{"id":6255,"date":"2016-09-02T04:42:38","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T04:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2016\/09\/02\/the-one-chess-book-a-player-should-have\/"},"modified":"2016-09-02T04:42:38","modified_gmt":"2016-09-02T04:42:38","slug":"the-one-chess-book-a-player-should-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2016\/09\/02\/the-one-chess-book-a-player-should-have\/","title":{"rendered":"The One Chess Book a Player Should Have"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been asked about this on several occasions, most recently by Kevin W.  So here is a redacted repost from over six years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

………………………………….<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe from New York writes:<\/p>\n

<\/span>I have a question about chess. Would you be kind enough to tell me in your opinion what is the one chess book a person should have? What is your favorite? I am presently reading [Irving Chervev's] <\/span>Logical Chess Move by Move.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I am a patzer.<\/span><\/p>\n

I think your blog is great.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks for writing, Joe, and for the kind words. I too am a patzer, though on a really good day I am a GP, a Grand Patzer. Although there is no one book that one simply must have, for patzers I recommend Georges Renaud and Victor Kahn, The Art of the Checkmate<\/a>. This is a delightful old book written by a couple of French masters. It first appeared in English translation in 1953 and was reprinted by Dover Press in 1962. I believe it was International Master Calvin Blocker<\/a> who recommended it to me. I am very fond of Dover paperbacks, which are inexpensive and made to last a lifetime. This particular volume is in descriptive notation which fact should gladden the heart of Ed Yetman.  It is also full of Romantic old games, wild and swashbuckling, of the sort from which assiduous patzers can learn tactics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tactics, tactics, tactics.  As important in chess as location, location, location in real estate.<\/p>\n

The book is a study of the basic mating patterns. Since checkmate is the object of the game, a thorough study of the basic mates is a logical place to begin the systematic study of chess. That should be followed by work on tactics. The much-maligned Fred Reinfeld is useful here. After that, openings and endings. But the typical patzer — and I'm no exception to this rule — spends an inordinate amount of time swotting up openings. But what is the good of achieving a favorable middlegame position if one doesn't know what to do with it?  To turn a favorable position into a win you need to know the basic mates, tactics, and at least the rudiments of endgame technique.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a lot to learn, and one can and should ask whether it is worth the effort.  But patzers like us are unlikely to have our lives derailed by chess.  We can sport with Caissa and her charms without too much harm.  It is the very strong players, who yet fall short of the highest level, who run the greatest risk.  Chess sucks them in then leaves them high and dry.  The goddess Caissa becomes the bitch Impecunia.  IM Blocker is one example among many. <\/span><\/p>\n

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I have been asked about this on several occasions, most recently by Kevin W.  So here is a redacted repost from over six years ago. …………………………………. Joe from New York writes: I have a question about chess. Would you be kind enough to tell me in your opinion what is the one chess book a … Continue reading “The One Chess Book a Player Should Have”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6255\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}