which book is it?

Really good post, agree with this completely.

Is this the book you're talking about? It's called "Chess Master at Any Age" by Rolf Wetzell.

http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Master-a.../dp/0938650580

yup that is it
thx for searching

imo the kaspy post is rambling, u think because he reach a rating plateau in 1999 , than it was at tht time he was best , not really.


rating are only base on your adversary.

if ure at top, then u cant really go upward cause u cant win rating point from anyone.

thats why imo, the rating of fisher was a much higher feat than kaspy.

fisher had over 100 rating point over his second while kaspy hadnt had that much vs karpov.

so whos best ?


i mean at fishr peak, i think was losing point s even if he was drawing vs the 2dn player in the world....so rating means not much beside stating whos best at that moment the ratig are present.


or else take into account kapov score in 1994 with a 2995 ratig peformance, best ever..

I think Kasparov was indeed at his best at the second half of the nineties. Regarding Fischer, it is tough to compare players of different eras. More so because in the years of Fischer being at the top he had no real competition. The only real opponents (from the Soviet Union) were basically perfect for his style.

Any updates on Cunningham? I am really curious as how far he will go up and what motivation he has atm. Also, any news on the proposition bet with Lederer?

Small update on Allen

In August of this year he won 2 of 3 games in a game in 61 event at the Los Angeles Chess Club. He rating improved from 1739 to 1753.

Labor Day Weekend he had 4 wins and 1 loss at the Southern California Open, in San Diego. His rating improved from 1753 to 1816.

A week later he scored 3 out of 3 at another event in Los Angeles. Improved from 1816 to 1830.

A couple of weeks ago he scored 3.5 points out of 5 at the 8th Los Angeles Open in LA. Improved from 1830 to 1880.

I didn't enter any of these four events, so I did not see him.

That's 12 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw in his 16 games.

His rating is now higher than mine ever has been. (I'm 1855 down from a high of 1857.)

I don't know when the prop bet with Lederer will be. The last I heard, Allen told me it was pushed back... with no date set. If Allen continues playing and improving, as he seems to be doing, the further it's pushed back, the better his chances. But it seems he might be in very good form right now.

Very inspiring. Thanks for the update.

actually if lederer didnt reach over 2100 in chess in his life , didnt had the time meanwhile to practice and if the rules on top of that prevent lederer to practice for the bet , Howard his already toast when allen almost at 1900...


no way lederer goood enough now to be a 2000 player without practicing a bit.

like in everything, when u make a comeback u cant be at your pick or close to it in anything, everyone get their skills diluded over time wihtout practice, and howard wont have the chance elements to bail him out !!!.

for Howard to have any chance to beat alllen ( and a 2000 vs 1900 is far from a sure win btw for the 2000) he would need to have around 2000 rating so after couple years of non practice, to maintain that strong rating u at least need to have reach master fide in your life .


imo, if his best is 2100 and he didnt play for couple of years, than is worth at best 1800 and this is wihtout counting he isnt up to date with opening...ouch!

and if he didnt went over 2000 than forget about it....its done and i would gladly ask Allen a piece of the action!

I agree. I would no longer bet on Lederer... and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have said that last year.

Also, playing all of these TOURNAMENT games, under tournament conditions, is very good practice. It's not easy to sit and concentrate intensely on something for five consecutive hours. Any tourney player will tell you they are often wiped out, physically and mentally, after a long weekend of tournament chess. This alone is good practice.

Lederer may soon have plenty of time to practice chess...

Thanks for the updates on AC.

After reaching a rating of 1880 (USCF), Allen then climbed to 1894 after playing in the very tough and grueling 47th Annual American Open, held over the Thanksgiving Day Weekend. He scored 4.5 out of 8 points in the Under 2000 Section.

He then dropped 13 rating points and fell to 1881, after playing in another LACC Sat & Sun G/61 event.

This weekend he is competing in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Open, in Irvine, CA.

really?

Yes, really. (Why would I make that up?)

Ah, the MLK results are in.

Allen scored 3.5 points (3 wins, 2 losses, and a half point bye) in Irvine this weekend in the Under 2000 Section.

Alas, it looks like he dropped 22 rating points. He was 1881 going in and is now 1869.

Allen, if you're still around, give us an update! Any news on the match? Is it still on? If so, has a date been set? Are you enjoying the game enough to want to continue to enter tourney's after the match is over?

Your progress is very inspiring!

Here's the latest update, not that anyone seems to care any more.

Since my last post, Allen has climbed from a USCF rating of 1869 to 1920! He's entered five Southern California tournaments since I wrote last, and gained rating points in each and every single one! His combined score over these five tourneys is twelve wins, just four losses, and four draws.

Howard Lederer's peak USCF rating was 1951. Howard has played zero USCF rated games since at least January 1, 1991, according to the USCF database.

I think a strong case can be now made for Allen being the favorite.

Posting a few of his tourney games so we can look at them would peek interests. I hope he does well and brings this home

Yes, but unfortunately, there is no way to do that, unless Allen does it himself. (Or one of his opponents reads this and posts their game.) USCF chess tournaments do not require one to turn in their score sheet and the USCF does not keep a record of anyone's games - just the result.

I still care!

I've been rooting for Allen since day 1, not even just in the planned match, but for chess improvement in general too.

Thanks for the update EdwardCollins.

+1

I also try to improve my Chess, can't put in the necessary hours though

My initial blitz of chess study only lasted around 10 months and new hobbies have cut into that time even more. Still, I do a little something each day and really focus on chess during tournament weekends.

I'll post a couple games from the Las Vegas Chess Festival after I've played it next month. I'm on line to play Karpov in a simul, I'll share that one if it happens. Meanwhile, here's correspondence win I just recently completed:
http://www.chess.com/echess/game.html?id=51960923

Really interesting game Allen. I keep looking at the position after 19.b3 and wondering how you pulled it off with the queenside dark squares weak like that and the bishop on g7. Very dynamic, concrete chess. Great job.

Thank you for posting the game Allen C. Good fortune in your prop bet.....

Allen, obviously something else must have come up, since I noticed you withdrew before the tourney started. Hope everything is okay. Hopefully you'll make the next event.

Allen is getting too good.

bump. just read thru the whole thread after someone linked me to it. nice to recognize some screennames from the 2+2 group on chess.com. hope things are good with allen and all of you.

Thanks for the bump, this is a really cool thread to read through. Obv the match is looking like it may never happen but the journey itself is worth the effort. NH Allen.