For National Chess Day, I attended a community gathering at the Berkeley Chess Center (yes, it feels just like going to work in a Saturday).
I had a conversation with Vinay Bhat, who is the most important player in the world as far as I’m concerned. No one listens to me about improving at chess, but they will listen to the grandmaster.
Vinay is Richard Shorman’s greatest success as a teacher, a world-class player who is also an outstanding human being.
He shared something US champion Lev Alburt said in one of his books. Alburt and Bhat had early chess training that was completely different — Alburt was trained to play like a master from day one, while Bhat was taught to play freely and to have fun. Shorman knew that 99.999% of his students would not be chess masters, so why shouldn’t they learn to enjoy it?! Vinay is *the* exception, which makes him the best example of something most people have a hard time accepting: You don’t have to follow Shorman’s program forever.
Alburt said in his book that there’s a side to chess he was never acquainted with, the carefree kind of chess that’s played in coffeehouses. And by the time he thought he might like to try it, it was too late — because he was already playing against opponents who won’t let one get away with Shorman tactics.
That part of Alburt’s book plus my conversation with Vinay goes right into “Play Like a Shorman Student”.