Chess theory

Chess initial position

The game of chess is commonly divided into three phases: the opening, middlegame, and endgame.[1] There is a large body of theory regarding how the game should be played in each of these phases, especially the opening and endgame. Those who write about chess theory, who are often also eminent players, are referred to as "chess theorists" or "chess theoreticians".

"Opening theory" commonly refers to consensus, broadly represented by current literature on the openings.[2] "Endgame theory" consists of statements regarding specific positions, or positions of a similar type, though there are few universally applicable principles.[3] "Middlegame theory" often refers to maxims or principles applicable to the middlegame.[4] The modern trend, however, is to assign paramount importance to analysis of the specific position at hand rather than to general principles.[5]

The development of theory in all of these areas has been assisted by the vast literature on the game. In 1913, preeminent chess historian H. J. R. Murray wrote in his 900-page magnum opus A History of Chess that, "The game possesses a literature which in contents probably exceeds that of all other games combined."[6] He estimated that at that time the "total number of books on chess, chess magazines, and newspapers devoting space regularly to the game probably exceeds 5,000".[7] In 1949, B. H. Wood estimated that the number had increased to about 20,000.[8][9] David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld wrote in 1992 that, "Since then there has been a steady increase year by year of the number of new chess publications. No one knows how many have been printed..."[8] The world's largest chess library, the John G. White Collection[10] at the Cleveland Public Library, contains over 32,000 chess books and serials, including over 6,000 bound volumes of chess periodicals.[11][12] Chess players today also avail themselves of computer-based sources of information.

  1. ^ John Watson, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances Since Nimzowitsch, Gambit Publications, 1998, p. 10. ISBN 1-901983-07-2. ISBN 0-486-20290-9.
  2. ^ David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess, Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 1992, p. 418 ("theory" entry). ISBN 0-19-866164-9.
  3. ^ Hooper and Whyld, p. 418.
  4. ^ Watson, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, p. 10.
  5. ^ Watson, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, p. 11.
  6. ^ H. J. R. Murray, A History of Chess, Oxford University Press, 1913, p. 25. ISBN 0-19-827403-3. This quote is also given in Hooper and Whyld, p. 229 ("literature of chess" entry).
  7. ^ Murray, p. 25 n. 1.
  8. ^ a b Hooper and Whyld, p. 229.
  9. ^ See B. H. Wood, "Books About Chess", Illustrated London News, 1949, reprinted in Fred Reinfeld (editor), The Treasury of Chess Lore, Dover, 1959, pp. 268–70.
  10. ^ "The World's Greatest Chess Library". Archived from the original on 2008-09-02. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
  11. ^ Cleveland Public Library, Special Collections Archived 2009-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Special Chess Records (Susan Polgar)