Randy Bauer wrote:
I wonder if this is a Parr tactic -- post a totally unrelated email on a
thread where he is getting his hat handed to him to limit the damage?

Oh, it's not just Parr. "jr" does the same thing.

Rubin's post is worthy of a Bruceski, don't you think?

Randy Bauer

Yes.

If you enjoyed King's Winning with the Najdorf (I did too), I strongly
recommend Arizmendi & Moreno's Mastering the Najdorf.

***

Larry OPKF Parr (who lies in both consequential and trivial matters)
wrote:

The latest charge is that the girl in question, whose age is unknown,
is the same girl as another girl with whom Sam claims to have had sex.
We have no proof they are the same, and we do not know their age.

Right click on the fifth picture, top row, in
http://www.ishipress.com/girlsgot.htm : you'll find that the file name
is burmese2.jpg (at http://www.ishipress.com/burmese2.jpg )

Right click on the picture in http://www.samsloan.com/burmese2.htm:
you'll find that the file name is burmese2.jpg (at
http://www.samsloan.com/burmese2.jpg )

Same photo, same file name.

Same pixel dimensions, same file size.....

Does Larry Parr still contend that "[w]e have no proof they are the
same [girl]"?

wrote:
If you enjoyed King's Winning with the Najdorf (I did too), I strongly
recommend Arizmendi & Moreno's Mastering the Najdorf.

I fully agree. The following is the review I did for the book on IM
Jeremy Silman's website:

MASTERING THE NAJDORF
Author: Julen Arizmendi and Javier Moreno
224 pages
Price: $27.50
Gambit Publications (paperback, 2004)

Reviewed by Randy Bauer

Randy's Rating: 8.5

It's rare to find two outstanding repertoire books devoted to the
same variation released within a year, but MASTERING THE NAJDORF gives
Najdorf aficionados two great options, and the reader choosing this
volume should not be disappointed. The theory is current, the
repertoire solid, and the explanations of the ideas and plans for both
sides is lucid and interesting.

The Najdorf is perhaps the most popular of all variations in perhaps
the most popular of all Black defenses. It has been a favorite of world
champions Petrosian, Fischer, and Kasparov, as well as a large number
of world-class players past and present. Originally popularized by the
Polish/Argentinean Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf, the idea is pure
prophylaxis - to deny White the use of the b5-square while hoping to
play ...e5 to force White's Knight to a passive square. While Black
often carries out this idea, after, say, 6.Be2 e5, the move order can
also be used as a prelude to a different formation, with black playing
....e6 against just about any white sixth move. This method formed the
subject matter of last year's PLAY THE NAJDORF: SCHEVENINGEN STYLE by
John Emms.

While the ...e6 approach has been the favorite of Kasparov, MASTERING
THE NAJDORF takes the more traditional approach, which has Black
playing ...e5 unless White's sixth move precludes it. Fischer's
choice, this is the pure interpretation of the variation. The authors,
both past members of the Spanish Olympiad team and experienced
international players, do a nice job of explaining the hows and whys so
that the average player can understand and learn from their book.

The daunting amount of theory can put the average player off the
Najdorf Sicilian, but this book shows that an enterprising player can,
with study, take up this resilient, counterattacking defense. This is
accomplished by developing a thematic repertoire that relies as much as
possible on a single pawn structure. This allows black to develop in an
understandable fashion and generally seek counterplay via a handful of
methods.

As with the Emms book, MASTERING THE NAJDORF devotes a chapter to each
of White's major responses (Bc4, Be3, Be2, Bg5, f4, g3) as well as
other sixth move options. Here, the move 6.a4 gets its own chapter,
largely because it has more independent value here than in the ...e6
pawn structure where it generally transposes to other lines. Given its
rise in popularity at all levels of play, it's notable that the
largest chapter is devoted to 6.Be3 and 6.f3 (50 pages). The other
larger chapters are on 6.Be2 (39 pages), 6.Bg5 (38), and 6.Bc4 (31).
The book also includes a four-page introduction that lays out the
history and some of the ideas of the variation, a basic index, and a
bibliography. The book benefits from recent previous works, including
Emms, Nunn's two-volume set from the late 1990s, Golubev's THE
SICILIAN SOZIN, and Kosten's EASY GUIDE TO THE NAJDORF.

As noted above, this repertoire relies, when possible, on Black playing
....e7-e5 rather than e7-e6. I think this is a more user-friendly
approach than the repertoire based on ...e6 for a couple of reasons.
First, the positions tend to be easier to play - the more stable
center means that Black is less likely to come under a withering attack
at an early stage of the game. Second, the positions, while still
tactical, tend to have a more singular strategic focus, as the
d5-square is a key battleground. Because the Najdorf is designed around
being able to quickly contest that square (for example, delaying ...Nc6
in favor of ...an eventual ...Nbd7 and accelerating queenside play with
....b5 both assist in this fight), Black generally doesn't find
himself strategically overrun. Finally, the ...e5 systems tend not to
be as popular among weekend tournament players, meaning white players
will likely not be as familiar with the key lines.

Of course, there are variations, particularly after 6.Bc4 and 6.Bg5,
where Black cannot afford to play ...e5 and must settle for ...e6, and
one argument against the ...e5 lines is that Black is going to have to
learn how to play some ...e6 structures anyway. There is something to
be said for that line of reasoning (I've generally succumbed to it
myself over the years), but the fact is that 6.Bg5 just isn't all
that popular anymore (probably because Black has several good methods,
and white has to be ready for each of them), and the 6.Bc4 line the
authors espouse is pretty thematic and easy to learn.

It's interesting to compare the author's choices in these two
variations where their structures overlap. After 6.Bg5, both books opt
for 6...e6 7.f4 Qc7, which breaks the pin, restrains e4-e5 and prepares
quick queenside counterplay. In general, in this line and throughout
the two books, the coverage in this newer book is broader and deeper.
For example, one sideline, 7.Qe2 h6 8.Bh4 Be7 9.f4 Nxe4 10.Bxe7 Nxc3
11.Qc4 Kxe712.Qxc3 Re8 13.0-0-0 Kf8 is analyzed in both books. Here
Emms ends the line and concludes that White has insufficient
compensation for the pawn. However, Arizmendi and Moreno are just
getting started at that point - here they analyze the White tries
14.g4?!, 14,Rg1?!, 14.Qa3 before settling on 14.Nf3!? as White's most
promising try. After 14...Nc6! 15.Qa3 Qb6! the authors determine that
Black equalizes after 16.Rxd6 Qb4! 17.Qxb4 Nxb4 18.Bc4 b5 19.Bb3 Bb7
with equality.

Another example in this line concerns 7.f4 Qc7 8.f5, which Emms covers
with a short note going 8...Be7 9.fxe6 fxe6 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.0-0-0 Bd7
12.Be2 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 Rc8! 14.Rhf1 0-0 with a roughly level position in
Nataf-Bruzon, Havana 2002. Arizmendi and Moreno follow the same game,
but they provide several other options for both sides and some useful
explanation about what is going on in the variation. For example, they
point out that 9.Qd3!? might be preferable, which after 9...Nc6 10.fxe6
fxe6 will transpose above. The point, however, is that in the game
line, Black had a couple of interesting alternatives to 10...Nc6, such
as 10...Ng4. They also suggest that 11.Nxc6 may have given White more
chances, that 12.Nxc6 was probably also preferable, and that 12...Ne5!?
was a better try, with the idea of 13.Qh3 0-0 14.Rhf1 Rae8 when
Black's control of e5 gives him an excellent game. Finally, they
note that Nataf suggests that 14.Qd3! should be good enough to give
white a slight advantage, such as after 14...Qa5! 15.Bd2! Qc5 16.Bf4!
e5 17.Bg5! with a slight advantage, which grows to a clear advantage
after 18.Rhf1 Be6 19.Bxf6.

This is not limited to sidelines, as this later work also provides much
useful additional information (some of it original analysis) in the
main lines. For example, after 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.Qf3 b5 10.0-0-0
b4 11.Nd5 cxd5 12.exd5 Emms continues with the theoretical
recommendation, 12...Qc5, which leads to a totally unclear position
after 13.Bd3 Ra7 14.Bf5 Kd8 15.Bxc8 Kxc8 16.Qh3+ Kb7 17.Rhe1 Ka8 18.Re8
Re7, Dorfman-Yuferov, USSR 1978. The authors' recommendation is
12...Bg7!, which has the advantage of freeing f8 for the king and
giving the Bishop a great future should Black be able to play ...f5. In
G. Ginsburg-Moreno Carnero, 2004, the continuation 13.Bd3f5! 14.Rhe1+
Kf8 15.Qe3 Qd8! 16.Bxf5 Bb7! leads to an unbalanced position where the
authors analyze a variety of tries for both sides.

The authors' willingness to build and extend on theory is found in
many places. I was interested in what the authors would recommend
against 6.g3, as Nigel Davies showed some interesting White ideas in
his recent book TAMING THE SICILIAN. Interestingly, after 6.g3 e5
Davies believed that 7.Nb3 was innocuous, but this later book shows
several interesting ideas for White, and their discussion is a useful
update. This is the case in the main lines as well, as the authors show
several ideas to accelerate Black's play, such as delaying ...Be7
since in many lines Black has to play ...g6 to keep a Knight out of f5
anyway. This allows Black some interesting ideas, such as 7.Nde2 Nbd7
8.Bg2 b5 9.h3 Bb7 10.g4 Nb6 with the idea of playing for ...d5.
Interestingly, the authors are of the opinion that White does better to
restrain Black's queenside ambitions via 8.a4, which they analyze.
This is not included in Davies' book.

The authors are Najdorf practitioners, and they provide a lot of their
own suggestions and analysis throughout. There are many suggestions and
discussions of move order nuance, and this is something that often goes
missing in books written by players who are not regular players of the
variation in question. One issue that I have with the book is the
decision to use the illustrative game method for presenting material
rather than the tree method that Gambit books usually use. I find it
much harder to find material with the illustrative game method, and I
think it also wastes space. It's kind of a strange juxtaposition,
because the Emms book, by Everyman Chess, uses the tree method -
which is the opposite of most Everyman books that largely use the
illustrative game approach. Of course, this is, in the grand scheme of
things, not a compelling argument against the book, which on most other
levels is very good.

In short, this is the deepest, best researched repertoire book
available on the Najdorf Sicilian. It benefits from the inclusion of
another year's worth of theory and is probably a necessity for
anybody seeking to play this line as Black against reasonably prepared
opposition, even those who already own Emms' book. In the end, this
is an issue one must always address when playing a sharp and trendy
variation - there is always going to be a lot of theory to learn and
update. Clearly, this is not a variation for the faint of heart. As
much as it always pains me to admit, ultimately, that works against the
value of a Najdorf repertoire book for the average player.

In conclusion, I can provide the same assessment for this book as I did
last year for Emms' work: this is now the most useful repertoire
book for the Black player wishing to play the Najdorf Sicilian. The
repertoire is reasonable and thematic, and the theory up to date. At
the same time, those looking for an easy opening life or routine
opening maintenance (i.e., most of those looking for a repertoire book)
may find the Najdorf a bit more than they bargained for.

Copyright © 2004 Randy Bauer

Louis Blair wrote:
Larry Parr wrote (20 Apr 2006 04:12:52 -0700):

Randy Bauer posted as follows, "Ray Keene wrote a
few good books, and he wrote some absolute crap. I
wouldn't hold him up as a paragon of chess writing
virtue. There are some Schiller books I would buy
before some of Keene's later efforts."
...
... I read "some" to mean what it means!
...

_
Does "some" mean "the others"?
_
"Mr. Bauer spoke of the English grandmaster
writing a 'few' (a small number of') good books
whilst the others were 'crap.'" - Larry Parr
(17 Apr 2006 20:40:11 -0700)

Of course not. If I had wished to write "x wrote a few good books, and
the rest were absolute crap" that is what I would have written. That
is how people who want to make that point would write it. Parr is
engaging in his typical pattern of truth bending, using any obscure
definitional trick possible.

I spent many years as a high school and college debater and then
coached and judged the activity at the high school and college level
for several more years. In debate, "topicality" is often made an issue
(whether the affirmative case addresses the topic). It was sometimes
amusing to listen to debaters try to stretch the meaning of words to
argue a case either was or wasn't topical. That is exactly the
exercise Parr is engaged in.

Here is the definition of "some" cut and pasted out of the Merriam
Webster online dictionary, found at:
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/some

Main Entry: 1some
Pronunciation: 's&m, for 2 without stress
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English som, adjective & pronoun, from Old English
sum; akin to Old High German sum some, Greek hamE somehow, homos same
-- more at SAME
1 : being an unknown, undetermined, or unspecified unit or thing some
person knocked
2 a : being one, a part, or an unspecified number of something (as a
class or group) named or implied some gems are hard b : being of an
unspecified amount or number give me some water have some apples
3 : REMARKABLE, STRIKING that was some party
4 : being at least one -- used to indicate that a logical proposition
is asserted only of a subclass or certain members of the class denoted
by the term which it modifies

Would Parr care to tell me where, from that definition, he comes up
with the LOGICAL conclusion that some means "the rest"? To me,
definition 2 is the relevant one -- being one, a part, or an
unspecified number of something. It is an absolute leap to go from
there to "the rest."

Parr should give it a rest.

Randy Bauer

Randy Bauer wrote:
I wonder if this is a Parr tactic -- post a totally unrelated email
on a thread where he is getting his hat handed to him to limit the
damage?

I've always put Parr's inability to consistently follow up to the
right post down to incompetence rather than malice.


Dave.

--
David Richerby Poisonous Cat (TM): it's like a cuddly
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ pet but it'll kill you in seconds!

David Richerby wrote:
Randy Bauer wrote:
I wonder if this is a Parr tactic -- post a totally unrelated email
on a thread where he is getting his hat handed to him to limit the
damage?

I've always put Parr's inability to consistently follow up to the
right post down to incompetence rather than malice.

Well, he does it over and over, Dave. Then he accuses others of doing
it. A strange sort of incompetence.

David Richerby wrote:
Randy Bauer wrote:
I wonder if this is a Parr tactic -- post a totally unrelated email
on a thread where he is getting his hat handed to him to limit the
damage?

I've always put Parr's inability to consistently follow up to the
right post down to incompetence rather than malice.

Oddly enough, "jr" has the same posting habit. How strange. I guess it
must be coincidence.....