Stigma wrote on 01/24/12 at 23:40:15:

I think I read that argument somewhere in the 80's, when Kasparov made ...c5 against the Sämisch popular. But it could be that I read it in a comment on some Benoni.

Ametanoitos wrote on 01/24/12 at 20:57:14:


I have a hard time playing the sac against lower-rated players who grab the pawn. The pressure is then placed on Black to justify the sacrifice and I am just not good at doing it. I can't use Houdini during a game, unfortunately. 

I have no doubt the ...c5 sac is objectively good, maybe best, but it doesn't fit me or my purposes well.

Houdini loves the sac ...c5 line for Black! "It" even proposes as satisactory moves that in the past were considered better for White. And Black avoids some drawing lines! I don't like ...e5 because it is not playable after 6.Nge2 or 6.Bg5, but the ...c5 lines produce similar positions, so it is easy to play those with similar ideas.

Returning to the subject of the GM Rep book i want to say that i just noticed that Jacob has said in the QC blog that this project will be materialized in 2013. Also, i'd like to add that i had the impression that Jacob said that it is going to be 3 volumes but he was talking about Polgar's books (on another subject) and not Kotronias', so again it is not that i know something, i am just guessing. And to return to a discussion a few posts earlier i'd much rather have 3 or 4 volumes on the KID to work on. The thing with the KID is that it is a weapon for a life time. You can add around it things like the Benko, or even the Grunfeld but if you have a strong KID repertoire then you are a fearsome opponent. And what i like about Kotronias' aproach to chess (you can learn more about that from his recent "GM Battle manual book") is his stick to challenging chess, main lines always and deep analysis.

Let's hope that he'll solve all problems that Black is facing right now in the 9.Ne1 line (both on the Nd3+Bd2 line and in the Be3+Rc1 system). I like much more talking about concrete lines like them, than discussing about 960 chess!

Surely the memory cost of that would be totally overwhelming?

Not that I'm at all sure that losing opening theory would actually be a good thing. Although I do also like all sorts of chess variants too

People are attracted to different parts of the game; it's always been like that. I find the middle parts (middlegame and strategic endgames) more fascinating because calculation and pattern recognition are more interesting, "mysterious" processes in the mind than the raw memorization that takes place in many openings and technical endgames. Cramming is hard and boring work; if I'm going to do that I'd rather learn something about the real world. There are countless fascinating subjects out there, enough for many lifetimes!

At least it will take much longer for Fischer Random to develop anywhere near the same level of opening theory as chess. And specific pre-game preparation would all but vanish if you don't know before the game starts which starting position will be played.

I thought draughts was solved by computers decades ago, but maybe it depends on the type/board size?

MNb wrote on 01/23/12 at 10:25:44:

To me the answer to these are obvious: I have only one lifetime and there's more to life than chess.

I can only guess that some people are able to go through these gigantic opening books, remember most of what they've read AND form an independent opinion of every line 10 times faster than I would have been able to.

And again, even if I could absorb all of this material  in a reasonable time, I'm not sure I'd want to. Anything that makes chess more like robotically repeating someone else's work is a step in the wrong direction. The point of the game for me is the fight and the creative problem solving at the board (and secondarily in training).

Maybe I should just take up a game that is a bit farther from being taken over by machines... Chess960, anyone?!

I strongly feel 3 volume will give a great opportunity to the author to go to the depth in complex positions without being worried by page limits. Bologan's book hardly had much explanation - mostly variations. Vigorito's 2 volume was also not too far behind. If you compare this with the depth of explanation in Sadler's QGD book, you will realize how much could have been said. KID is a very rich opening and a lot can be explained there and this will mostly benefit the lower rated players.

I vote for 3 volume book!