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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Most frequent useless chess quote/comment? (Read 20567 times)
TalJechin
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #19 - 09/19/09 at 15:10:12
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Two more:

1) GM X played this move so it must be good since X is known for studying his openings very deeply.

2) After 1.e4 d5 2.e5 Bf5 3.d4 e6 4.Nf3 c5 Black is playing a French defence with the bishop on f5.

Why is it never simply a Caro-Kann with an extra tempo?! Especially since the dormant Bc8 in the french is so typical for the french... 

But maybe "White is playing the Catalan with the bishop on d3" or "Black is playing a Grunfeld with the bishop on e7" will soon become popular too...
  
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Jesse Gersenson
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #18 - 09/19/09 at 12:09:35
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Philidor who said, "Pawns are the soul of chess." 
« Last Edit: 09/19/09 at 19:37:34 by Jesse Gersenson »  
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winawer77
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #17 - 09/19/09 at 10:45:17
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'Putting the question to the bishop' is of course overused, but when used appropriately, it makes sense. It is forcing your opponent to decide what he will do with the bishop - exchange it, or retreat. When its used for every ...a6, ..h6 move where a bishop stands on b5 or g5, then it has gone too far.

I agree with most of the others. In particular Markovich's suggestion - where the author gives a chatty commentary, naming each player by their first name as they are clearly personal acquaintances. This has always annoyed me. I hate seeing things like - 'My mate <grandmaster X> one suggested I play this over a few beers one night, so I did, and we ended up winning the tournament together and I've played it ever since!".

Simply presenting moves + analysis + explanation should suffice - we don't need this indulgent namedropping.

Also, 'Needs further tests' or 'Needs a practical test' annoys me - this kind of thing. Its basically a way of saying 'This hasn't been played by any strong grandmaster yet, so I'm not going to venture an opinion on it.'
« Last Edit: 09/20/09 at 09:07:47 by winawer77 »  
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Stigma
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #16 - 09/19/09 at 01:13:22
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"Don't spend much time learning opening variations; the game is decided in the middlegame or endgame".

Many chess books, particularly those who A) were written before the "computer revolution", B) deal exclusively with the middlegame or endgame, or C) present an "easy" repertoire, comment negatively on opening study as a tool for improvement, particularly for amateurs. 

While it's possible to become preoccupied with openings to the exclusion of important chess skills, there is no denying that opening study done right involves both typical middlegames and endgames, and is an essential part of mastery in this age of information. I think everyone who wants to come close to their full potential should try serious main line chess, at least for a while.

I'm still angry that I handicapped myself by following such "anti-opening-study" advice for a long time. It's not merely useless, but harmful. It's not much fun to rely on "general" middlegame strategy when your opponent already knows the appropriate plans for the specific type of middlegame you reach. Angry
  
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #15 - 09/18/09 at 21:12:19
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"Variation X of Opening Y is perhaps the most complex variation of the entire opening theory." I have seen this statement (with variations) applied to:

French Winawer
Traxler Gambit
Najdorf Poisoned Pawn
Slav Botvinnik

and without doubt there are many others.
  
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #14 - 09/18/09 at 20:41:44
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"with good play for the pawn"
"the rest is a matter of technique"
"biting on granite"

The first two annoy me when there's no further elaboration.
  
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #13 - 09/18/09 at 18:09:04
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Markovich wrote on 09/18/09 at 17:34:30:
kylemeister wrote on 09/18/09 at 16:27:23:
I would nominate "with chances for both sides."


Why?  To me this seems to convey useful information.


Well, does it mean equality?  That the position is somewhere in the range of += to =+?  That both sides have active play, or elements of the position in their favour (though that could be compatible with e.g. one side having a clear advantage)?

I suspect what it often means is something like "the side this book is advocating is probably at least a little worse here, but we don't want to say that."
« Last Edit: 09/18/09 at 22:59:01 by kylemeister »  
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Markovich
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #12 - 09/18/09 at 17:34:30
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kylemeister wrote on 09/18/09 at 16:27:23:
I would nominate "with chances for both sides."


Why?  To me this seems to convey useful information.
  
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TalJechin
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #11 - 09/18/09 at 17:32:39
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Girkassa wrote on 09/18/09 at 15:27:44:
I believe "putting the question to the bishop" says more than just "the pawn threatens the bishop." I believe the deeper meaning is: "Now the opponent has to decide what to do with the bishop," again implying that every solution for the bishop has a downside. When White has a bishop at g5, and Black plays ...h6, White often has three possibilities:

- Exchanging it for Black's knight on f6, which often isn't desirable.
- Retreating it somewhere along c1-f4, when Black has got rid of the pressure/pin on the f6 knight.
- Retreating it to h4, where it could be vulnerable to a later ...g5. Besides, the bishop might later be needed somewhere along the c1-f4 diagonal.

When Black forces White to make that choice, White's choice may affect how Black should continue; thus, it's useful for Black to "put the question to White's bishop." In my opinion, that's much more than just "threatening White's bishop," which in itself isn't much of an achievement.


Well, to me all that goes without saying more than "5.Bg5 h6" as it's customary to move a piece threatened by a pawn.  Smiley

And if the bishop does not have a good option it's "5.Bg5 h6!"
  
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #10 - 09/18/09 at 17:31:36
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I nominate:

"The rest is a matter of technique."

If you're good enough to realize this is the case, then you don't need to be told.  And if you're not, then this is no help at all.
  
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TalJechin
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #9 - 09/18/09 at 17:24:32
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Quote:
To me, "Black has compensation" means, "Black has sufficient compensation."


To me too.

I'm sometimes more annoyed by "White/Black does not have sufficient compensation." with no more explanation about why that is or how to defend to prove it...
  
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TonyRo
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #8 - 09/18/09 at 17:20:59
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My friends and I find the subtitles to a lot of Black opening repertoire books to be quite funny. It seems like no matter what opening is chosen, it's "underrated and dynamic" and "solid, but offers Black winning chances!" 
  
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #7 - 09/18/09 at 16:48:40
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"______ is a rook down but _____ will be the one having all the fun."
  
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #6 - 09/18/09 at 16:27:23
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I would nominate "with chances for both sides."
  
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Bibs
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Re: Most frequent useless chess quote/comment?
Reply #5 - 09/18/09 at 15:48:54
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another cop out: 
"And X has the 2 bishops"
quite often in positions where this has no significance. 
In repertoire books where trying to claim an advantage of sorts where thisn't one.
  
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