On Oct 7, 5:06 am, SBD wrote:

"Many famous composers of pure endgame studies were weak players
working in splendid isolation who rarely competed in tournaments" --
Larry Evans

Yes, the ever-consistent Evans, who in last month's CL and R featured
such a "weak player's" compositions in his "column" - Smyslov.


Some people just aren't very bright; it looks to me
as though SBD has completely misinterpreted the
above comment by GM Evans and twisted it into
some contorted shape to fit his own insecurity as a
problem solver or composer.

Here is the obvious meaning: Many famous composers
(have they earned their fame, like GM Benko, the hard way?)
were weak players (unlike me, Larry Evans, and Pal Benko)
working in isolation (i.e. they were not exposed to the stress
of tournament play, had infinite time for only this work, etc.)
who rarely competed (unlike me, Larry Evans, and PB).

What GM Evans was trying to suggest is that weak players
should not be allowed to commingle with the elite, that they
do not deserve fame, that they are a lower class than the
greats of chess, the grandmasters. He was *not* putting
down problem composition -- far from it! You have to account
for the man's, um, arrogance, in order to /get/ the true
meaning.

So you see, there was no inconsistency in GM Evans
having written this put-down and then writing about GM
Smyslov's chess compositions -- none whatever. Stop
being so insecure about your inability to compete OTB at
chess; it's only a game.


-- help bot