In this age of “do-it-yourself,” we all want to be experts. Look about you, and you will see that in every field there are experts as well as others, whom we call “amateurs,” “fans,” “hobbyists,” and if you will forgive the expression, “duffers.”
In these fields, bridge, golf, nuclear physics, chess, or whatever, there is a wide gap between the experts and the others. In this book I have tried to show how that gap can be bridged in the field of chess.
The method had to be quite different from the one applied in How to Be a Winner at Chess. That book was written strictly from the point of view of the average player who plays games with other average players and wants desperately to know how to beat average players.
There is a great deal in chess that such a player doesn’t need. Consequently I ruthlessly stripped away superfluities and confined myself to the essentials.
The gratifying comments of readers have made me feel that I was on the right track in concentrating on the basic requirements for victory. I deliberately ruled out the whole content of master chess.
In How to Play Chess Like a Champion I have adopted a totally different method. I want to familiarize the average chessplayer with the conditions of master chess. Once he knows what achievements of the masters are, he has a known goal toward which he can stride.
In writing this book I have tried to put myself in the position of the average player who has never met a master. When I tackle a strange subject it seems like a complete blur at the beginning. What’s it all about? What purpose does it serve? How do you master it?
These are some of the questions I ask myself. But even at the moment of darkest ignorance I have faith that if I apply myself I will attain understanding. The blur will clear, the outlines will become sharper. Every chessplayer, if he wants to improve, must have this faith.
And so, in writing this book, I asked myself the questions that I felt the ordinary player would ask. The first important question seemed to be: Just what is there in the master’s performance that sets him apart from the general run of chessplayers?
The best answer to that question, I concluded, was to explain the masters’ achievements in terms of some of their finest games. To many readers, the spectacular combinations in the first two chapters will come as a revelation of what chess is – what it can be when it is played by the greatest men in the field.
(The best way to enjoy these glorious combinations, incidentally, is to play over the main line first. Then, after you’ve seen what actually happened, you can go back to study what might have happened.)
Next I would want to ask myself: How do the achievements of the masters differ technically from the play of ordinary players? To bridge the gap between the two groups, you must first be aware of the gap. And so two typical amateurs’ games shed light on the difference between amateur and master.
All very well, I might say, but what happens when the two tangle in actual combat. To illuminate this point, I give games between masters and amateurs, showing how the superior knowledge, experience, and ability of the master down the amateur, and in double-quick time too.
But then I began to wonder. Am I drawing too black a picture? Is the master infallible? Does the amateur have a chance? – just a fighting chance? Sure he does, and a number of games prove that the amateur, when he has learned his lesson well, can be more than a match for a master.
So the masters aren’t infallible after all! They’re human beings like you and me; they make mistakes every now and then. And that gave me my point of departure for the next chapter. If the masters are good but not infallible, then there’s hope for the rest of us.
But the revelation that the masters are not infallible would make me curious to learn more about them. As we become more familiar with their fancies and foibles, their problems and goals, the whole world of master chess can be encompassed in our imagination. The world becomes more friendly, more real – more attainable.
Then, and only then, is it time to give you several hints on how to improve your play substantially. The advice given in the last chapter is by no means off the cuff. It is based on many years of painstaking observation. In it I have tried to give the essence of what goes into the making of a master. The advice you will find there will be truly helpful and encouraging.
For years I was part of the world of master chess and was inclined to take it for granted.
Writing this book has made me think through a lot of important things about chess which I had failed to realize. I have had to articulate them in a way that has been helpful to me and, I hope, will be helpful to you.
Fred Reinfeld