The English Language

[Barry Sandercock]

He probably means space, but thinks spatial sounds better.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

What does it mean if a variation 'is a mess'?

[IM Jack Rudd]

What does it mean if a variation 'is a mess'?

It means that the resulting position is too complex for the annotator to definitively evaluate it. The usual reason for this is that some traits of the position favour one side and some the other.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Why not simply saying unclear, or complicated?

[Matt Mackenzie]

I expect "mess" refers to a particular type of those positions.

[Andy Stoker]

"Mess" implies that the outcome is worse than simply unclear or complicated - which implies (near) parity)

[soheil_hooshdaran]

What is the difference between plus and advantage?

[Andy Stoker]

Very little - what's the context

[soheil_hooshdaran]

we must keep in mind that this kind of compensation cannot be considered long-term, in contrast to Black's advantage (better pawn-structure) which, under normal circumstances, will be an enduring plus. White must take full
advantage of his pluses in order to retain a good game.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

like:
I think that I could obtain a slight but perma­nent plus.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Very little - what's the context

like:
I think that I could obtain a slight but perma­nent plus.
like:
we must keep in mind that this kind of compensation cannot be considered long-term, in contrast to Black's advantage (better pawn-structure) which, under normal circumstances, will be an enduring plus. White must take full
advantage of his pluses in order to retain a good game.

[Andy Stoker]

The author seems to be using the terms almost interchangeably - "advantage" and "plus" mean the same thing. There is a phrase "to take advantage of" - which just means to exploit a plus, or an advantage.

[Roger de Coverly]

perma­nent plus.

There are no doubt sightings before the age of computer analysis, but "plus" could be taken to refer to an engine evaluation.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

No, this book I'm translating is published in 2007

[Andy Stoker]

Well then that's exactly what Roger says - " "plus" could be taken to refer to an engine evaluation." We had computers in 2007.