[lit-ideas] Re: A Franz Kafka chess game ?
- From: Eric Yost <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 15:52:54 -0500
Walter: Eric, surely you psychologize chess here.
Eric: Yes, and the psychology of chess has a long
literature. Reuben Fine, an old American
grandmaster, author of _Basic Chess Openings_, and
practicing psychoanalyst, wrote a Freudian tome on
the psychology of chess. During the long period of
Soviet hegemony of chess, many Soviet authors
wrote on chess psychology from their perspective.
And there is some truth to it.
Chess players do have styles, as I'm sure Omar and
others would agree, and these styles reflect the
kind of openings (and resultant positions) they favor.
Some of these preferences include: open versus
closed pawn structures; volatile, complex
positions versus classic, balanced positions;
innovative variations versus mainline book play;
and fondness versus aversion to draws.
Also, chess literature is full of psychological
tactics, such as leading an opponent into the kind
of positions that they dislike or are
uncomfortable with playing.
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
