Posted Jun 1, 2001 by Steve K.
I am sort of a chess fan, not prepared to invest enough time to become competitive at any club level (and I routinely get flamed for this attitude, so go ahead  ), but interested in chess "lore". A very good book is "The Oxford Companion to Chess", 2nd Edition, about 500 pages of fine print arranged encyclopedically (is that a word?). Many great stories buried in there. Another good book is "The 64 Square Looking Glass" with chess-related literature excerpts by writers from Ezra Pound to Woody Allen.
A couple of my favorite videos are "Searching for Bobby Fischer" and "Chess Kids", the latter a documentary on youth chess competition.
As far as playing the game, I like Yasser Seirawan's series for Microsoft press, including "Winning Chess Openings". In a Chapter titled "An Opening Solution", he writes, "Not knowing the nuances of so many openings meant that I couldn't get an edge ... my complaints only got affirmative nods, 'Yep, you're right Yaz. Let me know when you find something good'." The "something good" means getting out of the book, and he recommends the Barcza Opening for White. "Against nearly every Black Defense, White's first four moves [are} always the same." 1.Nf3 2.g3 3.Bg2 4.0-0. "I [can] now try to outplay my opponent with both of us playing our own moves." Music to my ears . The recommended black openings are similar - the King's Indian Defense against a Queen Pawn Opening, and the Pirc agaisnt a King Pawn Opening.
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Posted Jun 3, 2001 by Lucinda (et al) - Dun Researchin'
At my level, I played the Caro-Kann, for exactly the same reason - to stop people showing off their dang opening theory! 
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Posted Jun 3, 2001 by Steve K.
I had to look up the Caro-Kann Defence, but it does look interesting. From my ragged copy of "Modern Chess Openings": "White enjoys greater mobility and often a slight initiative, but Black's porcupine-like position is difficult to penetrate." So it does sound similar to the Barcza, which Seirawan calls "building a house" for the King first.
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