merry christmas

i made out well chess-book wise for christmas.

kirk got me The System by former World Correspondence Champion Hans Berliner. It's an interesting idea for White, mostly based on 1.d4, 2.c4, 3.Nc3, 4.f3, 5.e4, 6.Nge2 etc. there's some interesting criticism on Silman's website, but like the original My System it makes you think.

he also got me a used Karpov book on his games from 1979-1984 called Chess at the Top : 1979-1984. It's a great find! 49 annotated games from Karpov in that period (when he was on the top) including all of the 1981 Merano match with Korchnoi. it was a fabulous gift.

chuck got me the algebraic version of Art of Attack so i have no excuse not to go through it because it's algebraic. also he got me and kirk The Chess Players' Battle Manual which will be helpful because it gives good ideas for practical play and plans v. the colle and the tromp and the f4 sicilian which are literally my three worst chess enemies ;) he also got us reshevsky's Art of Positional Play which i've already read and annotated and kotov's Think Like a Grandmaster which is a must have for any chess library. so we made out pretty good

also jane got me a $20 gift certificate which i'm pretty sure i'll put towards Soviet Chess

merry christmas y'all