[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Going over a game for all its worth: Example time

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Going over a game for all its worth: Example time
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1183516101.shtml


   The same Matt who wrote the letter discussed in this post has written
   again with his look at the (once) famous 8th game of the 1978
   Karpov-Korchnoi world championship match. It's a nice effort for a
   "near beginner", but there are ways he can extract more from the game
   before consulting the professional annotators, friends and/or
   computers. Here's the main one:
   A few times Matt expresses disapproval about the players' moves. Now,
   it's true that at least one of the players must have made a mistake,
   since it wasn't a draw, but we're talking about two of the greatest
   players of all time. So a principle of charity should be in effect
   here: if one doesn't understand why a much stronger player did
   something, there should be a strong presumption that we need to keep
   looking or thinking. (This holds both for tactical and strategic
   factors.)
   There are also plenty of missed tactics, which is not only fine but to
   be expected from a new player. The lesson here is twofold: First, when
   the game gets complicated, slow down and explicitly look for tactics,
   starting with checks and captures. Second - and this is the bread and
   butter for all players, especially those under 1800 USCF - it's the
   signal to work on tactics. Get the Reinfeld "1001" books, or Winning
   Chess Tactics for Juniors, or the fat Polgar book entitled Chess. Or
   use an online site, like the Chess Tactics Server or ICC's
   trainingbot. Or buy chess tactics software, e.g. from ChessBase. The
   options are plentiful - just make sure to use them! (I'd recommend the
   Polgar book for players just starting out: it's very inexpensive in
   paperback and has more than enough material to push you up to the next
   level.)
   [1]Here's the game, with Matt's commentary; my meta-comments start
   with "DM" and are in brackets.

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/karpov_korchnoi_1978_8_mattnotes.htm