Chess Study Group?

MelchyBeau · #1 03-20-2007, 03:18 PM

Would anyone be interested in doing a chess study group? We could do something similar to what other people do when they form HOH or TOP study groups and go through some chess book. Or maybe discuss certain openings. Maybe even analyze high level GM/IM games.

Would anyone be interested in such a group? or have better ideas on what to study?

PokerDealerSTL · #2 03-20-2007, 04:59 PM

I think that would be great. I just started to play chess again after about a ten year layoff, and would like to refresh my brain with everything I have forgotten! Count me in.

Siegmund · #3 03-20-2007, 05:13 PM

I'll be happy to troll your threads and try to recruit bridge and backgammon players.

metsandfinsfan · #4 03-20-2007, 07:14 PM

i would not be able to participate, but would enjoy reading it .. i thoroughly enjoyed the curtains vs pog game

Neil S · #5 03-20-2007, 07:27 PM

The extent of my chess knowledge is the King Louis gambit:

Knight jumps queen
Bishop jumps queen
Pawns jump queen
GB?!

FCBLComish · #6 03-20-2007, 07:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The extent of my chess knowledge is the King Louis gambit:

Knight jumps queen
Bishop jumps queen
Pawns jump queen
GB?!

[/ QUOTE ]

That is my favorite chess opening. Also called the Brooks Offense.

DMBFan23 · #7 03-21-2007, 07:58 AM

I dig.

Two recommendations for books:

The Amateur's Mind, Silman (this has more words and concepts written out and explained - a lot of words in this one)

The Art of Attack, Vukovic (this one is pretty good I hear but is a bit more advanced and consists mostly of annotated games)

MelchyBeau · #8 03-22-2007, 04:28 PM

This is a start,

Anyone else like to join?

Although I imagine we will have a varied skill level among people who'd like to study. I think we can at least get some done.

Any specific books you'd like to study? I have the Amateur's Mind, and I could pick up Art of Attack.

I think one of the easiest things we could study in this format is openings or endgames. Maybe we can work on developing Opening repetoires while we are at it, and maybe have a tournament where the first few moves are forced?

dmk · #9 03-22-2007, 04:46 PM

i'll take part in whatever

i'm not very good, i have no idea what my actual rating would be - on gameknot its 1350-1400ish

my endgame is horrible - but i dread studying it too because it seems so boring. i have pandolfini's endgame book.

as white i open w/ e4 and play ruy lopez if 1...e5. as black i basically just play d4->d5 or e4->e5.

so ya. i've been studying tactics. i need to learn endgame a lot. and i know like 2 or 3 opening lines sort of ok. thats about it.

swingdoc · #10 03-22-2007, 08:31 PM

Hey guys, I normally don't post in POG but I hope it's okay. I'd love to study with you guys. I'm a strong tourney player. If I might make a few suggestions on what we study? To be blunt, simply studying openings is tedious as hell, especially since you really need to understand middlegame ideas well and really know tactics to know why in the world theoretical moves are good.

I'd strongly recommend picking a solid collection of masters games and studying one game per week. That way we could take a look at how the opening affects the middle game. How the masters exploit advantages, etc. Plus, in most games you get a good endgame lesson too (we'll avoid tal). Books that are really good for this (from most basic to most difficult):

Understanding chess move by move -John Nunn $13.57
Simple chess - Michael Stean $7.95
Zurich International chess tournament 1953 - $11.21

There are other great collections, but I think these are probably the most appropriate for a wide range of strengths.