24 Jan 07
Originally posted by Chesswickthat's just a little short of thinking: "okay, I just learned how horsey and the other guys move, now I'll just extrapolate the rest up to GM level."
... So long as you review your games, consider the moves made and the results it achieved you should ultimately arrive at the same conclusions that many books put forward. Studying more official books merely expedites the learning process. From then on I'd guess it's more about practice and raw ability.
in theory it's possible, but in practice it's never going to happen. it takes enormous amount of work even to extract the information out of a book, where someone far better & experienced has made an effort to present the verified information in a digestible form. and even then you'll end up with an incomplete understanding of the subject at hand.
standing on the shoulder of giants is what makes you see farther.
25 Jan 07
Originally posted by wormwoodWhat books did Greco read? Was he over 1800?
that's just a little short of thinking: "okay, I just learned how horsey and the other guys move, now I'll just extrapolate the rest up to GM level."
in theory it's possible, but in practice it's never going to happen. it takes enormous amount of work even to extract the information out of a book, where someone far better & experienced has made an ...[text shortened]... the subject at hand.
standing on the shoulder of giants is what makes you see farther.
25 Jan 07
Originally posted by chessisvanitychessisvanity's Stats
Anyone think it is possible to reach 1800 by doing nothing but playing chess?
No studying just playing game after game and doing your best...
Anyones thoughts?
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Rating p 1200
Just playing games may not be enough, but not playing any games will certainly not help.
25 Jan 07
Originally posted by wormwoodNo. He played a match against Polerio, for example. Polerio, too, wrote about chess. Greco likely knew the works of both.
do you think he just invented out of thin air everything that's visible in his games?
My point is that one must study to reach 1800, but how one studies can vary a great deal. Sometime back in the mists of time, someone wrote the first chess book. Was he 1800 in chess strength? Likely.
25 Jan 07
Originally posted by Wulebgrthe way to study things was not really that focused on books at that time, as I'm sure you know. manuscripts were very expensive, and hard to come by. instead you studied with someone who already knew the material, and passed that knowledge to someone else. in time, a body of knowledge was accumulated, and even written into manuscripts at some point. but that doesn't mean they didn't study.
No. He played a match against Polerio, for example. Polerio, too, wrote about chess. Greco likely knew the works of both.
My point is that one must study to reach 1800, but how one studies can vary a great deal. Sometime back in the mists of time, someone wrote the first chess book. Was he 1800 in chess strength? Likely.
you know very well first hand how hard it is to reach the 1800. so how come you think it was somehow different back then, when the knowledge about both the theory and improving in chess was far inferior to our times? we know how to get better, we have incredible amount of resources and a vast online community to support us, and it's still very hard to get there.
25 Jan 07
Originally posted by wormwoodI'm not the biggest fish in my own small pond, but Polerio, Lopez, and Greco were the biggest fish in theirs.
you know very well first hand how hard it is to reach the 1800. so how come you think it was somehow different back then, when the knowledge about both the theory and improving in chess was far inferior to our times? we know how to get better, we have incredible amount of resources and a vast online community to support us, and it's still very hard to get there.
I think that 1800 players today are far stronger than 1800 players were thirty years ago. Our excellent resources have given us that much.
26 Jan 07
1800 OTB would be quite difficult. But that said, I am a high school chess coach, and my best player (he's 16, I believe) is rated 1795 USCF (and is much, much better than me). And he doesn't use a computer, nor does he study from books. On the other hand, he's pretty much in the prodigy category - writes his own chess problems, etc. Of course, I wouldn't say he 'just' plays, since he is constantly studying and thinking about positions. They just happen to be his own positions and lines of study, not ones he finds in books.