Rosario's Rule
From a comment by Frisco del Rosario, author of the wonderful A first book of Morphy:
Added 8/4/07: Frisco del Rosario left the following comment, which is just great. I really need to try this as I tend to complicate things too much:
I tell people that if they keep ONE goal in mind at the chessboard, they'll do better than most of the other people in the room: Use inactive force. If you combine the biggest threat possible with bringing up the most unused force (and, ideally, minding Fine's principles while influencing the center but that's a LOT to ask from one chess move), that's probably the best move available.
If you're *always* thinking "What can I threaten? Where are the threats, mine and his? HOW CAN I BRING UP MORE NEW FORCE?"... if you're *always* thinking that, you win.
Added 8/4/07: Frisco del Rosario left the following comment, which is just great. I really need to try this as I tend to complicate things too much:
A direct steal from Purdy. Fine gave us 30 general principles, but that's too much for lazy chessplayers to remember, so Purdy gave us two: Examine all smiting moves, and use inactive force. Most find *two* too much to deal with, so if there's ONE thing a chessplayer should do with each of his moves, it's 'bring up more new force'.
I used to hear my coach's voice inside my head: "More new force... more new force... more new force..." I hated that so much, and when I finally started doing it, his voice disappeared, and I was so relieved! So I tell people now, "You should always hear my annoying voice in your head asking you where you will find more new stuff to introduce to this chess game, and if you want me to shut up, do that."
posted by Blue Devil Knight at 9/03/2007 12:47:00 PM
17 Comments:
Thats funny. Thats the same thing I was thinking at Best Buy the other day.
I hope you weren't thinking of taking over Best Buy by force.
sounds a bit like Silmans technique. Assess the board, where are the imbalances, how can I use them to my advantage (Bring force). I like it!
Cheers
There is a sketch comedy group that does there work amongst the public. In one of their performances a couple dozen of them all put on Khaki pants and blue shirts and went and hung out in Best Buy. They didn't claim to be employees, but they were happy to help any customers who asked them questions.
Dan: Silman is all focused on positional stuff. I think this is simpler and more tactically oriented. Silman is for when you are really good at the Rosario technique. Though, of course, almost all positional ideas have to do with activity. Ultimately you could probably reduce everything to a combination of piece activity and threats. Heisman has been saying this for years, but I think it is just recently that I have started to believe it.
I have the book, but i have yet to start on it. Looking forward to it though. Problem is, i've got quite a few books now and i'm looking forward to start on each and every one of them. But which one first? But first things first, and that is finishing up on this one first.
ookwel: is that Purdy book good? Rosario basically gets his ideas from Purdy, after all!
Those links at the bottom are for web directory services: they add a link to my site if I add a link to theirs. It's an experiment.
Yeah, changed the nickname :-) I'll do a short post on that in a while.
First off, don't let the title fool you. It is not a second part. It is a revised edition. That is why they added the "II". And to answer your question, i am pretty sure the serious chess student will not regret purchasing it. A post will follow when i finish it. Might take me a while still. I'm doing almost everything guess move, so... Right now, i'm about 3 quarters into it (or however you say that).
BDK, No but now I am, thanks for the push.
Loomis, Thats hilarious! Do you know the name of the comedy group?
Nice book ref BDK. Frisco lectures regularly at our club. He can be pretty entertaining with his humor too. Hey, kinda off topic from your post, but I recently downloaded another trial version of PCT2007 and what I like about it is that the tactics modules aren't arranged by theme like CTB (or at least as far as I'm able to tell, maybe it can be arranged by theme?) Anyway, I thought I remembered you saying sometime back that you use PCT too, and I'm wondering how you like it versus convekta's CTB. If you've mentioned this in a previous post, you can simply refer me to it. The trial version is really growing on me since the puzzles are mixed, or so they seem. Any remarks on this would be great, thanks!
Cratercat: I'm jealous, wish we had lectures around here!
CTB has the option of presenting by theme, but it can also present the problems sorted by difficulty (just like CT-Art). I haven't done much with PCT so can't really compare them. CTB starts with mate in one, then simple tactics (one move skewers, pins, forks) and mate in two, then the next level is more of the same, with a few removal of the guard. Level 4 is more removal of guard, deflection, decoy, longer mates. Level 5 is even longer mates, longer combinations (up to 5 moves). Levels 4-5 of CTB also have about 50 K/P endgame problems.
The only comparison I've made is that CTB level 4 is about level 10 in CT-
Art, and CTB level 5 is about CT-Art levels 20-30 (CT-Art goes up to 90).
A direct steal from Purdy. Fine gave us 30 general principles, but that's too much for lazy chessplayers to remember, so Purdy gave us two: Examine all smiting moves, and use inactive force. Most find *two* too much to deal with, so if there's ONE thing a chessplayer should do with each of his moves, it's 'bring up more new force'.
I used to hear my coach's voice inside my head: "More new force... more new force... more new force..." I hated that so much, and when I finally started doing it, his voice disappeared, and I was so relieved! So I tell people now, "You should always hear my annoying voice in your head asking you where you will find more new stuff to introduce to this chess game, and if you want me to shut up, do that."
--Frisco Del Rosario
Frisco: thanks for posting! I'll put your comment above the fold.
BDK , whats yer rating now?
Others? whats yours.
Great blog, bdk. I have a question about Rosario's book. The excerpt from this book on Amazon shows some odd notation, such as ed5 instead of exd5, and Bf6 instead of Bxf6. Does this odd notation continue throughout the book, or were there simply typos on the few pages shown on Amazon? Please say they're just a few typos!
Thanks
-anotherknightwithoutablog
Anon: they aren't typoes: the book follows the convention of not using the 'x' for captures. This convention is a little unusual, but it is used in a few of my chess books.
It's nice to see the Authors comments. I have read about 5 analysis of Morphys Opera game in various books. Some point to the quiet Nc3 as being a turning point in modern chess. Where instead of grubbing for pawns Morphy plays a developing move that will eventually enter into the attack and add to the killer force.
Jim
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