I'm not very good at chess, but it's been a special interest for a long time, and I've committed a lot of little fragments of chess lore to memory. Let me tell you about one of the most intriguing corners of the chess world, something I've been curious about for a long time now: Bernard Parham's "Matrix" chess method.
Unfortunately I don't know much about it, although one can find a few popular articles about Parham touching briefly upon his "Matrix" method. He was Indiana state champion in 1967 and he taught a lot of beginners how to play chess, but he came up with his own system for doing so and a unique notation for the pieces that emphasizes the way they move on the board (q.v. https://www.thechessdrum.net/talkingdrum/TheMatrix/) And that fascinates me, because it suggests that Parham had a different way of conceptualizing chess games than the one that's put in all the "how to play chess" books you're likely to find at the bookstore. But I can find only few details about Parham's "Matrix" on the web. However, I think Parham's still around (I found a photograph of him from only two years back) so...maybe I can buy his pamphlet.
I can guess at least that Parham's method emphasizes rapidly pressuring as many squares on the board as possible, because he loves playing the Queen out early: The opening 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 has gained the name "Parham Attack" in some sources, although it's also called the "Wayward Queen Attack" and the "Patzer Attack", because 2. Qh5 is sometimes played by beginners who hope to spring the Scholar's Mate trap with 3. Bc4 and 4. Q×f7#. All the usual books say deploying the Queen early is an error because the opponent can gain time by attacking her. But there are respectable openings in which the Queen comes out early and gets kicked around, like my faithful Scandinavian Defence main line (1. e4 d5 2. e×d5 Q×d5 3. Nc3, whence the Queen has to go somewhere). Maybe there's something in the Parham Attack, but it's his Matrix that I'm most curious about.
~Chara
