From: atkinson <at> VAXROM <dot> CERN <dot> CH
Date: 23 may 1991
Subject: Good shape and crass moves

Since I am useless at Chess and Shogi and Xiangqi, I could equally well
have sent this to any of the three lists, but here it is on this one.
Standard openings consist of good moves from both sides. This is all
very well, but when playing with other beginners, or even with people
who are (amazingly) worse than me, they will make crass moves. At this
point it is worth punishing such a move immediately, surely? If someone
puts an undefended major piece on prise in the opening, I should take it
no matter what this does to my "shape", I imagine. Obviously, pawn
sacrifices exist in the opening to tempt such things, and in the endgame
and even midgame I suppose such opportunities might be traps, but if
it is in the opening, or in any other case clearly just crass, should
I take the piece? Rook sacrifices in the opening are unlikely to make
me produce such bad shape that I will be then in a disadvantage.
 
If I am talking crap, please tell me.
 
I have noticed, for instance, that when I play Japanese people (as
sometimes happens), the opening goes on a long time, and ends up
looking like the sort of thing you see in books, with masses of
silvers and pawns and golds and so on crammed into a small area,
and no captured pieces. Then flurries of exchanges happen, and
I eventually lose. I hope this is because (i) my opponent is playing
correctly, so his/her position is nice (ii) I am playing very
cautiously and don't have any chances to capture or promote things
for free anyway. I generally DO make castles in these games.
When I play against beginners (eg in the Physics department of the
University here, where this very week I have found a few moderately
interested people) they make grade A mistakes so early that I
checkmate them with their own pieces, and don't move any of mine
except the rook (in extreme cases). In this case, I have a sitting
king, of course. SHOULD I take time to make a castle and so on
even in cases like this?
 
I know I have asked this question of at least some of you before.
 
(One answer might be that I should not be playing even games against
such people. I think this is unlikely, as one of the Chess players
at Physics beat me in his second game ever of Shogi. I think it would
be silly of me to give handicaps to anyone at all.)
 
Adam Atkinson
Rome