http://www.iccf.com
http://www.fernschach.ch/

Favorite chess players:
Aron Nimzowitsch, David Bronstein, Vassily Ivanchuk, Mikhail Markovich Umansky

Favorite Openings:
- As white: King's Gambit
- As black: All Indian Systems

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<The Right Exchange Revisited> http://www.chesscafe.com/

- Single rook endgames have a very large drawish tendency. Remember Dr Tarrasch’s old aphorism: “All rook endgames are drawn.”

- The side playing against a rook usually wants to retain one rook to coordinate with the minor pieces; for example, with one or two minor pieces against a rook.

- When exchanging into a pawn endgame, you should be absolutely sure about the result, because even the slightest advantage may prove decisive, e.g. a slightly more active king.

- One side usually gains more from every exchange. Make sure it is you!

- What stays on the board is more important than what comes off the board.

<Kotov's "Play like a grandmaster">

"If you make plans in sharp tactical positions, you can easily fall into a trap that figures in the calculations you failed to make. Vice versa, if you are going to calculate variations in positions where you should be thinking about general planning, you will waste precious time and will not get the right orientation. So let us commit firmy to memory the fact that the mind of a grandmaster is principally occupied, in combinative-tactical positions, with the calculation of variations; in manoeuvering-strategical positions, with the formulation of general plans and considerations."

<CJS Purdy's "Search For Chess Perfection">

"There are positions in chess which are unimprovable, and at the same time tenable-positions in which the best play for both sides is to maintain the status quo, and where if either party assumes the initiative he should suffer for it, although it may happen to be less risky for one than the other. Naturally it is part of position play to judge such positions and to avoid activity that may compromise them. A draw is the result, unless one player is tempted in indiscretion. In such cases, whoever has the slightly inferior position has the better winning chances! Position play then, is the treatment of positions in which sound combinative play is not possible. It means strenghtening one's own position or weakening the enemy's, or if neither course is possible, a miminum weakening of your own position."

<Carsten Hansen about Correspondence Chess>

In correspondence chess, which is Advanced Chess at its finest, both players have access to databases, computer programs, and can consult any number of books while the game is in progress; plus have days to do it. So why don`t they have the same percentage of draws? It seems that CC players have discovered that the best path to success is a willingness to challenge your opponent with both colors and only settle for an early draw if the position is completely lifeless. And dynamically equal positions are played out to an extent that was seen when Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov were at their respective peaks. http://www.chesscafe.com/text/revie...

<Artar1's School of Hard Knocks>

Simply because a game may seem drawn, it may not. In all but the most tranquil of positions, weaknesses lay hidden, waiting to be exploited by one who accumulates small advantages.

<John Nunn Secrets of Practical Chess>