5 comments about Giant Rider-Waite Tarot Deck: Complete 78-Card Deck.

1. this item was received in a timely fashion and the condition was perfect. Very pleased with transaction. Will shop again in the future. Thank you.



2. I love these. Rider-Waite is the name for tarot and these cards are easy to shuffle and easy to view.



3. If you're going to buy a tarot, this is the one to get--it's my favorite anyway.
   
   The Rider Waite Tarot is the most popular deck out there. Why? because it uses traditional symbols that are easiest to learn.
   
   And if you like a larger version of the normal Rider Waite, where you don't need to use a magnifying glass to see the details, then this is the one to get.



4. Currently I am taking an intense training in Tarot. The two decks we are using are the Rider-Waite deck and the Golden Dawn deck. I highly recommend both decks, especially if used together. The Rider-Waite deck is about how the states represented by the cards work (first level training); the Golden Dawn deck is about how those states are refined (second level training). Using the Rider-Waite deck to learn about the cards and their associated states is the first step; then learning about the Golden Dawn deck and comparing those to the Rider-Waite deck is especially helpful.



5. Why am I continually surprised that people who write reviews don't know how to write reviews? You'd think I'd be used to it by now, *sigh*
   
   From 1998 to 2007 not one stinking review here gives the actual size of the cards! which is what makes this particular deck so special.
   
   So, here it is-- SIZE OF CARDS:
   
   3 3/4 INCHES WIDE by 6 1/2 INCHES TALL, or,
   
   approximately 9 1/2 CENTIMETERS WIDE by 16 1/2 CENTIMETERS TALL.
   
   The Outer Box the cards come in is: 4 INCHES WIDE by 7 INCHES TALL, or 10 CENTIMETERS WIDE by 17 1/2 CENTIMETERS TALL.
   
   See? it wasn't so hard to give this vital information after all.
   
   As for the reviewer who stated, "very basic, typical 'cookie cutter tarot'", all I can say is:
   
   HUH? You must be joking.
   
   The Rider-Waite, now called the Rider-Waite-Smith, or RWS for short, in respect for artist Pamela Coleman Smith, (Rider was the Publisher; Waite was Arthur Edward Waite the Designer of the deck; and Pamela, the artist, who brought Waite's vision to life), is not a typical cookie-cutter tarot. It is, rather, 'THE MOLD' for all the other cookie-cutter tarots out there.
   
   First published in 1909, the vast, VAST majority of tarot on the market today is a clone of the Rider-Waite-Smith. This, of course, does not include all the Marseilles- or Thoth-type decks out there.
   
   Yes, there are more beautifully-artistic RWS-clones. But in all my Collecting, I have yet to find even one other that incorporates all the symbology in the RWS. Indeed, many, MANY tarot artists don't even read tarot; they've just taken the theme and applied their artistry. Their artwork is stunning, no doubt, but they miss so much of the symbology in the RWS, assuming that it's just 'prettiness' or 'artistic license' on the part of Pamela Coleman Smith. And nothing could be further from the truth. There is not one single element in the RWS that does not have a symbological meaning; from the number of flowers on a character's tunic to whether or not a belt is knotted or just wrapped around.
   
   No, the RWS is not a 'cookie-cutter' tarot. It is 'THE COOKIE' itself. Hence, why everyone copies it, and fails miserably in their execution.
   
   This GIANT-sized RWS is a perfect start for beginning students of tarot as all the symbological details are easily seen. It is also perfect, as others have said, for meditation and for teaching purposes.
   
   There are many tarot-readers now who call themselves 'intuitive readers'. They pull cards from any deck and say what they see, or what happens to pop into their head. This is all well and good, I guess. But for the serious student who desires to understand 'WHY' they see what they see or what pops into their head, you cannot get any better than the RWS. It's all there, nothing is missing. One can wade into deep water with the RWS and, years later, will find themselves going deeper still.

5 comments about In the Beginning (Beginner and Elementary Go Books).

1. As in many creation stories, we have darknees, and then light. So it is from the very first stone of a game of Go. Ishigure takes us on an exploration of these beginnings, my favorite time of the game, Because of it's open and abstract qualities, it is by it's very nature difficult to teach with authority, simply because there is none. There are very many approaches to the opening game, the basic structure and strategies of which have evolved over time. I find it fascinating, and a tribute to the flexibility of the game itself, that for as many thousands of years as Go has been played, there have been significant new developments in opening style in just the past hundred years alone.

   In addressing the Beginning, Ishigure is giving us a philospohy of the game as a whole. He handles the subject matter with skill. He shows us how to build solid bases from which to attack and pincer. We see different shimari and kakari, but instead of an emphasis on joseki, Ishigure stays true to the nature of this time in the game by focusing on a broader context. We are shown the values of diferent areas, relative to position. There are problems throughout the text, and in their own section as well.. All of this leads us through nine Concepts which will help guide us through developing our own style of opening. These are principles of balance, on which every rank of player needs to act.

   Reading this book has given me more insight into the state of mind required to play Go well. This of course brings more appreciation of the game; and also of the cultures which have embraced it.




2. After learning Go I could only really enjoy the tiny boards because I didn't grasp how to start a big game off right. This book cuts the opening down into little parts and shows you the ideas you need to begin to form a strong opening game.



3. Reading this book I had improved my go rank to about 3 stones in a week. You will learn basic concept that will impact on first moves choices and will change (in a better way) your positional presence on the board for the whole game.
   10 useful fullboard problems ask "where you should play?" and give a value (from 1 to 10) to various interesting points, so you can learn why one is better than others. You can return on same problems in future to verify your fuseki (opening) reading capability.



4. This book covers the basic of the game of go. It takes you from the very basics of the and builds you up to a beginning.



5. This book is great! The author explains every section of the opening. I was unsure of good vs. bad moves, and now I open stronger. You are presented with situations and several alternatives, along with the consequences. The book is small, but packed with useful information. It's well worth the price tag.

2 comments about Super Sudoku for Kids.

1. My 6-year old daughter got this book for Christmas after begging to do the puzzles in my book all the time. She loves doing the puzzles, even though the 4-square/easy ones are a little too easy for her. However, the easy ones were a good way for her to understand the concept behind the harder ones. Very nicely put together, using letters, numbers & shapes.



2. This is a great book on Sudoku for kids. The book includes 162 puzzles. The puzzles are of various sizes: 4x4, 6x6, and 9x9. The solutions are at the end of the book. There are no categories or levels of difficulty for the puzzles.
   
   There are no pages in this book for strategy, hints, rules, or tips. The book has various types of puzzles like Classic Sudoku (with numbers), Alphabet Sudoku (with letters) and Symbol Sudoku (with shapes and symbols). For a book that is dedicated to simple 4x4 puzzles, check the book "Kindergarten Sudoku".

5 comments about Life and Death (Beginner and Elementary Go Books).

1. Having recently read a few books that tried to answer the question, "What is Life?" I was glad to find this one! The answer is simple. Life is two eyes! If you have only one eye, you are dead.
   
   That is why the door group is as dead as a, um, doornail. It only produces one eye.
   
   You can't enjoy a game of go unless you have a pretty good idea if your groups are dead or alive. And this book is good at teaching you to see which shapes can form two eyes and which shapes can not. The chapters and quizzes in this book are excellent training. If you can answer the "status?" questions correctly, you are well on your way towards doing some serious damage to many of your opponent's more dubious formations.
   
   Once you have learned the elements of go and have played some games, what comes next? Well, you need to learn a little about fuseki and joseki. And tesuji (or you won't be able to understand this book). But the first topic you need to learn really well is this one. And that's where this book comes in handy.



2. If you are a Go beginner, I recommend studying (as I did) the book of Go problems for 30-25 Kyu before this one.
   
   But after that and Richard Bozulich's book, this is certainly the next book to turn to.
   
   I'm currently studying this book, "Life and Death," and another book in this series by the same author, "Tesuji."
   
   "Life and Death" is a step easier than "Tesuji," although counter-intuitively they are volumes 4 and 3 in the series. Although the techniques used to kill or save groups come from "Tesuji," the positions in "Life and Death" are simpler, more basic and far, far more common. The problems are a bit easier. So I recommend studying this one first.



3. Introduction:
   
   Life and death is one of the critical elements in the/a game of go, but what exactly is it? It is simply whether a player's stones are captured or prevented from being captured (though I won't go into a deeper explanation here). It's simple, yet very important. To become a strong player, an important fundamental is to be strong in life and death, and if you ask any go player (amatuer or professional) how, the answer will be "Solve lots of life and death problems."
   
   Solving problems helps strengthen a go player's reading ability, and with repetition, the shapes in the problems will be more familiar to the player when they appear in his games (reading is when a player mentally forsees how the game will continue, thinking about different continuations, and to the find the best result possible for both sides). These fundamental shapes also appear in life and death.
   
   The Book:
   
   Content:
   
   Normally, books about life and death are simply "problem books," which simply contain life and death problems. Life and Death (the book) is a bit different, and is mainly concerned about the fundamental shapes that appear.
   
   The book begins with a small introduction about life and death, and defines some common terms that the reader will need to know. Moving along, each chapter is devoted to a specific shape, or theme. A chapter is begun by introducing the reader to the shape and showing them some of the common continuations that can occur. On the next page, the reader is put to the test, and is given some problems to solve.
   
   Difficulty:
   
   N.B.: The content in this book is aimed at stronger players who are at least in the single digit kyu range (9k up), and will not be suitable for beginners. For beginners, some books I recommend are the Learn to Play Go series by Janice Kim, to learn about the basics of life and death, and for life and death problems, the Graded Go Problems for Beginners series by Kano Yoshinori and 1001 Life and Death Problems by Richard Bozulich.
   
   Summary:
   
   Pros:
   
   * Smooth process: I like how the reader is introduced to the shape and it's continuation, then is given problems to tackle himself.
   
   * It is kind of a quasi-reference book, especially for the corner shapes, but is definitely not a life and death dictionary.
   
   * Size: Though it's not related to the content of the book, it's a small book, which is a handy thing.
   
   Cons:
   
   * Price: My major gripe is the price, which unfortunately is the norm for go books translated into English. But still, $15 for this tiny book...
   
   Conclusion:
   
   Life and Death is an excellent book for the stronger kyu player to learn about the more difficult fundamental shapes that appear in games.



4. This book introduces different life and death situations and variations of them. Actually the book has 36 groups of different shapes of life and death situations. Every group has the same vital characters which are explained with few words and examples. After that thera are a few problems and pretty good answers to problems. This happens again in every chapter.
   
   This is a book you HAVE TO READ WITH GO-BOARD! You should try to solve problems, that gives you good overview what is important in every shape. I found it educationnal to "play" problems with someome. Both try to kill or save a group. That worked for me and my friend.
   
   This book is good for a player who has already played a few games and notices he/she is loseing groups which he/she thinks should be alive.
   
   I learned to notice new good and bad shapes in my games.



5. After the first 20 pages, I was making 20-point plays
   in games that I would never have seen before this
   book. Whole categories of life and death problems
   can be reduced to simple questions about the shape of
   their potential eyespace. Having this in your favor
   is something that every player needs to know.
   
   Some of the problems are fairly tricky at the 10kyu level.

No comments about Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narratives.

3 comments about Malleus Monstrorum: Creatures, Gods, & Forbidden Knowledge: Roleplaying Game Guide (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game).

1. of this amazing collection of CoC beasties. I don't play CoC currently, but this book is so useful that it's worth having and converting d20 to CoC is fairly simple.



2. I play Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium and this resource book is great for Keepers to draw from. Enough monsters and Old ones for any investigation. BRP is easy to convert to D20 so those folks into that will have no problem throwing into a D20 scenario/campaign. The most notable thing outside the content is the art work. Seems to take old photos/Ads/Artwork and splice mythos flavor into it. I recently used an avatar of nylarthotep in the book in one of my games with fun results. Makes designing encounters easier and fun.



3. At my heart im a D&D players and love monster books. In the last few years I have gotten in Lovecrafts works and have begun to pick up the games books by chaosium. Then I found this little gem.
   A collection of almost evey God, Old one, Elder, monster and normal animal from Chaosiums books. Im sure there are more, but that only means there will be a Malleus Monstrorum II.
   THe Lore is well written and the book is made of good quality, though I wish there was a Hardcover.
   My only complaint is there werent enough pictures of the beasties to give me a good idea of what they looked like, only a vague description. Now I have pretty good imagination but an imagincation usually needs something to go off of. And This is where the product fails. It doesnt give you enough of a physical description. The lack of pictures would have been fine if replaced by some great descriptions.
   Overall though this is a great book. Any Lovecraft fan should buy this book, evne if you do not play the game.

5 comments about Xenosaga? EPISODE II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose Official Strategy Guide (Signature).

1. I got this strategy guid because I love playing these video games. I could have bought the strategy guide for 16.99 in store, but I bought it cheaper through amazon even with the cost of shipping. I got it in a few days and it was in excellent condition. My hats off to everyone involved in sending my package.



2. I received the product in under a week after I ordered it. It was received in bubble wrap and is in very good condition; there weren't even any creases on the binding. I would not have expected to find a copy in a bookstore in this great a condition.



3. I'm not a big fan of stradegy guides. But I sure know what's a good one. This book has alot of tips and good boss stradegies, such as enemy data and HP, type weakness, break zones, etc. However, I feel uncomfortable with the layout of the maps and how the key works. It's a bit confusing. Especially with the location of the items and sometimes I wonder why the GS quests couldn't have been put at the end of each section instead of making me flip all the way back to the book. It's a hassle there because most, if not all new proceedings in the next stage, a couple of new GS campaigns are avalible and it's very annoying to always flip to the back of the book and wondering which GS route you have to do.
   
   Also, there are confusing instructions making it almost impossible to find out what they're trying to make you do. Those are just one of the two major things that irks me. (It's not that bad but it's still confusing if you skip the key.) All in all, it gets you through the game, has amazingly good heads-up on notes you should keep in mind, and it has a lovely fold out poster. But I think you can get through the game just fine without it, it's just that it gets you through puzzles quicker. I'm one of those people who really hates game puzzles.



4. The best guides the buy are by Brady Games...they are the most helpful when stuck in a game...they stend to include lots of picures unlike some of the other guides. The signature series look espicially sharp!



5. I love Xensaga. I just finished the first one and can't wait
   to start on this one. If you like the thinking games, then
   this is for you!

5 comments about 3D Game Programming for Teens (For Teens).

1. I have been trying to get a hold of a great step-by-step book on 3D programming that goes in great detail. If that's the kind of book that you're looking for, then this is for you. After thoroughly reading this book, I finally defeated the first obstacle of 3D computer programming and learned a bit of history, too.



2. In my opinion, this book is very out of order. The author teaches you concepts about 3D programming, before he acually tells you the basics about programming. So throughout the whole book, you don't understand why or what you are typeing. I was able to understand the book very well, only because I have been programming for a bit already. If you'd like to learn basic 3D programming, this is a very good book. Just read a few other books about programming before you read this. It will make understanding this book much easier. I'd recommend "Game Programming For Teens 2E", it's the first programming book I read. And that book is very well put together, unlike this one.



3. For a long time i've been looking for a book that offers a good, easy-learning hands-on approach on Blitz 3D programming, and this is it! The book is very versatile since it is not only focusing specificly on coding, but also what's the essence of a good game. It gives a brief history of gaming history, telling you what it takes to make you a successful game programmer and how to bring your own ideas to life. After reading this book there is one thing that i feel that i would like to see, a follow-up! This book left me craving for the learning of some more advanced programming techniques since it tend to be overexplicit to some extent (which actually is a good thing if you are REALLY new to programming!). Nonetheless, if you want to learn how to be a successful programmer, regardless of your present programmings kills, this book is definitely a good start. Every game-programmer can read this book and learn something new, and they will have a enjoyable time doing so!



4. This book was easy to read and understand. Lives up to it's intended purpose, which is to teach the basics of 3D game programming. I liked the fact that the CD contains a demo copy of Blitz3D, which, does not time out. It also contained lots of demo code, that you can study, and other useful software for creating graphics and 3D models. Buy this book along with Maneesh Sethi's "Game Programming For Teens" and you will have a solid foundation to build on.



5. I initially approached this book with much enthusiasm. The author is a very engaging writer, intermingling an otherwise boring subject with much humor.
   
   However, this book is not really all it is cracked up to be. For starters, the book deals with a little known 3D game engine based in BASIC known as Blitz3D. For those interested in pursuing a career in game design, C++ is the standard, not this obscure programming language which few know about.
   
   The book contains a fair amount of typos, some even in the programming code itself. In the section on audio, the author forgets to add quotation marks around an audio file name. I wondered why my program didn't start, as I copied his code line-for-line, and had to gruel for four hours before I finally discovered the result. A beginner to programming languages shouldn't be forced to figure things out on his own, as the user is often left to do. This may not be the author's fault, but his copy-editor should have been fired.
   
   The book delves a little bit into 3ds Max and Corel PhotoDraw which actually are industry standards. It should be commended for this (hence the reason I gave it two stars). However, it touches on them only briefly. The section on 3ds Max is incredibly vague. 3ds Max has a very detailed and thorough GUI (graphical user interface) and it can be fairly difficult to find things without more detailed instructions (preferably with pictures, as there are few in this section). Likewise, the author often copy-and-pastes information from previous exercises in Corel PhotoDraw. What you actually get is a rehash of what you already just read, down to the same file names, instead of focusing on what the section should ACTUALLY be about.
   
   This book had the potential to be better, but a large part of it was sloppy editing. However, I think the name "3D Game Programming for Teens" is a misnomer. Perhaps a better title would be "Blitz3D For Teens" (you could even drop the "For Teens" part and call it "How To Program in Blitz3D"). If people want to learn how to program real 3D games, I'd suggest learning C++. It is not that difficult if you put in the time and effort.
   
   However, if you are fine with making sub par games, then I'm sure there's a better reference. In fact, the free package of Blitz3D comes packed-in with programming tips and examples to practice with. But be prepared to spend $100 to make larger projects. The free package only allows files up to a certain size; another reason to consider C++ because it is virtually free if you get the correct compiler.

5 comments about Think Like A Grandmaster: Algebraic Edition.

1. There are many books out there that claim to teach the Intermediate level player how to look for the best move during middlegame play but fall short of fulfilling there end of the bargain. This book is one of the ones that goes above and beyond what the title promises. Even as far as to show you how to create a PLAN (contrary to what "How To Reassess Your Chess" by IM Jeremy Silman states in regards to books that show one how to form a plan; also another great middlegame book by the way). However, there are some mistakes that must have occured when transposing the original descriptive notation to algebraic notation. But if your're looking to 'really' improve as a chess player then you have to expect to run accross some mistakes along the way. A word of advice: Ignore the mistakes the minute you find them and just forge ahead! There are some great ideas given in the examples of games from many Russian Grandmasters that if looked for in ones own games it WILL help to improve your overall rating. That is of course, if you'rewilling to study this book thoroughly by setting up the positions given in the book on your OWN board and incorporate them into your daily play. So, if you want to train your mind to think like a grandmaster, buy the book!



2. This is the book that has spawned a large number of other books on the subject of the Grandmaster's thinking processes. It is a classic and for that reason gets 3 stars from me. However, I do believe that the premise upon which this book is based is flawed and for that reason I do not give it a higher rating. Let me explain what I mean.
   
   In this book, Kotov outlines his theory on why GMs are better than IMs, why IMs are better than FMs etc. It all has to do with analysis. They analyse better. Yes, yes, yes. He is right. They do. But why do GMs analyse better? This is the key question. I think Kotov got the answer wrong.
   
   Kotov claims that he was a poor analyst, but that he improved by doing regular exercises in which he analysed complex positions, writing down all the variations. Each position was analysed only once to create a "Tree of Analysis". Candidate moves are chosen and then each move analysed one by one, branch by branch until the analysis is complete. The problem with this idea is that if flies in the face of contradictory evidence that this approach works. I DO agree with Kotov that improvement in analysis is the key to becoming a stronger player. I do not agree that his method will do more than produce a small change in your playing strength.
   
   The contradictory evidence:
   1) As so clearly pointed out by Richard Reti in his classic "New Ideas in Chess" even if there is a choice of only 3 moves at each branch point in the tree of analysis, the number of branches becomes so thick that it is impossible to analyse each branch. What distinguishes a titled players analysis from the analysis of a weaker player is the ability to EXCLUDE irrelevant moves, not include ALL moves. Humans will never be like computers in this regard.
   2) Brain imaging studies show very clearly that GMs different from IMs and so on down the food chain by their use of memory patterns. They do not think more deeply. This is clearly the conclusion of a number of serious studies on the psychological basis of chess talent (de Groot for example).
   3) Strong players have the capacity to hold positions in their heads more easily that weaker players. But it is clear that this is due to pattern recognition. Give a strong player a random position and they are no more able to remember the position that a weak player. This then is the basis of the stronger players greater ability to visualise the board. It is memory for patterns which creates vision. For example, it doesn't take much effort to remember the position Pf2, Pg3, Ph2, Bg2, Rf1 and Kg1. You can visualise it and remember it in seconds.
   4) It is clear that strong players perform extremely well at rapid chess. Visit ICC (www.chessclub.com) and watch a lightning match between two GMs. There is no time for analysis when the clock is set for 1 min. There is only time for pattern recognition. Yet lightning ratings correlate very well with FIDE ratings (they are not the same, but they correlate positively).
   
   Club players often ask why it is so hard to improve. They often spend their money buying books which offer advice. In many cases, these books are written by GMs or very strong players. But just because a player is strong, does not mean that they understand the source of their chess talent.
   
   The reason why improvement is hard is clear. First, playing strength is related to the number of patterns learnt. When a player learns the game, they first learn how to move the pieces and on which squares the pieces move. The number of pattern is much less than 100. They can achieve some success with this number of patterns. But as the player advances the number of patterns needed increases - exponentially. It is sometimes estimated (how, I do not know) that GMs need to know 100,000 patterns. FMs may need 10,000 patterns. Strong club players may get away with knowing only 1000 patterns. Do you see why it is so difficult to improve. To increase your rating by 400-500 points, you probably have to learn at least 10 times as many patterns as you know now.
   
   A second point is that as a player matures, i.e. into the 20s and 30s, the capacity to learn new patterns decreases slightly. The brain is less plastic at later ages. This is a reason why mature players find it difficult to improve. This can only be overcome by increased practice.
   
   A third reason why improvement comes early on, but less later is that there is substantial scope for improvement in the teens and early twenties at the period when the brain is myelinating the frontal cortex. At this stage, the player becomes more cautious and is able to concentrate better.
   
   OK, so I have prattled on about why Kotov is wrong about his famous Tree of Analysis. I do want to add that analysis exercises do help with concentration and visualisation. However, they are not the only answer to improvement. Learning patterns is the key. There are few better ways to do this than by playing through Master games - particularly the games of players like Capablanca, Rubinstein, Botwinnik, Tal... Play them, study them, copy them. At later stages, the student can develop by studying games that are more intimately related to the opening repertoire that he or she adopts.
   
   So is there anything good about the Kotov book? Of course there is. I just wanted to emphasise that this book is NOT the answer to How do you think like a GM? Many GMs would agree with me on this. You can learn from this book, but do not take it as the only or major route of study.
   
   I particularly liked Kotovs anecdote in the book about Capablanca's treatment of an ending. There is much to be learned about endgame play in this chapter. There is also a great deal of good advice interspersed through the book, so it does earn its 3 stars.



3. This book is very good in my study of chess.



4. Kotov covers the way top players think and common patterns of mistakes that all players make. It's really entertaining and you don't have to wade through miles of chess annotation to benefit from it.



5. 
   
   
   To possible critics of Kotov: I am afraid the critics (Nunn, Tisdall. Krasenkow et. al) got it all wrong simply for the fact that they do not know how the brain works; i.e. subconsciously.
   
   First: Kotov's method of practicing analysis skills, (setting up a position, analysing without moving the pieces, then comparing your analysis with the GMs) works supremely due to the way the human brain works even if we are not capable of explaining why. This is perfectly well accomplishable even if Kotov's model of "trees" does not correctly reproduce what happens in the mind. Kotov's "trees" are simply a way of trying to make fathomable what hitherto has been impossible to grasp. Kotov states clearly that we do not need to analyse deeper than what is needed to make an evaluation and that all of us have to find candidate moves in our own way. (This is the same as within theory of science where Popper states that there is no method for hitting upon a hypotheses. Here personal qaints and quirks will influence the way).
   
   Secondly, the notion of pattern recognition is higly problematic, if not nonsense, from one end to another due to the problems of formally defining what a pattern is and to apply this defintion to the uniquely diverse positions encountered in a chess game. What is a pattern and how do we come to know one? Well, some would suggest positions with fianchettoes or IQP (Isolated Queens Pawn) as typical. Yes, then we have two...others?
   
   The fundamental problem is, of course, how we come to learn or know when a position contains or makes up what psychologists denominate as a "pattern". Example; you encounter a position for the first time and a GM says to you; "This is a pattern position". You say; "Really, and what exactly constitutes the pattern?" It seems that there must be something going on already before we are to be able to understand or grasp what a pattern is. The GM can point at the pawns, squares etc, but, if we have absolutely no idea, what the GM is talking about, how are we mechanically going to understand?
   
   To understand that isolated pawns consitute a pattern, first we must know that they are both weak and strong simultaneously(!) and only sang froid would enable us to understand when they are weak and when they are strong and since this may diverse endlessly, there seems to be no way to formalize this as a pattern comprising a definition applicaple to all IQP-positions.
   
   Take Magnus Carlsen as an example; he is now a 2750 player, so is Peter Leko. Magnus is 17 and Leko is 33. This means that Magnus formally would not have had the time to aqcuire the same number of pattern as Leko has since Leko is older, having played chess far longer and far more games, but Magnus is equal in strength. How to explain this? The point is that what is called pattern (definition problems aside) is that this is something psychologists establish only AFTER the socalled patterns are learnt. It is simply impossible, consciously, to sit down at a chessboard and each and every time say: "Okay, this is a pattern. It looks so and so. I have to remember this". Then you encounter another position, completely different from the one just seen. How are you to generalize this completely different position into the same pattern definition as the previous one? It is impossible since the positions are uniquely diverse.
   
   Chess is learnt subconsciously, i.e. our brains acquire the skills without our conscious knowing, but psychologists try to make it look like a mechanical conscious process to make it easier than it actually is. Pattern thinking is a fairly easy and straight forward way to try to explain human behaviour, thinking in categories etc to make it easier for us to adapt to and orientate ourselves in new (foreign) surroundings.
   
   If the mind works in this way, we would not know it, since it takes place subconsciously. It is only after a player have become a GM, being presented a number of positions, we can say that "Oh, yes, this is recognizing a pattern", but when learning it, we do not know it is a pattern and there is no conscious way of learning it, since more chess players would be much stronger than they actually are. This resembles Wittgenstein's idea on how to learn to follow a rule; there must be something going on og underlying our ability to understand rulebound instructions before we know the rule, and it is the same with chess.
   
   The brain learns chess and we rationalize and justify what it does to the best of our abilities to make is possible to understand so we can make recipes to learn more quickly. Nope! I'm afraid the brain does this perfectly well without our interfering and Kotov's method is THE method of improving.
   
   That said: since the thinking process is subconscious, we only have access to the results of the process, but the material, preparation and thought processes themselves are outside our conscious reach even if we, as mentioned by Kornhuber and Deecke, we can "direct our attention". By practising like Kotov said (setting up positions) we exercise our brains' ability to grasp ever more of the positions we encounter. Thus we will also be trained in knowing what to look for and knowing when to stop analysing.
   
   This has nothing to do with pattern recognition which seems to reduce chess thinking to a mechanical exercise. "All can become a GM just by learning enough patterns". No, it does not work that way. It works by the brains' ability to make new neuronic networks and synapses and this is trained by analysing.
   
   What nature has provided you with, will determine how good you might become, but it is simply impossible to predict or know what the result of this training might be simply because we are in no position to control the thought processes where the improvment itself takes place. Playing chess is a result of two things: subconscious triggering of moves and consciously relating to the moves produced by the brain. No chess player blunders on purpose, which goes to show what? That chess players most of the time are unconscious while playing. Only when things do not go as planned, does consciousness announce itself.
   
   If chessplaying were conscious, each and everyone of us would commit no blunders and we would all be world champions. Chessplaying is the result of a very subtle interplay between consciousness and subconsciousness and neither Tisdall, Nunn, Krasenkow or other critics seem to be aware of this.
   
   So, there it is: either one can trust Kotov knowing what he was doing and improve your strength, OR, one can keep on listening to barely mediocre GMs belittling Kotov and stand still. Kotov's method works and his absolutely recommended but we do not know and can not know fully the whole story.
   
   (My authority; professional philosopher with 20 years of experience from the department of the philosophy of mind and applying it to chess.)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

5 comments about I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence.

1. The best! You'll enjoy everything about this book if you have a sense of humor.



2. Dear Amy -
   
   I like your book. No, I love it. No, wait, I totally *heart* it, in fact. It is way awesome. Much like you. I bet you throw the craziest parties. Will you kindly invite me sometime? I know I'm one of those annoying vegans who will totally muck up your dinner menu, but I promise to make it up to you by bringing plenty of booze.
   
   Anyway, back to your book. Why do I *heart* it so? Well, the pictures totally kick it; it takes a special lady to pull off the bottomless-but-for-pantyhose look. Your gourmet masterpieces look yummy despite the animal ingredients. And your diy décor is do-able even for the not-so-crafty among us. Googley eyes on peanuts! Who woulda thunkit? And you're so retro, too, Amy! Like a Fiona Apple video, or those `70s douche ads that all us hairy-legged feminist bloggers like to pass around on the internets. I LIKE YOU is, like, the perfect coffee table book for people who think people who have coffee table books are kinda sorta pretentious jerks. For reals.
   
   But wait! There's more! Your book also has words! And they make me laugh, and laugh, and laugh. And then chortle and guffaw. And then some more lolz. Your sections on entertaining the elderly, babycakes (sorry, "children"), ladies' nights and "when you get to play nurse" (not as fun and/or dirt-ay as it sounds) are especially amusing. Even the book flap provides several minutes of enjoyment.
   
   In sum, Amy, you give this misanthrope hope! Plus, you taught me how to locate my vagina with a hand mirror. I will always remember you for that. With much fondness and warmth. Make of that what you will.
   
   hugs & kisses
   
   - k
   
   PS - Did you by chance ever go by the name of Charlene, maybe in the early `80s? Because you totally remind me of Dr. Stephen Colbert, DFA's ex-lover of the same name. No? Whatevs, nm.
   
   PPS - I know it's you.
   
   PPPS - I am eagerly awaiting my dinner party invite.



3. Can you believe this book???? Practical, funny, creative, liberated, boy it just racks up positive adjectives, doesn't it? But be forewarned, it's also revoltingly gross here and there and above all this is comedy, not a foray too far into Martha Stewart territory. But then again, if you needed me to tell you that you probably don't know who Amy Sedaris is. I had fun reading Amy Sedaris' assault on vulnerable Eisenhower-era values, actually learned a thing or two, and, who knows, might try a few of her recipes next time I'm feeling antidisestablishmentalitarian. And, oh yeah, her, ahem, charming wit is amusing too. (Marbles in the medicine cabinet?! What to do with organic lemons? Where the heck does she get that stuff?) I'm a fan of books that walk the thin line between parody and information, offensive and endearing, and gods help us, the irreverent I Like You does that extremely well.



4. enjoyable but would have liked it to be a little more off than if was.



5. I love this book. She is a genius. Writing & photos are funy, and I want to try the recipes! BUT, it isn't for everyone. I was reading the 1 star reviews, and was sorry to see how people weren't getting it. It is a Kitschy, Rated R, humorous book on hospitality. If you don't like swear words, "ladies parts", and 70's photos, don't buy it. If you love all those things, get it! You won't be dissappointed. PS: I now own a planter in the shape of a log with a squirrel sitting on it. It reminded me of this book so forcefully, I HAD to buy it! We should all be more like amy ;-)