Artikelnummer
LXNUNSOPC
Autor
Secrets of practical chess
176 Seiten, kartoniert, Gambit, 1998
Final vergriffen
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What is the best way to improve your chess results? Memorising an opening encyclopaedia, learning endgame theory, solving puzzle positions ... there must be an easier way. How about making the most of your existing talent?
In this book, John Nunn helps you to do precisely that. Drawing upon more than three decades of experience, he provides advice that will help players of all standards, playing styles and temperaments to achieve improved results. His methods take into account psychological factors and are firmly based on good common sense and the objectivity that ha made John Nunn one of the world's favourite writers in chess.
Topics include:
Introduction
This book is aimed at players who are primarily interested in improving their results. If you are prepared to lose nine games in order to score one brilliant victory, then it is probably not for you. However, most players are motivated at least partly by over-the-board success - the thrill of winning is one of the attractions of chess, and most players feel very satisfied when their rating improves.
The level at which one plays is governed by a number of vague and poorly understood factors. The first is what one might term 'natural talent'. By this I mean that combination of factors which sets an upper bound to the level one can achieve by training and practice. One cannot list precisely which factors are relebut one may divide the possible factors into two classes. The first class consists of non-chess-specific elements such as general intelligence and memory. The second class involves a mesh of interrelated chess factors such as the age at which one learnt the game, early chess education and so on.
By the time anyone gets around to reading this book, the 'natural talent' factor will probably be immutable, which brings us to other factors which are more under one's control. These determine how closely one approaches the ceiling imposed by one's 'natural talent'. It is my belief that most players never get anywhere near their natural ceiling, and that considerable improvement is possiwith appropriate education, training and practice. Most chess books aim to help readers improve their chess. An opening book, for example, will give genplans and concrete analysis, both to help the reader prepare his chosen openings and, after a game, to compare the course of the game with established theory. Clearly, concrete knowledge is an important factor in establishing chess strength; someone who has a detailed knowledge of rook and pawn endings will have an advantage over someone who does not. An assiduous program of self-training is bound to have a positive effect. In 1977, Jon Tisdall explained to me his plan for becoming a grandmaster. He had estimated how many hours of study were required to advance by one rating point. Multiplying this by the difference between his current rating and the grandmaster level gave the total number of hours of study required. I laughed, and pointed out that with each advance, the number of hours required to gain the next point would probably increase, and so he might never make it. However, his plan proved justified, because in 1995 he did indeed gain the grandmaster title.
There are few players who can conduct a training program stretching over decades, and indeed time limitations apply to virtually all players. In practice this restricts the amount of improvement possible on the 'chess knowledge' front. In this book I will give advice on how to use the time available for chess study most efficiently, for example by distinguishing essential knowledge from optional knowledge, and advising on the construction of an opening repertoire.
The third factor, which is the main focus of this book, is the efficiency with which one applies the first two factors while actually sitting at the board. A detailed knowledge of rook and pawn endings won't help a bit if one has an attack of blind panic; an encyclopaedic memory is valueless if one is regularly seized by an uncontrollable impulse to sacrifice a piece unsoundly. Chaotic and muddled calculation; misjudgements; oversights; lack of confidence (or overconfidence!); lack of determination - these and many other negative influences all serve to whittle away one's playing strength. Such problems are not at all easy to solve, firstly because players very often do not realize what they are doing wrong and secondly because they imagine that there is nothing they can do to improve matters.
This book includes a description of various common failings at the board. I think that many readers will reach a particular section and suddenly think "Yes, that's exactly the mistake I always make." Recognizing the problem is already the first step towards solving it. An awareness of when one is most likely to go wrong enables one to take special care in these 'danger situations'. Eventually, by concentrating on a particular weakness, it is often possible to eradicate it completely.
Since many of the matters dealt with in this book are psychological in nature, there will be quite a few examples from my own games - I can personally testify that muddled thinking occurs at grandmaster level! Where I have covered a fatopic, I have made an effort to replace, whenever possible, the standard time-worn examples with excerpts from contemporary play.
Of course, this book, while containing much useful advice and information, cannot hope to go into detail about every aspect of the game. My aim has been merely to start the reader along the upward path of self-improvement. I hope that Secrets of Practical Chess will help readers to improve their results and produce more satisfying games.
John Nunn,
Chertsey, 1997
What is the best way to improve your chess results? Memorising an opening encyclopaedia, learning endgame theory, solving puzzle positions ... there must be an easier way. How about making the most of your existing talent?
In this book, John Nunn helps you to do precisely that. Drawing upon more than three decades of experience, he provides advice that will help players of all standards, playing styles and temperaments to achieve improved results. His methods take into account psychological factors and are firmly based on good common sense and the objectivity that ha made John Nunn one of the world's favourite writers in chess.
Topics include:
·Defending difficult positions
·How to study the openings
·How to make decisions
·Avoiding common mistakes
·When to calculate
·Coping with pressure
· Avoiding time-troubleIntroduction
This book is aimed at players who are primarily interested in improving their results. If you are prepared to lose nine games in order to score one brilliant victory, then it is probably not for you. However, most players are motivated at least partly by over-the-board success - the thrill of winning is one of the attractions of chess, and most players feel very satisfied when their rating improves.
The level at which one plays is governed by a number of vague and poorly understood factors. The first is what one might term 'natural talent'. By this I mean that combination of factors which sets an upper bound to the level one can achieve by training and practice. One cannot list precisely which factors are relebut one may divide the possible factors into two classes. The first class consists of non-chess-specific elements such as general intelligence and memory. The second class involves a mesh of interrelated chess factors such as the age at which one learnt the game, early chess education and so on.
By the time anyone gets around to reading this book, the 'natural talent' factor will probably be immutable, which brings us to other factors which are more under one's control. These determine how closely one approaches the ceiling imposed by one's 'natural talent'. It is my belief that most players never get anywhere near their natural ceiling, and that considerable improvement is possiwith appropriate education, training and practice. Most chess books aim to help readers improve their chess. An opening book, for example, will give genplans and concrete analysis, both to help the reader prepare his chosen openings and, after a game, to compare the course of the game with established theory. Clearly, concrete knowledge is an important factor in establishing chess strength; someone who has a detailed knowledge of rook and pawn endings will have an advantage over someone who does not. An assiduous program of self-training is bound to have a positive effect. In 1977, Jon Tisdall explained to me his plan for becoming a grandmaster. He had estimated how many hours of study were required to advance by one rating point. Multiplying this by the difference between his current rating and the grandmaster level gave the total number of hours of study required. I laughed, and pointed out that with each advance, the number of hours required to gain the next point would probably increase, and so he might never make it. However, his plan proved justified, because in 1995 he did indeed gain the grandmaster title.
There are few players who can conduct a training program stretching over decades, and indeed time limitations apply to virtually all players. In practice this restricts the amount of improvement possible on the 'chess knowledge' front. In this book I will give advice on how to use the time available for chess study most efficiently, for example by distinguishing essential knowledge from optional knowledge, and advising on the construction of an opening repertoire.
The third factor, which is the main focus of this book, is the efficiency with which one applies the first two factors while actually sitting at the board. A detailed knowledge of rook and pawn endings won't help a bit if one has an attack of blind panic; an encyclopaedic memory is valueless if one is regularly seized by an uncontrollable impulse to sacrifice a piece unsoundly. Chaotic and muddled calculation; misjudgements; oversights; lack of confidence (or overconfidence!); lack of determination - these and many other negative influences all serve to whittle away one's playing strength. Such problems are not at all easy to solve, firstly because players very often do not realize what they are doing wrong and secondly because they imagine that there is nothing they can do to improve matters.
This book includes a description of various common failings at the board. I think that many readers will reach a particular section and suddenly think "Yes, that's exactly the mistake I always make." Recognizing the problem is already the first step towards solving it. An awareness of when one is most likely to go wrong enables one to take special care in these 'danger situations'. Eventually, by concentrating on a particular weakness, it is often possible to eradicate it completely.
Since many of the matters dealt with in this book are psychological in nature, there will be quite a few examples from my own games - I can personally testify that muddled thinking occurs at grandmaster level! Where I have covered a fatopic, I have made an effort to replace, whenever possible, the standard time-worn examples with excerpts from contemporary play.
Of course, this book, while containing much useful advice and information, cannot hope to go into detail about every aspect of the game. My aim has been merely to start the reader along the upward path of self-improvement. I hope that Secrets of Practical Chess will help readers to improve their results and produce more satisfying games.
John Nunn,
Chertsey, 1997
005 Introduction
007 1 At the Board
007 Decision-making
007 The Tree of Analysis revisited
014 Evaluation functions
018 When to analyse
021 DAUT
026 Safety-nets
028 When the tactics have to work
030 Implicit commitments
034 Positional thinking
044 The method of comparison
046 Making your opponent think
049 Oversights and blunders
051 Warning signals
055 'Hard-to-see' moves
059 Time-trouble
062 Laziness
063 Determination
067 2 The Opening
067 Building a repertoire
069 Using opening books
070 Books on offbeat openings
082 3 The Middlegame
082 Good positions
088 Bad positions
098 Attack
098 'Inviting everyone to the party'
103 Over-sacrificing
105 Defence
112 4 The Endgame
112 King and Pawn endings
112 Opposition
117 The Réti manoeuvre
118 Triangulation
120 Expect the unexpected
122 Chess is more than counting
124 Rook endings
125 Rook and Pawn vs Rook
128 The extra Pawn
135 Positional advantage
138 Minor-piece endings
139 Knight endings
141 Bishop vs Knight endings
143 Bishop endings
147 Queen endings
147 Queen and Pawn vs Queen
152 The extra Pawn
155 Common endings without Pawns
155 Rook vs minor piece
158 Rook and minor piece vs Rook
164 Quick-play finishes
166 5 Using a Computer
166 Game databases
169 Playing programs
174 Index of Names
176 Index of Openings
007 1 At the Board
007 Decision-making
007 The Tree of Analysis revisited
014 Evaluation functions
018 When to analyse
021 DAUT
026 Safety-nets
028 When the tactics have to work
030 Implicit commitments
034 Positional thinking
044 The method of comparison
046 Making your opponent think
049 Oversights and blunders
051 Warning signals
055 'Hard-to-see' moves
059 Time-trouble
062 Laziness
063 Determination
067 2 The Opening
067 Building a repertoire
069 Using opening books
070 Books on offbeat openings
082 3 The Middlegame
082 Good positions
088 Bad positions
098 Attack
098 'Inviting everyone to the party'
103 Over-sacrificing
105 Defence
112 4 The Endgame
112 King and Pawn endings
112 Opposition
117 The Réti manoeuvre
118 Triangulation
120 Expect the unexpected
122 Chess is more than counting
124 Rook endings
125 Rook and Pawn vs Rook
128 The extra Pawn
135 Positional advantage
138 Minor-piece endings
139 Knight endings
141 Bishop vs Knight endings
143 Bishop endings
147 Queen endings
147 Queen and Pawn vs Queen
152 The extra Pawn
155 Common endings without Pawns
155 Rook vs minor piece
158 Rook and minor piece vs Rook
164 Quick-play finishes
166 5 Using a Computer
166 Game databases
169 Playing programs
174 Index of Names
176 Index of Openings
Neuer Verlag in alter Manier
John Nunn und Graham Burgess haben für den Batsford-Verlag schon viele Bücher produziert, dieses Buch ist das erste, welches sie im eigenen Verlag herausbringen. Alles in bewährter Manier. Die Qualität ist wieder hoch, der Preis auch, und Sie werden wie immer vergebens nach Fotos suchen.
Wegen des ähnlichen Titels mag die Gefahr einer Verwechslung mit dem unlängst von Nunn veröffentlichten Secrets of Grandmaster Chess gegeben sein. Dies war eine vollständig überarbeitete Neuausgabe des früheren Secrets of Grandmaster Play, beides Sammlungen der besten Partien von Dr. John Nunn.
Das neue Buch will dem Leser zu mehr Erfolg im Schach zu verhelfen. Die gut 50 Seiten zum Endspiel enthalten meist klassische Beispiele. Interessanteres findet man in den anderen Kapiteln. So kritisiert Nunn die in Kotows berühmtem Think like a Grandmaster verfochtene „Analyse-Baum"-Methode, mit denen Trainer ihre Schützlinge gerne triezen, als unpraktisch.
Ein anderer Abschnitt befaßt sich mit unregelmäßigen Eröffnungen. Die Leser werden davor gewarnt, sich auf Unorthodoxes zu verlassen. Bei zweifelhaften Analysen soll man vor allem achten auf:
1. Züge der Gegenpartei, die nichts leisten;
2. Varianten „wie im 19. Jahrhundert", bei denen die Gegenpartei bedenkenlos alle Opfer annimmt, als ob es sich um Räuberschach handele;
3. Varianten ohne Einschätzung;
4. Geheimcode-Wörter
Letztere sind Floskeln wie „dies bietet praktische Chancen", mit denen ein Autor vorhandene Schwächen einer Variante zu verbrämen sucht.
Solche Tips von Nunn sind gewiß nützlich. Noch reizvoller ist, daß er anschließend zwei konkrete Fälle aufs Korn nimmt: Tony Kostens Latvian Gambit (Batsford 1995) und zweitens Andrew Soltis' Winning With the Giuoco Piano and the Max Lange Attack (Chess Digest 1992). Anhänger dieser Systeme werden sich Nunns Widerlegungen ansehen und nach Auswegen suchen müssen.
Stefan Bücker
John Nunn und Graham Burgess haben für den Batsford-Verlag schon viele Bücher produziert, dieses Buch ist das erste, welches sie im eigenen Verlag herausbringen. Alles in bewährter Manier. Die Qualität ist wieder hoch, der Preis auch, und Sie werden wie immer vergebens nach Fotos suchen.
Wegen des ähnlichen Titels mag die Gefahr einer Verwechslung mit dem unlängst von Nunn veröffentlichten Secrets of Grandmaster Chess gegeben sein. Dies war eine vollständig überarbeitete Neuausgabe des früheren Secrets of Grandmaster Play, beides Sammlungen der besten Partien von Dr. John Nunn.
Das neue Buch will dem Leser zu mehr Erfolg im Schach zu verhelfen. Die gut 50 Seiten zum Endspiel enthalten meist klassische Beispiele. Interessanteres findet man in den anderen Kapiteln. So kritisiert Nunn die in Kotows berühmtem Think like a Grandmaster verfochtene „Analyse-Baum"-Methode, mit denen Trainer ihre Schützlinge gerne triezen, als unpraktisch.
Ein anderer Abschnitt befaßt sich mit unregelmäßigen Eröffnungen. Die Leser werden davor gewarnt, sich auf Unorthodoxes zu verlassen. Bei zweifelhaften Analysen soll man vor allem achten auf:
1. Züge der Gegenpartei, die nichts leisten;
2. Varianten „wie im 19. Jahrhundert", bei denen die Gegenpartei bedenkenlos alle Opfer annimmt, als ob es sich um Räuberschach handele;
3. Varianten ohne Einschätzung;
4. Geheimcode-Wörter
Letztere sind Floskeln wie „dies bietet praktische Chancen", mit denen ein Autor vorhandene Schwächen einer Variante zu verbrämen sucht.
Solche Tips von Nunn sind gewiß nützlich. Noch reizvoller ist, daß er anschließend zwei konkrete Fälle aufs Korn nimmt: Tony Kostens Latvian Gambit (Batsford 1995) und zweitens Andrew Soltis' Winning With the Giuoco Piano and the Max Lange Attack (Chess Digest 1992). Anhänger dieser Systeme werden sich Nunns Widerlegungen ansehen und nach Auswegen suchen müssen.
Stefan Bücker