Chess Improvement for old f***s

Chess For Zebras by Rowson was written for adult learners as you mentioned Rowson earlier @fh_chess_65 ... Some chess books can do you no harm BTW however it's a little difficult without knowing your rating (probably 100 -150 points higher than you have here on Lichess since you have only 23 games played here ... I guess) So I can recommend Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Sherevesky as the Chess Book you should have around , look at, & Study a bit heh' Good Luck on your Chess ,,, Study Chess Study Chess Play Chess Play Chess Play Chess Study Chess & Play Chess Play Chess & you will get there wherever there is for you chess-wise

"... one will not learn the basics from [Shereshevsky's 'Endgame Strategy'] at all; rather, it is a series of mostly complex examples, often in the middlegame rather than in the ending! Indeed, there are 62 pages of 'complex endings'; and most players would call the vast majority of the rest of the book's examples quite 'complex' as well. ... I like this book a lot, but it has more to do with transitions from the middlegame than with endings themselves. ..." - IM John Watson (2000)
https://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/endings-endings-endings
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9144.pdf

@HerkyHawkeye said in #19:

Man, you should be a writer. ;)

Thx. Not to toot my own horn, but we shouldn't be afraid to be honest about our abilities, we are all our own best judges of what we can do. I remember I scored 99% on an essay in 2nd year of high school. To Kill a Mockingbird. The year before, in 1973 I took a run at "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest" I thought it was a cool title. That was the year I became school chess champion. In university economics courses my profs were quite astonished. At one point I was losing marks because my logic was too tight. I studied logic and math in univ, I could ace it when I was studying instead of getting high. Doctors tell me I have fast brain, an aspect of ADD. Also mild bipolar. I have explosive temper my whole life. I decided long ago to live alone and accept these things med free. Makes me better at writing and chess, for sure. But I lose things. I look to GPS to solve that problem.

Where does it come from? I say 50/50 nature/nurture. Nature from my mother, though I am not sure she ever even thought about it When she was in her '70s she taught herself the game of Mah Jongg and within one year she became top-ranked player on Yahoo Games, when it was BIG. Nurture from my father. He would buy me stacks of serious books as a kid instead of toys, always bring home a chess book from the library. He taught me the game, after about two weeks he accused me of being a poor winner and we never played again. That was 1973. Both of them lived a long time. With their genes I probably have a good twenty years left.

All of my stuff just pours out. I don't need to think much, once I have conceived the idea. In person a lot of the guys think I am boring and pedantic. No problem with the ladies I beet the tough fast talkers at their own game. My snappy comebacks are usually pefect. LOL

edit: Schitt! There was a really cool p.s. but I forgot what it was. Cause I got high, cause I got high, cause I got high. pfft

oh yeah I remember what it was. I have never had my IQ tested. I expect very high on some aspects, low on others. I excell at mathematics but suck big time in physics and sports. My vision is left-handed, my dominant hand is right. I could not hit a dart board if my life depended on it. My script is awful, printing is so good it OCRs perfectly. Much easier to play chess at expert level and solve problems in partial differential calculus Forget stupid little brain twisters. I excel in mathematics, I have a great memory for words. Much easier to play chess at expert level and solve problems in partial differential calculus than play bridge Where did I park my car? Oh yeah! I took the bus.

Thanks again.

To thunderclap. Thanks for a well considered reply. I am 65 I have played Internet chess when there was no www. So many accounts. here there and everywhere. My FIDE ELO should be over 2000, based on internet results, but I have never played a FIDE game. Just a twenty year old rating from my member federation in canada. Like the other guy said, everyone's got an opinion.

With respect, i wonder how many of you guys read the discussion first before posting. Partially my fault I guess.

@kindaspongey said in #22:

"... one will not learn the basics from [Shereshevsky's 'Endgame Strategy'] at all; rather, it is a series of mostly complex examples, often in the middlegame rather than in the ending! Indeed, there are 62 pages of 'complex endings'; and most players would call the vast majority of the rest of the book's examples quite 'complex' as well. ... I like this book a lot, but it has more to do with transitions from the middlegame than with endings themselves. ..." - IM John Watson (2000)
theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/endings-endings-endings
www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9144.pdf
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Are u calling OP a beginner ?????????? He's closer to 2000 Rating

Heavy sigh, OK, to people who like to quote Watson quoting Shereshevsky and probably Dvoretsky too, on the endgame,..

I do remember asking my sovietski trainer friend about studying the endgame. Based on his assessment of me, I would expect, he pretty much told me to focus on the middlegame, where most of the action is, where games are won and lost.For whatever that is worth to you.

I spent my time on the endgame in the early '70s. Basic Chess Endings, cover to cover. Every variation, I also studied all of the corrections that have been published since then. Smyslov/Levenfish - Rook Endings and a few of Averbakh's endgame books were also read.

edit: maybe mid to late 70s on the endgame. my bad. And probably many, not all, of the corrections in BCE by Fine.

@fh_chess_65 said in #17:

Let me be clear on one thing. Why Korchnoi?

<snip>

I leave you with the game Korchnoi - Grischuk from Biel 2001, a game that I witnessed live on ICC (chessclub.com). The online chat for this was absolutely hilarious. I wonder if there is a transcript somewhere.

<snip>

www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=425644

I'm waiting for someone to ask me what was so hilarious about it... :)

@ThunderClap said in #26:

... Are u calling OP a beginner ?????????? ...
No, I was just trying to give fh_chess_65 more of an indication of what the Shereshevsky book is about.

Why would I want to know about the Shereshevsky book? Something is wrong with my writing if you get the impression that I need it. My plan was clear on books.

Perhaps I chose the wrong title for the discussion, and people jump to the conclusion that I was asking for suggestions. This should have been cleared up if they had bothered to read what I had already posted. My bad, I shouldn't make that assumption. Also I make too many posts same day in this thread. I'll slow it down.