Feb

13

Game Theories, by Nigel Davies

February 13, 2007 |

Some time back I mentioned the book Gm-Ram: Essential Grandmaster Chess Knowledge , by Rashid Ziyatdinov, and ordered a copy for review. It is a chess book with little text, no notes to the games and no solutions to the 256 positions…

Alan Millhone writes:

But few of us are in that 'elite' category that we need neither instruction nor guidance. As an average checker player I look for books that are well annotated and full of diagrams and solutions towards the back of the book.

Every checker book in my library would be the opposite of his book on chess. The late English Grand Master Derek Oldbury once wrote a book called Move Over, but it is written in non-checker notation and most difficult to follow. Our current 3-Move World Checker Champion recently wrote a book he calls Sixth, and it is well annotated and full of diagrams. It is as if Alex is talking to you in the first person all the way through … Ah, my kind of book.

Nigel Davies adds:

Yes, but the problem is that your understanding will tend to be 'second hand' rather than unique and cutting edge. My best results always came after individual creative work where I went my own way. I might end up agreeing via a roundabout route, but my agreement would carry much greater depth.

Alan Millhone replies:

But keep something in mind: I am just an average tournament checker player. The skill levels of someone like Alexander Mosieyev or Suki King of Barbados, and myself, are miles apart. Perhaps someday I can hammer out my own individual lines of play. Most top players study the greats in our game then try to improve on those tried-and-true lines of defense and attack. I am not at that level yet, may never be, but I love to compete!

Nigel Davies writes:

But what comes first, the chicken or the egg? Do you not try to forge your own lines because you are an average tournament player, or are you average because you are not doing this work?

I believe that one of the major problems 'late improvers' face is in changing their attitudes and habits. Teenagers are notoriously disrespectful, and this allows them to challenge everything. So those who were full-timers as teenagers developed the habit to challenge, whilst hobby players developed the habit to accept.

I think it's good to find just one thing at which you can be the best, but being the best necessarily involves refutation of the old.


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