Tuirgin

Making notes/outlines of any text is a good way to help stuff it inside my brain. I figure I might as well make my notes public. Here is my outline for CJS Purdy’s article, “The Dual Soul of Chess”, as reprinted in The Search For Chess Perfection II.

PDF: Outline for The Dual Soul of Chess, CJS Purdy

The Dual Soul of Chess

”the spirit of universal truth…the whimsical sprite of romance”

I. Tactical

The Romance of Chess

1. Combinations are unique to chess
2. One should always look for combinative possibilities
3. Often no such possibilities exist

II. Positional

The Truth of Chess

1. Principle of Economy: The fundamental principle of struggle is the maximum utilization of all your resources.
2. Specific “rules” of chess are just applications of the “fundamental guiding principles”
   1. Development in the Opening
      1. Fundamental Principle—Activating inactive pieces is better than redeploying already active pieces
      2. All pieces begin as inactive
      3. Exceptions may be made in order to exploit a weakness, or to save or gain material
   2. Cooperation of Forces
      1. Fundamental Principle—Pieces are most effective when they control the most squares; i.e. when they are not over-lapping
      2. Pawns and Bishops on opposite colors in the endgame
      3. Rooks on adjacent open files
      4. Queen and Knights cooperate better than Queen and Bishops.
      5. Two Bishops are “perfect partners”, as they never overlap
   3. Reserve the Greater Option
      1. Fundamental Principle—Keep options for action open
      2. Even when possessing the initiative, it is usually necessary to build up threats until the opponent is forced to create permanent weaknesses
      3. Control of center allows the transfer of attacking power from one side of the board to another
   4. Do Not Over-Defend
      1. Fundamental Principle—Respond to threats with the smallest concession possible
      2. All defensive moves are a concession to the opponent
      3. A build up of defensive moves will become indefensible
      4. Look for ways to ignore a threat before looking for ways to defend against it
   5. Do Not Attack Unjustifiably
      1. Fundamental Principle—Attack from a positional advantage
      2. A failed attack will damage your position
      3. Attacking is inappropriate in balanced positions
      4. Combinations are exempt
         • Attacks are planned operations involving multiple moves and may not include any combinations
         • Combinations are a result of your opponent’s positional mistakes and can be exploited as they present themselves
   6. Chess Is Logical, But&hdots;
      1. Fundamental Principle—Although chess is ultimately logical when fully analyzed, it cannot be fully analyzed while playing
      2. Look for combinative possibilities at every turn
      3. Do not miss out on combinations by getting mired in strategy
      4. Strategies should only be applied in the absence of combinative possibilities
   7. Choose Only Feasible Aims
      1. Fundamental Principle—Having a goal, however small, is better than playing aimlessly
      2. Goals must be realistic, else they may ruin the game
      3. Attacking a moveable target is a poor goal, unless the purpose is other than capturing the piece
      4. The control of squares is the least ambitious, and therefore most feasible goal
      5. Losing positions often call for risky play
   8. Prophylactic Play
      1. Fundamental Principle—When an opponent’s threat cannot be stopped, anticipate it with a move that will help you as well as avoiding the attack
      2. Use prophylaxis where neither prevention nor counterattack are possible

III. Positional vs Tactical Play

1. All principles are secondary to combinations
2. First look for possible combinations, then apply principles to improve one’s position