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Aug-15-04
 | | IMlday: Back before there were World Opens there were Atlantic Opens, held in NYC over July 1-4th. I had shared 1-2nd in 1968 and looked to win again in 1969 since my last round opponent was rated 200 points below me, I had White and he soon got a bad game. Then Bruce Pandolfini got determined; I got careless and he shared first. About 12 years later I met him in NY and he told me that he was desperate for the prize money in order to cover his tuition at school. He had usually very little 'killer instinct' and enjoyed teaching more than playing.
Ben Kingsley isn't really like him at all in the movie--for one thing Bruce has a sense of humour. On the other hand Lawrence Fishburne's portrayal of Vincent Livermore was quite realistic.
Young Waitzkin needed both aspects to excel, so all in all it was a pretty deep movie. When they were shooting in Toronto Bruce invited me down to the set to meet Waitzkin and play some speed chess. Vinnie and I had played hundreds of blitz games in the late 60's before he gave up tournaments. |
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| Aug-18-04 | | Cadwalader: I loved the book "The Winning Way", but on page 55, game 33, I have a question: after 10 Qa4! Qd7, 11 Ne7+ Kd8, 12 Nxa8, then doesn't it follow that 12 ... Qxa4, leaving Black to the good by a Q for a R? Or am I missing something? |
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| Aug-18-04 | | Osiris182: "Would love to hear some opinions on this: I am somewhat reluctant to read books by non-GM's (Pandolfini, Silman, Reinfeld, etc) because I keep thinking, there must be a REASON they're not GM's - maybe their depth of insight isn't quite at GM level? Or is the chess knowledge presented the same, and the title not important?" I doubt it makes a difference if your rating is < 2300, since advice from an IM is going to improve your play anyway. I'm not sure that "book study" is what separates a 2300 from a 2500, or a 2500 from a 2700. The value of book study breaks down at some level and pure talent for the game takes over, IMO... I'd be interested to hear what actual IMs and GMs think of this theory. I've seen people at chess clubs over the last 10 years - they get stuck at 1900-2100 and no amt of study of tactics, endgames, openings, etc. gets them past the wall - something to do with "the law of diminishing returns" |
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| Aug-26-04 | | Phoenix: Hey, this site is mentioned by Pandolfini on his chesscafe.com article today! This place is getting popular. http://www.chesscafe.com/bruce/bruc... |
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| Aug-29-04 | | lao tzu: <Phoenix> my computer locks every time i go to chesscafe
<IMIday>wow- its great to see u here ! - i played Bruce in a simul once- he was very soft spoken, personable and gracious- not long ago chess life dedicated 2 issues to Bruce...and like u say he is not only funny but smart and philosophical as well..(and he doesnt have a scottish accent!) |
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| Aug-29-04 | | SBC: <my computer locks every time i go to chesscafe> In a nutshell:
Pandolfini's Q/A format (caution: judiciously pruned quotes) Question:
I am a 12-year-old kid and I enter a lot of scholastic tournaments. My question is about openings. Which ones should I study? ... Answer:
...Let’s say you start with king-pawn openings...There’s such a wealth of material available, and so many outstanding sites, that one could easily go astray amid the informational abyss. If you’d like to narrow your search to a specific site, I suggest you go to Chessgames.com. It has a large database, is very current, and should prove inviting. . |
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| Aug-30-04 | | Dick Brain: So in effect, Bruce tells the kid to come here and to never return ;) |
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| Sep-02-04 | | Knight13: Why there is only one game of Pandolfini? But I like it. |
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| Oct-22-04 | | zetabass: I've been using the chessmaster software for the ps2. and it has helped me improve my game dramaticly. The "pandolfini chess school" outweighs any other reason to purchase it at it's modest price. Josh Waitzkin's endgame course is great. As are his annotated games. Lots of puzzles and drills. I'm hoping to purchase one of pandolfini's books later today... I've played chess as a novice for years, and now the possibilities are so exciting to me! |
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| Oct-22-04 | | Spassky69: <I've seen people at chess clubs over the last 10 years - they get stuck at 1900-2100 and no amt of study of tactics, endgames, openings, etc. gets them past the wall - something to do with "the law of diminishing returns"> "That's because they don't have a proper thinking and their foundation is rotten and they don't view chess as a homogenous whole but of dissolved framgments that make them mediocre forever." ~ IM Silman. But I was just curious what was Vinny's rating?! In the movie he beat a grandmaster at blitz chess but in real life I hear it was really an international master. And there is this one picture that looks like Vinny but its really just Maurice Ashley in cornrows crushing some patzer while smoking a cigarette. :) |
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| Oct-22-04 | | Minor Piece Activity: Lol Spassky69, I think that IM Silman fits under his own description. =) |
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| Oct-22-04 | | clocked: <MPA> this is an automated message generated by an algorithm designed to strip all humor from your posts. |
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| Oct-22-04 | | Minor Piece Activity: Lol. btw, what is your rating, your tactics corrections are very in depth. (2200+?) |
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| Dec-02-04 | | EnglishOpeningc4: Bruce is by far my least favorite author. The winning way is by far his worst book. I say that the winning way will put anyone who reads it on the wrong track. His philosophy is completely based on expecting the opponents to fall into obvious traps and mate-in-twos. I know I'm being harsh but this is what silman is talking about when he talks about rusty foundations. Having whole books writen by masters on how to win with opening Queen moves will cause some beginers to think that games are actually won that way, and they are obviously not! I do think his endgame book is okay, but beginners have to be taught positional chess sooner. |
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| Dec-02-04 | | drukenknight: agree w/ English. Having gone through two of his opening trap books, there are a lot of traps that are not traps, either a better move can be found or it's not a win just a simple material imbalance. He has another book called Complete Chess or something that is complete crap. |
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| Dec-02-04 | | EnglishOpeningc4: any other comments about Pandolfini's value as a writer ( or lack thereof) |
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| Dec-02-04 | | acirce: Interesting, now, is there any specific reason you think you have the right to constantly harass and insult me just because I have views that differ from yours? Be quick to answer before you hit my ignore list. |
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| Dec-02-04 | | EnglishOpeningc4: The example game he played perfectly demonstrates what I'm talking about. NO ONE raises thier rating with traps |
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| Dec-03-04 | | acirce: Oops, I see the post I was replying to above has been removed; either by the kibitzer himself or by the admins, both are plausible. Hope I didn't cause any misunderstanding. |
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Dec-03-04
 | | ray keene: <osiris182> quite often the difference between a gm and non gm is competitive drive-ie the ambition to succeed as a sportsman as well as in understanding-in that case a non gm can also write very useful books while some gm written books can be useless .just because a writer is a non gm doesnt mean their insights are worthless-it may just mean that the heat of competition and having to perform in front of an audience may be too much for them. i suspect pandolfini falls into this category. |
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| Dec-03-04 | | drukenknight: I dont think it has to do with his title or lack of title. Question whether his stuff is even useful for beginners and you have to wonder, since so many of his lines end w/ "well what if he moves here...?" and the reader is left scratching his head wondering whether he is insane or the author. Or both... Reinfeld's stuff is almost certainly useful for beginners. Since he explains more general principles that have wider application. |
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| Dec-03-04 | | Pawsome: If chess is like music, as Tarrasch claims, then perhaps, as in music, the greatest practitioners aren’t always the best teachers. The great instrumental virtuosi teach master classes, true, but the greatest pedagogues more often than not turn out to be great teachers first and fine musicians second. Why? Perhaps the answer is that those who can, do; those who understand understand, teach. The greatest GMs, like the greatest performers, are prodigies. It is much harder, if not impossible to explain an innate skill than one that has been hard won. This goes to acirce’s hackle raising earlier post in which he suggest that J. Silman’s instruction might be more beneficial to a student than that of G. Kasparov. I can only imagine the intense patience required of a Kasparov trying to explain the vicissitudes of the Queens Indian to the likes of me. |
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| Dec-03-04 | | ughaibu: As far as I know Tarrasch did not say chess is like music, he said chess has the power to make men happy, as do love and music. |
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| Dec-04-04 | | Pawsome: <ughaibu> Right you are. But there seems to be solid linkage between Chess, Math and music, all of which have prodigies. |
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| Dec-04-04 | | Backward Development: 'Pandolfini's Endgame Course' is about as fine an introduction to the endgame as money can buy. i've not seen any other book that can match it's quality, simplicity, practicality, and of course price for the complete green horn to the endgame. I think every player should have it, if only for a crash course. |
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