so i talked to a guy at the club and i told him i've been reading logical chess move by move. great book by the way. he said that max euwe has a good book called Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur which is suppose to help learn stronger moves. does anyone have this book and what do they think? i'm beginning to learn that older chess books are still usable nowadays.
Originally posted by kmac27Any book by Euwe can't be bad. 25 games highlighting the differences in quality of moves between master and amateurs of varying strengths.
so i talked to a guy at the club and i told him i've been reading logical chess move by move. great book by the way. he said that max euwe has a good book called Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur which is suppose to help learn stronger moves. does anyone have this book and what do they think? i'm beginning to learn that older chess books are still usable nowadays.
Positives - Authored by Euwe (and Meiden). Still in print. Published by Dover, so it's relatively inexpensive.
Negatives - Descriptive notation.
When discussing very old games, an interesting historical sidelight is that white did not always move first until after the mid-19th century. Even in London 1851, the first great international tournament, players kept the same color throughout each match, alternating who moved first. When these games are given in modern annotation, it's traditional to reverse the colors when necessary so that white always has the first move. In many games published from early times , black had the first move, but we cover that up.
Max Euwe was the last amateur World's Champion. Besides being a grandmaster, he also taught mathematics and worked as a journalist. His books are very approachable for beginning and intermediate players. Like "Logical Chess Move by Move," Euwe's "Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur" discusses the ideas behind the moves rather than throwing reams of variations at the reader. This is probably a better approach for learning the game and thus gives me reason to recommend CM vs. CA.
For more advanced players, I'd recommend the following books by Euwe:
"The Middle Game: vols. I&II"
"A Guide to Chess Endings" (which includes many positions from actual games)
"The Development of Chess Style," which distills the positional teachings of Steinitz and follows with a survey of the great players through Botvinnik.
Originally posted by der schwarze RitterIndeed, Max Euwe was a professor of mathmatics. Also, Vasily Smyslov (a forgotten WORLD CHAMPION, 1956 ) had a great career as a musician /composer, and Botivinnik was an engineer, so there are a few other examples of World Champions who had real careers besides chess. Lasker was a college professor too, made most of his living off that.
Max Euwe was the last amateur World's Champion. Besides being a grandmaster, he also taught mathematics and worked as a journalist. His books are very approachable for beginning and intermediate players. Like "Logical Chess Move by Move," Euwe's "Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur" discusses the ideas behind the moves rather than throwing reams of va ...[text shortened]... hings of Steinitz and follows with a survey of the great players through Botvinnik.
I pick up cardboard boxes and rags behind the supermarket to finance my chess career on RHP, but i got plans, ohhhh, yes I do.
Originally posted by Sam The ShamAm I right in thinking that in games where Black moved first, the queens were not on their usual starting squares? i.e. the White queen started on e1 and the Black queen on e8?
When discussing very old games, an interesting historical sidelight is that white did not always move first until after the mid-19th century. Even in London 1851, the first great international tournament, players kept the same color throughout each match, alternating who moved first. When these games are given in modern annotation, it's traditional to r ...[text shortened]... ove. In many games published from early times , black had the first move, but we cover that up.