Author: KarinsDad
Date: 09:55:26 05/20/99
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On May 20, 1999 at 11:49:21, Francis Monkman wrote: [snip] >No doubt you, like me, spent some hours with books entitled "Combination >in Chess" (or similar), and of course enjoyed finding the solutions (so >much easier when one has been told that 'there is a good move to be found'!), >but did you ever think "how was such a position arrived at"? I once said to >one GM, "it's not finding the good moves that's the problem, it's creating >the positions out of which they arise" -- "Ah", he said. I doubt that there is a much more profound truism when it comes to chess for a lot of amateurs. Just the other night, I played a G60 game for the first time in months and after my opponent played Nf3 as his first move as white, I was already out of my book (this goes to show how lousy my book really is and I used to play Nf3 as my first move for white 20+ years ago). The game continued with him making solid moves and me making so-so moves until the endgame when we each had a bishop, a knight, a rook, and 6 pawns. I repeatedly saw combinations for him where he could force a win. He had the better strategic position (due to my poor opening and early middle game play), but he could not see a tactical solution. So, I eventually played a move that basically forced the rooks off the board (and made seeing the tactical responses even more difficult if you didn't see them already) and offered him a draw. He spent 5 minutes looking at the position and finally agreed to the draw. After the game, we went over it again and he was kicking himself as I showed him several different sets of moves in the last 10 that would have won for him (with no possible defense for my side that I could see). But the real problem (at least in my play) is to make the solid opening and early middlegame strategic (and sometimes tactical) moves which will allow me to be in a position to see the tactical combinations that can occur in the latter middlegame and the endgame. I usually have a slightly inferior position in the middlegame and although I can see the tactics for either side if they crop up, the probability of those tactics being available for my opponent is generally greater than for myself (this is especially true if I am playing black). I am glad you posted this since it allows me to understand one of the fundamental problems with my chess play. Thanks, KarinsDad :)
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