An Introduction to
Correspondence Chess
Part 4
By Steve Ryan
From
Part 1 of this series we learned the basic
premise of correspondence chess (CC). In
Part 2 we looked at the fundamental rules
of CC. In Part 3 we looked at some of
the "venues" to play CC.
Having explained the basics of
correspondence chess in parts 1-3, I would like to finish off with my
personal "philosophy" or approach to the game along with some tips for
better ( I won't say "good") play. I do not have a high enough rating
to advise anyone on chess tactics or strategy. I need all the advice I
can get myself in those areas. But before getting into "tips" I would
like to deal with the subject of the relative merits of CC vs. OTB play.
As I noted previously the two forms of the
game have many "switch hitters", or people who play and enjoy both CC and
OTB. Nonetheless, you can sometimes detect a slight attitude of
"condescension" on the part of the OTB crowd (a statement that might cause
howls of outrage) because, let's face it, CC just does not have the high
public profile of a face-to-face tournament, of a Fischer-Spassky encounter,
or even Kasparov vs. the latest deep, deeper or deepest Blue.
Part of this attitude may arise from the
huge amount of assistance a CC player may legally use with the game IN
PROGRESS. The "assistance" comes from all the chess literature,
databases, game collections, and similar items a CC player may use. An
OTB player has access to all the same material of course but must have it
all in his head when he sits down to play. I (among others) personally
believe the two forms of the game compliment each other though I have the
feeling that you would have an easier time of it switching from OTB to CC
than the other way around.
So, while you won't get any advice on
tactics, strategy, end game play, or any of that stuff I can still pass
along a few words of general wisdom:
1. KEEP ACCURATE RECORDS OF THE GAME
SCORE. Do not permit a clerical error to ruin a game for you.
Make sure you have entered the correct move in the correct game. If
you have a number of games with similar positions (as in a Thematic
Tournament) you can easily transpose a move from one game to another.
A corollary here - take your time in deciding your next move. You have
essentially unlimited time.
If new to CC start with just one or two
games and concentrate on them. (The IECC 1-game match event provides
just such a gentle introduction.) Then move on to more elaborate
tournaments as you gain experience. Do not attempt a multi-player
event like a Swiss Tournament. Nothing will discourage you more than
taking on too many games at once and losing by time default or simply losing
track of the analysis in a lot of games. I keep both an "electronic"
game score record and a "backup" on a game score-card illustrated earlier
(see
Part 1).
2. Construct an "analysis tree" to
study the variations. Much like an ordinary tree you will have the
"main line" (corresponding to the "trunk") from which secondary lines
emerge, and so on. Any given chess position has trillions of
variations, so you can't possibly track them all. Just try to keep
track of the "main" ones.
I once heard that a chess game essentially
consists of the next 3 - 5 moves. Now I won't vouch for the validity
of that statement but I do know I can't personally go much beyond that
anyway. Perhaps your opponent will overlook something before you do,
but NEVER count on him doing that - he sees all and knows all. Your
subtlest traps will meet nothing but cold contempt. But once in a while it
works in the opposite direction.
3. Two maxims that you should ALWAYS
keep in mind:
A) NEVER
attempt to impose your will on the position. Instead, take what flows
"organically" from the position at hand and move accordingly.
B) Do not
play according to what you hope or want your opponent to do. Play
according to what he CAN do.
I am guilty of constantly violating these
two principals, especially the first one, so I will explain them a little
more.
A) NEVER attempt to impose your
will on the position. If, for example, you realize that by moving
your Knight to g4 you will fork your opponent's queen and king you become
bound, bent and determined to get that Knight on g4 whether you can easily
do so or not. You disregard the rest of the board and focus on some
way of getting the knight to the square you want. But the position
DOES NOT EASILY ALLOW IT! You have 64 total squares to look after but
become fixated on one. You say to yourself that you can do it somehow,
if you just find the right sequence of moves.
Well maybe you will, but in the meantime
your opponent HAS paid attention to the other squares, as he will shortly
demonstrate. In effect, you want to force the position to come around
to the one you want. The chessboard, however, has a will of its own,
so to speak, and will remain totally indifferent to what you want to do.
So if you can't see a way to almost immediately move your knight to g4, give
up on idea and concentrate on whatever situation exists as a result of the
natural play of the game so far.
B) Do not play according to what you hope or want your opponent to
do. This consists of no more than "wishful thinking" or hoping
your opponent will move to a particular square because then you have a
devastating reply all ready. It can go so far as to convince yourself
that he MUST move there because, after all, what other moves does he have?
You usually find out.
In some ways it resembles A above because
perhaps by hoping hard enough that your opponent moves to a particular
square you he will actually do it. The "mental telepathy" you learned
from the Vulcan Masters will work. But since we haven't met any
Vulcans yet (except on TV) your opponent has his own ideas and will do what
HE wants to do.
4. Since CC allows the use of
reference books and similar material in printed or electronic form purchase
a modest chess library. I STRONGLY recommend the purchase of a good
"openings" reference text such as Modern Chess Openings. It will at
least give you the most common lines in almost all the known opening systems
and prevent you from going wrong right off the bat. True enough, the
published analysis from all sources will eventually run out and then, as the
old joke states, the middle game begins and you have to start thinking for
yourself.
5. Good CC play also involves courteous
and sportsmanlike play. I also like to "chat" a little with my
opponent and find out a bit about him, where he lives, works, and other
personal information he will share with you. You don't have to write a
book with each message but a few general comments on the weather (always a
popular topic), the latest movies, your other interests and similar items
can always get included. Politics and religion - possible but
definitely optional topics.
Now some people do not care to chat and
want to concentrate solely on the game. They don't care about your
personal life nor do they wish to tell you anything about their own.
You MUST respect that and just send moves. I think it enhances the
game to talk a little but some people don't. I especially like to
annotate the moves once in a while and compliment a well played one.
But attempting to chat with an opponent who prefers not to constitutes both
discourteous and unsportsmanlike play.
Other aspects of courteous play includes
staying within the time limits, the avoidance of illegal/impossible and
ambiguous moves and notifying your opponent (and other officials if
required) of any vacation time you want to take.
Sportsmanlike play involves giving your
opponent a tough fight but not always a fight to the finish. If you
have a significantly inferior game by virtue of loss of pieces or a
hopelessly lost position DO NOT make your opponent checkmate you. If
he points out mate in X moves and you see no way to avoid it, resign like a
gentleman, congratulate your opponent on a fine game and start some new
ones. If you find yourself in a lost position BY NO MEANS just "Go
Silent" and stop answering. Your opponent will inevitably file a time
complaint and you will lose by time default anyway. Repeated behavior
of this type will get you expelled from the club, as it should.
Many aspects of sportsmanship and courtesy
go hand in hand, but I play chess as an intellectual exercise, to meet
different people from around the world (if only by e-mail) but above all TO
HAVE FUN. Granted, I have more fun when I win but I honestly dislike
winning by a gross blunder on my opponent's part when I know he really
didn't mean that move, or by a clerical error, but they all form part of the
game so the win stands. I have lost my share of games this way so it
all evens out.
I want to finish part 4 with some quotes
from "Essential Chess Quotations" complied by John C. Knudsen, reprinted
with permission:
"Correspondence Chess and over-the-board
chess compliment each other." - Alexander Alekhine
"Over-the-board chess is the favorite of
mortals, correspondence chess is the favorite of the gods." - Eduard
Dyckhoff
"It is not unusual in a game played by
mail to have a player resign because he sees a pretty combination coming to
life in the mind of his opponent."
- Mario Napolitano
"Correspondence chess should be played for
its own sake."
- C.J.S. Purdy
"Let the perfectionist play postal."
- Yasser Seirawan
"Correspondence chess is not only a school
for technique or an academy for virtuosity, it is a discipline of deep
thought, of research, of tenacity. There is no place for the easy and
convenient draw by agreement, but here is always the torment of the search
for the best." - Mario Napolitano
Part
5
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