Re: The Future of Chess and Getting It "Unstuck"

On Apr 5, 7:49 am, Nick Wedd <n...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>
> It seems to me there's a relevant and obvious difference between chess
> and football.  When I watch a football game, I can think "I could have
> done that myself, if I were fitter".  Ok, it's not true, I couldn't
> really have done it, but I can understand what the guy did, and I can
> imagine my doing it.  But in chess, I don't find myself thinking "I
> could have done that myself, if I were cleverer".


I would think you are in the minority then. Wasn't it Spielmann who
said that Alekhine's combinative play was not difficult, he could have
made the same combinations easily *if only* he could get those same
positions on the board? It was the getting there that was hard, and I
think that is why opening play is increasingly emphasized - the
thinking being, if I can get to a (superior, equal) position at move
x  in a certain position type against a (GM, IM, master), I could win/
draw the game!