Author: Charles Roberson
Date: 13:59:33 01/30/03
Go up one level in this thread
>> The book delineates these stages:
>> 1) The days of Grecko 1600?-1634? -- elaborate piece excursions.
There was no systemic play. It was merely active
piece pla with little thought of defense. He who
gets there first wins.
>> 2) The discovery of pawns -- Philidor,1726 - 1795
Previously the pawns were ignored. They were important
for promotional purposes but not much else. Philidor
discovered and teaches that the pawns are the soul of
the game. The pawns should be utilized in the opening
and the middle game. However, Philidor was not fully
understood.
>> 3) Long live the combination -- Anderssen, 1818 - 1879
During this period mankind ignored Philidor's approach.
Positional play was boring. Risky tactics were king again. But,
this time (due to Philidor) the skill level of the tactics were
increased.
>> 4) Combination for Strategic ends -- Morphy, 1837 - 1884
Paul Morphy took the chess world by storm beating the top
masters of the time and using a style completely new.
He was a very good tactician but (unlike the rest) he
had an excellent positional awareness. He started attacks
only when the position warranted it.
>> 5) Positional play -- Steinitz, 1836 -- 1900
Morphy left the world only his games. He did not teach.
Steinitz studied the games of Morphy and created a system
of play based on the games of Morphy. Steinitz became world
champ and taught the world to play better chess. He promoted
the slow/positional gain of small advantages without giving
up weakness. At the point of positional superiority, tactics
would be bountiful.
>> 6) Technique and Routine -- The Virtuosi, 1900 - 1914.
>> Here he discusses Capablanca and others of the period
This group of players combined the tactical expertise of
(3) with the positional teachings of Steinitz. Some claimed
their games slow and boring. Here I mean, slow in development
of pressures in the game. Never making a mistake -- just
waiting on the opponent to make one.
>> 7) The independent thinkers -- 1919 - 1940
Nimzovitch, Reti et al were fighting the dogmatist of the past.
They were called the hypermoderns and insisted (among other
things) that the center needed to be controlled which did not
necessarily mean occupied. Thus, the creation of the fianchetto
openings.
>> 8) New thirst for battle -- the russian school: 1945 to Present day
>> (1966).
In this period, keeping up the pressure was the motto. Active
defences were sought (counter attack ...). Also, the exchange
sacrifice was mastered as a way to keep the initiative and
positional pressure up.
That is a summary of each section. This clearly shows the evolution
of chess style. Thus, I say that it is still evolving. But each jump
requires some stimulating event. Today that stimulation is comming from
the computer play.
The GM that learns to incorporate the priniciples to beat computers
into a cohesive understanding of chess will defeat the chess world.
Charles
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.