Chess Teachings
Tarrasch was a very influential chess writer, and was called Praeceptor Germaniae, meaning "Teacher of Germany." He was editor of the magazine Deutsche Schachzeitung in 1897 and wrote several books, including Die moderne Schachpartie and Three hundred chess games. Although his teachings became famous throughout the chess world, until recently his books had not been translated into English.
He took some of Wilhelm Steinitz's ideas (e.g. control of the center, bishop pair, space advantage) and made them more accessible to the average chess player. In other areas he departed from Steinitz. He emphasized piece mobility much more than Steinitz did, and disliked cramped positions, saying that they "had the germ of defeat."
Tarrasch stated what is known as the Tarrasch rule, that rooks should be placed behind passed pawns—either yours or your opponent's. Andrew Soltis quotes Tarrasch as saying
| “ | Always put the rook behind the pawn.... Except when it is incorrect to do so. | ” |
Read more about this topic: Siegbert Tarrasch
Famous quotes containing the words chess and/or teachings:
“An actress reading a part for the first time tries many ways to say the same line before she settles into the one she believes suits the character and situation best. There’s an aspect of the rehearsing actress about the girl on the verge of her teens. Playfully, she is starting to try out ways to be a grown-up person.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“We denote this primary wisdom as Intuition, whilst all later teachings are tuitions.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)