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Recent additions
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Yes, but which one...
I caught a couple of the Devon U18s playing the English Opening in Wales recently, and I was reminded of these two stern admonitions:
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A fine addition to my collection of wonderful annotations (H/T Edward Winter)
Click [...] for list of games
[Event "Bremen System A29"] [Site "?"] [Date "1933.??.??"] [EventDate "?"] [Round "?"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Carl Johan Margot Carls"] [Black "Oscar Antze"] [ECO "A22"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "46"] 1. c4 {Notes from Deutsche Schachzeitung 1933} e5 2. Nc3 Nf6
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I was recently asked for some book recommendations, and thought easy-peasy, I'll point them to something online. Then I looked at some lists, and thought I'd write my own... Just books, not videos or Chessable courses. Lots of really great books omitted. The ChessDojo list isn't too bad.
Openings
Tactics
Strategy
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Nate Solon has just provoked with a blog on Lichess:
Why Chess Books Don't WorkHe has some point -- I mean, if books made you a better chess player, I should be world champion by now...
But I commented, crossly:
To the extent that Chessable has a theory of learning, it's a very impoverished one.
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The FIDE Elo rating system began in 1971. Elo did a bit of study trying to work the ratings backwards, but the chief scholar in this regard is Jeff Sonas http://chessmetrics.com/cm/. Jeff devised his own rating system, however -- using an 'absentee' penalty for periods of non-playing. This leads to odd-looking results like Lasker's repeated plummets and recoveries here:
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Peter Rooke Cup
We were seeded straight through to the final and hosted Seaton at home. We won handily by 5½ - 2½, so my congratulations and thanks to all involved. Full results and games here: https://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/peter-rooke-knockout-cup-final-su...
Junior Secretary Report
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We are a relaxed, friendly chess club which welcomes players of all abilities. Visitors and new members are always welcome, so whether you're just looking to enjoy a casual game once in a while or you're ready to go toe to toe with our club champion, come along to a club night and you're sure to find a well-matched opponent. The club meets at 7:30 pm every Tuesday at Heavitree Social Club [MAP] in Exeter.
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There was an early exclamation of dismay when poor Hazel overlooked an attack on her Queen on Board 8, and shortly after Pengxiao emerged smiling after a 20-move crush of a King's Indian Defence, leaving Exeter 2-0 up. It was soon 3-0 when Reece put away his opponent in a game where both sides were reluctant to castle. Opposing captain Jon Underwood claimed one back on board 2 in an extra-closed Sicilian, but Will Marjoram gradually climbed out of the swamp into which he had sunk to leave Seaton needing to win all the remaining games.
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I was updating my series on the world Champions, following Ding Liren's accession to the throne, and did a little due diligence digging around the Internet, as I'm a little out of touch these days.
I came across what looked like a helpful summary on a website which gave a not-very-interesting career summary and cited a few games.
To my shame, I didn't recognise any of the games at all.