No New Books Today

I have the week off so today I made a scouting trip. I am looking for a place where I can camp and pretty much be by myself. I checked out a nice State Park in Michigan, but it was eighty miles one way. It felt good. But it was so far away. So I think I will search closer to home.

Whenever I am in Ann Arbor I go to the book store. I always check the chess books. Today I looked at Rizzitano's Queen's Gambit Declined, The algebraic Vukovic "Art of Attack", and Pandolfini's "Ultimate Guide to Chess", or something like that.

I am a big fan of Rizzitano. I think his "How to beat 1d4" is excellent. He is my repertoire reference for the black side of the Colle, Tromp, Veresov, London, and such. His lines feel more solid than the lines recommended by Kaufman or Cox.

The encouraging part of the book was to see the numerous opening choices that were available to Black. As a Queen's Gambit Declined player that is good news for me. I liked how he took time for the Tarrasch and Semi-Tarrasch instead of passing that off to another book. But with my current lines already in place, there was not enough on my lines to warrant my purchase.

I have been putting off buying the Art of Attack for years. It remains a book that I believe I will have to get around to some day. But that was not today.

Pandolfini's book, was in a question answer format. The book is a dialogue between a student and a teacher. I like Bruce's writing and his sense of humor. I looked through it to see if there was anything in there for me. But although my games may not show it, I thought the book was too elementary for where I am. I don't need any more "How to Learn Chess" books.

There is an old Bible verse I like, Ecclesiastes 12:12, "To the writing of books there is no end, and too much studying is wearying for the soul."

My plan is to use appropriate books for my opening, Palliser's "The Complete Chess Workout" for shot recognition, GM games for strategic plans, and Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht "Fundamental Chess Endings" for technique. If I could only discipline myself to study these books I already have, rather than going out and getting more.

I am like the golfer who is only weak in three areas, driving, chipping, and putting. Apart from openings, tactics, planning, and endgames, my chess is tight!