"The first book I should buy is..."
A tube of glue.
Glue down the pawns a2-c2 and f2-h2 so you cannot move them.
Always amazes me that players can toss the names of books about without
seeing the strength of the player they are tossing them to.
The book you need is Improve Your Chess by Fred Reinfeld.
ISBN 0 571 09393 0
It shows the 9 most common mistakes made by inexperienced players.
In the last game you finished on here you broke 6 of them.
(If the game had lasted more than 15 moves I'm pretty you would have
bagged all nine.)
Look at my White games under 25 moves.
Click the button so you can see the final position.
You will see how often I end up with the above pawn formation.
And 95% of the time I am castled.
Only the d and e-pawns need be moved in the opening.
Leave the other pawns alone - don't touch them.
You want three good resons to move any other pawn, if you cannot find
three good reasons then leave it where it is.
This is called thinking before you move, it's a secret mysterious trick good players use.
JBru223 - Jaroslavgeo RHP July 2013
I got a nice PM from JB thanking me.
It does look a bit harsh, but you know me, I tell it how I see it.
I have learned you must cure 'Pawn Move Measles' right from the off
and a wee pat on the head and better luck next time does not work.
How do good players beat weaker players.
Usually they do nothing but simply develop and wait for the pawn moves to appear.
Then they jump in all the holes these pawn moves have created.
Experienced players know when to and when not to move a pawn and
even then they sometimes get it wrong.
Handle them with care, they cannot move backwards.
I was reading my Purdy book last night and came across something that again agrees with your glue theory Greenpawn (at least in a way). According to Purdy the purpose of advancing your central pawns is to open files for your rooks. He then notes that most people don't understand this fact and that he believed that simply having central pawns in the middle of the board is a bit over rated.
He went on to say that if you try to find a place for your rooks, you will be doing well. This is because as you find good squares for your rook, you will naturally find good places for your bishop and knights.
Stean taught me that a good place for your rook is an open file that will allow your to penetrate your opponent's side of the board with the rook. The central files will usually be good bets since the king is usually castled away to safety, which means also unable to protect a central file from an enemy rook taking up residence on the 7th rank (or 2nd if you are black).
Hi Eladar
It's not a theory. It's been known since Philidor that pawns and the
weakness's they create when they move are to be avoided unless you
have decided that the plus points out weighs the negative.
"You gotta give squares to get squares." Fischer.
Even If your middle game decision is wrong. The fact you have considered
the holes a pawn moves creates before moving it puts you further up the
ladder than the average player.
You can trace your loss to a silly pawn move instead of sitting there
wondering where you went wrong.
Originally posted by rookorbycrookAL HOROWITZ was a good chess teacher and in the US Chess Hall Of Fame. I don't have that one he wrote with Fred Renfield, but the Chess Self-Teacher that I recommended earlier for beginners is very good.
thankyou greenpawn looked online got a nice pdf copy i'll enjoy reading this regards ian aka rookorbycrook
http://www.mediafire.com/download/5zdnnvly905ts6u/I.+A.+Horowitz+%26+F.+Reinfeld+-+How+to+Improve+Your+Chess.pdf
http://www.worldchesshof.org/hall-of-fame/us-chess/al-horowitz/
The Instructor