me was Richard Teichmann's(1868-1925) famous quote that, "chess is 99% tactics!"
IM Rashid Ziatdinov writes a monthly column on Jeremy Silman's website. A recent article titled "Tactics vs. Strategy" included the following:
"I teach practical tournament chess. When it comes to tactics, I believe only in clear 1-2 move combinations. These combinations occur in every game...but most people cannot wait for simple combinations...
"A chess game is a gamble (when you play a strong opponent.) Pure gambling is based on tactics...
"If you do not apply effective tactics on every move, you will not survive long...The outcome of most games boils down to which person sees better tactically in the present situation...
"Strategy should not be a subject of inquiry for the non-master. No strategy! Absolutely none! Only amusing paradoxical tactical tricks should be investigated. Chess is a funny tactical game of two-move combinations and unexpected endgames..."
So, my plan now is to study tactics and play dynamic openings, such as the King's Gambit, where tactical acumen really counts.
Who knows, maybe someday I'll even play a brilliancy!
Oh well, probably not. But no longer will I attempt to win by boring my opponents into submission.
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1 comment:
Dear Mr. Kinzie, I enjoyed your post very much. It was very well written. In fact, your post is better than many 'articles' I've read in chess magazines.
Keep up the great writing!!
Edward Labate, Ardmore, Al; www.labatechess.com
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