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Ask the Tiger
with GM Nigel Davies
May 8th, 2003
Your chance to pick the brain of one of the world's leading GMs, chess
teachers, and authors!
Learn
more about Nigel's teaching philosophy and check out his very
reasonable rates. Visit his website,
Tiger Chess, loaded with instructional articles.
Ask the Tiger Your
Question Now!
------------------------
Q: How many moves are allowed in a Stalemate? I've heard
25 collective and 25 individual. Please clarify. - Tim Tanis, Maint
A: Stalemate comes about when one side or the other has no legal move but is
not in check. If 50 moves by each side go by without a pawn move or capture
the game is also a draw, but this is not stalemate. There are some 'special
exceptions' for positions which are winnable but require more moves.
---------------------------------
Q: What are the best endgame books for a medium strength player? - Bill
Smith
A: I personally have had a lot of trouble reading books on endgames as they
tend to be rather dry. The only I found to be a pleasure to read so far are
Znosko-Borovsky's 'How the Play Chess Endings' and Shereshevsky's 'Endgame
Strategy', though I'm planning to go through Korchnoi's book on rook
endgames also.
---------------------------------
Q: First of all thanks for your responses to my previous questions. This
time I would like to ask about chess books. Suppose that a chessplayer only
has enough resources to buy ten chess books in his life and no more than
that... Which ten chess books would you recommend the most in such a case
and why? - Regards, Diego Acosta.
A: Well if I can only pick 10, here we go.
1. Lasker's Manual of Chess
by Emanual Lasker: This is far more than just a chess book, Lasker lays the
foundation for a much wider philosophy of struggle.
2. Chess Fundamentals by Jose Raoul Capablanca: A brilliant and lucid
explanation of many aspects of chess strategy.
3. Pawn Power in Chess by Hans Kmoch: One of the best books for
gaining insights into strategy.
4. The Art of the Middle Game by Paul Keres and Alexander: This one's
a real classic, the chapter on defending difficult positions is required
reading for everyone.
5. Larsen's Selected Games by Bent Larsen: One of the best games
collections by a very creative and competitive grandmaster.
6. My Best Games: Book 1 by Victor Korchnoi: Fifty great lessons by a
chess legend.
7. My Best Games: Book 2 by Victor Korchnoi: Another 50 great
lessons, this time for playing Black.
8. Tal - Botvinnik 1960 by Mikhail Tal: A wonderful insight into one
of the great matches in chess history.
9. Rook Endings by Victor Korchnoi: Possibly the best endgame book
ever written.
10. Modern Chess Openings (14th Edition) by Nick De Firmian: It's
good to have some sort of reference book on the openings, and this is as
good as any.
---------------------------------
Q: Again I will ask about the Grunfeld but not about specific variations
or plans but a more general question.
I have seen that each specialist of the Grunfeld plays it differently and
that each master follows his own path against white's schemes. While looking
for books in the Grunfeld I found yours and couldn't resist the temptation
to buy it (I am addicted to chess books after all...) In there I read
something of that nature and that even if things don't turn out as black
hoped he will still have a position whereas in other openings (I think you
cite the Benoni) he is dead.
I am just learning this opening and couldn't help asking why is it that the
Grunfeld is so flexible? I can even avoid the Seville variation non-sense
and obtain a fair position. I can play three different sound systems against
the Russian variation [ You explain them very well in your book... ]
And the last question: How can black mess up badly in the Grunfeld?
- Diego Acosta, University of Oklahoma.
A: The thing about the Gruenfeld is that Black doesn't create any permanent
weaknesses. In the Modern Benoni he accepts a very weak d6 pawn whilst some
King's Indians can feature a truly horrific King's Bishop. The worst thing
that can happen to him is that he doesn't get much counterplay against
White's pawn centre, though this is not necessarily fatal.
---------------------------------
Q: To understand Blindfold: Kindly let me know how long it could take in
exercising to learn to play blindfold (up to how many moves?), starting e.g.
from a 1700-1800 ELO level. Thanks, Best Regards, Andreas
A: How long is a piece of string? I think it all depends on the visual
imagination of the player concerned - there was once a blindfold match
between Rubinstein and Mieses which was won easily by the latter. Though he
was no match for Rubinstein in 'real' games.
---------------------------------
Q: I play the Stonewall as White. Against a Black k-side fianchetto, what
in your opinion is the best plan for White? Should White abandon hopes of a
kingside attack & play c4 instead, hoping to gain space on the queenside and
control the c-file? Thanks for your response! - licenser
A: The Stonewall shouldn't necessarily be seen as an all-out attacking
opening - you also need to pay attention to the centre and queenside to get
the most out of it. I quite like plans based on b3 and Bb2 with a view to
improving the 'bad' bishop and playing for space with c2-c4. But this
doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the c-file because while you're doing
all this Black also has some moves.
---------------------------------
Q: Dear sirs, Hello my name is Ahmad Sadat Akhavi, I am Iranian. I have
question of you, I like play Stonewall Attack, when I play d4 black play
Nf6,can I play Stonewall or when play d4 and black answered d5 I can play
it. When black play Indian defence W have problem what must I do?
Thank you.
A: Well basically you can play 1.d4 followed by 2.e3 and 3.f4 against most
things that Black can throw at you, the problem is that you'll get different
grades of Stonewall depending on where both sides put their pieces. On my
video, 'Dirty Tricks II', I suggested that White should get his queen's
bishop out first (to g5) before putting all his pawns on dark squares. I
still think this is a good idea, and it happens a lot in openings like the
Trompovsky (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) and Veresov (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5)
---------------------------------
Lisa Lane: A couple of months ago I was asked what happened to Lisa Lane....
Apparently she is living happily in the United States but has discovered
life beyond chess...
-----------------------------
- GM Nigel Davies,
Tiger Chess
Ask the Tiger Your
Question Now!
[Index of Ask the Tiger Columns]
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