Added: Mar 21, 2009

From: ChessCentral

Duration: 3:39

There have been relatively few books or videos written on the subject of chess psychology. This is not a reference to that dreadful tome by Reuben Fine (which sought to dissect the "shared psychology" of chessplayers in Freudian fashion); instead I refer to the little psychological tricks which chessplayers can use during an actual game. The great Emanuel Lasker was perhaps the earliest proponent of the "psychological approach" in which he advocated playing moves which most make one's opponent uncomfortable. A relative handful of books have explored this theme, perhaps most notably the one by Andrew Soltis written two decades ago. ChessBase has produced a "Fritz Trainer" DVD on the subject, entitled Chess for Scoundrels. The instructor, Ray Davies, teaches a variety of tricks which advanced players might use to discomfit their tournament opponents. These include, but are not limited to ideas such as allowing a player to reach his preferred opening setup, especially when such a tabia isn't appropriate for one's own opening choice (an illustrative example is provided in which Black is encouraged to reach the standard Najdorf or Dragon setup against White's 2.c3 in the Sicilian - neither Black formation is appropriate against White's selected opening); Davies refers to the response to this technique as "Pavlovian". Another illustrated stratagem is that of "insult", which does not mean verbally assaulting one's opponent, but instead playing contemptuous moves which practically dare one's opponent to forcefully reply (the example of the famous Karpov-Miles game, which began 1.e4 a6, is provided as an illustration on the disk). Davies also pays particular attention to time pressure: both how to play when one's opponent is in time pressure (slow down and make moves which require calculation from the pressured opponent) and how to play when oneself is experiencing a time shortage. The DVD contains numerous other stratagems for other situations as well; the total instruction time runs well over four hours. I've purposely continued to use the word "stratagem" because Chess for Scoundrels reminds me of the various ancient Chinese military texts which are not so much filled with strategic advice as they are with "cheap tricks" which one can use to discomfit one's opponent and his army. I don't mean to denigrate Davies' DVD; quite the opposite - as an advanced player I discovered many ideas on this DVD which I'd never previously encountered. My intent, though, is to distinguish between a product which teaches "on the board" chess strategy which would be applicable to all players, and "off the board" (yet perfectly legal and ethical) psychological ploys which are very useful to advanced players in particular circumstances. Davies's DVD certainly fits into the latter category.

Channel: Games

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