Chess

November 17, 2008

It's my own chess page.  Hey, I'm an amateur, or what real chess players call a "Patzer", so don't be expecting anything too flashy.  After years of tedious study, I've worked my way up from absolute beginner, to moderately pathetic.

Each week I'll talk about a different concept.  Some of it may be old stuff to more advanced players, and some of it you may have just not thought about.

One thing I've noticed about a lot of chess books, is that they'll glaze your eyes over with tedious variations and tricky positional problems, but don't necessarily explain the concepts behind strategies or tactics very well.  You can't memorize billions of possible positions and combinations, but you can understand a few dozen strategies and tactics which can be applied to any of those billions of possibilities.  I've tried to boil down some of that tedious reading here.

Well, I've finally started archiving my articles.  The link is at the bottom of the page.

Pirates Of The Caribbean.  This is the same set I had on last week, from the opposite point of view.  Like most specialty sets, this one is virtually unplayable, but it does have some cool pieces, particularly the Rooks.  The other pieces aren't so obvious and can only be distinguished by the symbols on their bases.  It's a nice board too, if a little small, but not much to write about.  I got this in Sedalia Missouri, June 10, 2007.

Counter Attacks With Attacks.  Once in a while, probably as often as not, you'll find yourself under attack.  Hopefully your opponent's attack will be premature or ill-conceived, but even if it's not, as the saying goes, the best defense is often a good offense.

I say often, because it's not always possible or advisable to mount any kind of offense.  Sometimes it's better to simply brush away attacks while you build your own offensive capabilities.  On occasion however, an attack cannot simply be "brushed away", and in this case, a strong attack elsewhere on the board may be enough to draw your opponent's attention away from wherever they were hitting you, and hopefully giving you enough time to blunt their attack.

Attack With A Lead In Development.  Of course, one of your first goals in any game should be to develop those lazy pieces.  Get them out and put them to work.  A lead in development however, is a temporary advantage, and the better your opponent is, the faster that advantage will dissipate.  Once you have a fair lead in development, and hopefully before your opponent can catch up, find your opponent's weak points, apply your strengths, and go for the attack.

More next week...Cheap Tricks

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