lichess.org
Donate

Emulate someone you admire

@RuyLopez1000 said:

@datajunkie

Thanks for the blog. Good philosophy.

Thanks for reading.

@RuyLopez1000 said: > @datajunkie > > Thanks for the blog. Good philosophy. Thanks for reading.

I find this Tal book and the greatest games from Burgess et al also very fascinating. When I started playing Blitz at the club, I already had seen so many Sicilian-Najdorf games in the Polugaevsky variation that I knew the moves mostly at least as much as the routine club players. Most stunning when Bg5 and Pe5 pin the knight on f6 and you step out of the way with Qc7 only to win back the piece by Qe5+. When I saw this in a game from the 1950s I was captivated by this variation resulting in wild positions, I looked up all games by Tal and Polugaevsky in this variation. So concerning your question at the end of your nice write-up I guess I was in a way emulating Tal, Polugaevsky, Spassky styles to get better and finally finding my own style.

I find this Tal book and the greatest games from Burgess et al also very fascinating. When I started playing Blitz at the club, I already had seen so many Sicilian-Najdorf games in the Polugaevsky variation that I knew the moves mostly at least as much as the routine club players. Most stunning when Bg5 and Pe5 pin the knight on f6 and you step out of the way with Qc7 only to win back the piece by Qe5+. When I saw this in a game from the 1950s I was captivated by this variation resulting in wild positions, I looked up all games by Tal and Polugaevsky in this variation. So concerning your question at the end of your nice write-up I guess I was in a way emulating Tal, Polugaevsky, Spassky styles to get better and finally finding my own style.

@knightsbridge said ^

I find this Tal book and the greatest games from Burgess et al also very fascinating. When I started playing Blitz at the club, I already had seen so many Sicilian-Najdorf games in the Polugaevsky variation that I knew the moves mostly at least as much as the routine club players. Most stunning when Bg5 and Pe5 pin the knight on f6 and you step out of the way with Qc7 only to win back the piece by Qe5+. When I saw this in a game from the 1950s I was captivated by this variation resulting in wild positions, I looked up all games by Tal and Polugaevsky in this variation. So concerning your question at the end of your nice write-up I guess I was in a way emulating Tal, Polugaevsky, Spassky styles to get better and finally finding my own style.

Thanks for sharing. Polugaevsky's book, Grandmaster Preparation where he talks about his relationship with this variation he birthed is a gem.

@knightsbridge said [^](/forum/redirect/post/FOgrWEV8) > I find this Tal book and the greatest games from Burgess et al also very fascinating. When I started playing Blitz at the club, I already had seen so many Sicilian-Najdorf games in the Polugaevsky variation that I knew the moves mostly at least as much as the routine club players. Most stunning when Bg5 and Pe5 pin the knight on f6 and you step out of the way with Qc7 only to win back the piece by Qe5+. When I saw this in a game from the 1950s I was captivated by this variation resulting in wild positions, I looked up all games by Tal and Polugaevsky in this variation. So concerning your question at the end of your nice write-up I guess I was in a way emulating Tal, Polugaevsky, Spassky styles to get better and finally finding my own style. Thanks for sharing. Polugaevsky's book, Grandmaster Preparation where he talks about his relationship with this variation he birthed is a gem.

thanks for the pointer, Polugaevsky's book is just delivered, awesome just by a short look at the content, will be fun to work through

thanks for the pointer, Polugaevsky's book is just delivered, awesome just by a short look at the content, will be fun to work through

@knightsbridge said ^

thanks for the pointer, Polugaevsky's book is just delivered, awesome just by a short look at the content, will be fun to work through

Enjoy!

@knightsbridge said [^](/forum/redirect/post/SDamZszC) > thanks for the pointer, Polugaevsky's book is just delivered, awesome just by a short look at the content, will be fun to work through Enjoy!

I completely agree with all of this. Chess is hard, and connecting "playing better" with the strong emotional pull of emulating play that really moves you makes it worthwhile to go through all of the hard work to improve.

As a side note, I'll always be grateful that Mikhail Tal lived just long enough to go to a tournament near where I grew up - and the copy of his book that I got him to sign is probably my greatest treasure. I got a new copy so I could actually read it again. :-P

I completely agree with all of this. Chess is hard, and connecting "playing better" with the strong emotional pull of emulating play that really moves you makes it worthwhile to go through all of the hard work to improve. As a side note, I'll always be grateful that Mikhail Tal lived just long enough to go to a tournament near where I grew up - and the copy of his book that I got him to sign is probably my greatest treasure. I got a new copy so I could actually read it again. :-P

@speeTortoise said ^

I completely agree with all of this. Chess is hard, and connecting "playing better" with the strong emotional pull of emulating play that really moves you makes it worthwhile to go through all of the hard work to improve.

As a side note, I'll always be grateful that Mikhail Tal lived just long enough to go to a tournament near where I grew up - and the copy of his book that I got him to sign is probably my greatest treasure. I got a new copy so I could actually read it again. :-P

Thanks for reading, interesting website you have with the custom model games.
That's awesome that you met Tal and were able to have him sign his book - would definitely be my biggest treasure too!

@speeTortoise said [^](/forum/redirect/post/7culHJHY) > I completely agree with all of this. Chess is hard, and connecting "playing better" with the strong emotional pull of emulating play that really moves you makes it worthwhile to go through all of the hard work to improve. > > As a side note, I'll always be grateful that Mikhail Tal lived just long enough to go to a tournament near where I grew up - and the copy of his book that I got him to sign is probably my greatest treasure. I got a new copy so I could actually read it again. :-P Thanks for reading, interesting website you have with the custom model games. That's awesome that you met Tal and were able to have him sign his book - would definitely be my biggest treasure too!