GMTonyKosten wrote on 03/19/14 at 09:48:09:


Perhaps. It's not a bad idea...makes one more eager to check out the monthly update since there is more likelihood of something useful to any given person in it. It's a relatively minor 'complaint'.

Really though, look at the Candidates game between Kramnik and Svidler. I am sure since it is fresh it will get covered soon. However, just look at the position after the moves: 1. d4 f5, 2. Nf3 Nf6, 3. e3 b6. That is a proscribed method of play for Black, very normal, yet has it ever appeared in any monthly update? Not that I can see. 

That is more what I am alluding to when I mention the Korchnoi quote. Looking at recent GM and IM games is fine, but more 'breadth' in the early moves and less concentration on current theoretical likes would be good, offering a GM's eye for the course of play...things your average reader is more likely to encounter in his weekend games.

I am sure it is hard also to update the 'playable ebooks' as well...but to have, say the Classical Dutch ebook not updated since 2004 is...well, hopefully no one will be put off by the term 'lazy'.

Personally, I’m quite happy for each writer to follow his own muse when deciding what to cover every month. It’s true that Glenn Flear’s Daring Defences updates often tend to concentrate on one particular opening rather than spread the net wide. I’d also note that John Emms’s pieces in the Nimzo and Benonis section are sometimes quite unconventional, in that an update will on occasion be focused on a particular theme (for example, February’s concentrated on the games of Vugar Gashimov, and January’s on a specific way of meeting the 4.f3 Nimzo). If something has grabbed the attention and interest of the writer that month, then I’m happy for him to have free rein to write about it, rather than feeling obliged to cover a little bit of everything each update. It makes things more interesting, in my opinion. But this is just a personal view and I realise that others might think differently.

Incidentally, I’d like to echo Bibs’s expression of acclaim for Glenn Flear’s updates: there's always plenty of material and I find them a rich source of ideas.

leavenfish wrote on 03/19/14 at 02:41:42:

There was no Grunfeld at all last month, and a few months ago it was all Dutch, but I suppose you would like the section to be 'mixed' every month, like, say, Open Sicilians?

Try to be a bit more 'Daring'...this isn't the Gruenfeld only section. Note how diverse the interest is (primarily Dutch) in the topics people post about. Arguably the Gruenfeld is less 'played out', but as Korchnoi said, "All that is new is long forgotten"...or words to that effect. Meaning, there is bound to be old ideas that could be looked into. If it's Gruenfeld all the time, just merge it with another opening group.

My slightly irritated 2 cents. Do disrespect intended.