First reviewed on Apr. 28 2003

Key concepts: Imbalances; Planning; Attitude
Audience: Novice-Expert

Most chess books are written by Grandmasters for Grandmasters, and based upon Jeremy Silman's apparent contempt for the amateur player, one might be inclined to overlook this book on first glance, assuming that this book is no different. However, this book is an excellent resource for the intermediate player of any age due to the presentation of the material. As long as you can resist the urge to throw it out the window each time Silman makes one of his common cracks about the wisdom of the average player as if he is spitting out a piece of used chewing gum. Just why is Silman so demeaning and arrogant in his assessment of amateur players? Is it because he has to make his living off of them by writing several such books, or is it because he must give personal lessons to them in order to support himself? Regardless, there are several valuable lessons and large amounts of excellent analysis to be gleaned from the book if you can stomach the intermittent snide remarks about your intelligence.

In summary, the actual comments from amateurs, which usually seem to be mostly Silman's own pupils, so he did not have to go far to do research, although an interesting idea seem pretty useless to the end reader. However, the numerous positions played over by several amateurs will show you some common faults that non-expert chess players apparently exhibit quite often. Silman's analysis of these positions offers an excellent service for the reader in pointing out how a Grandmaster may look at the same position from a different perspective, and how he may impart this knowledge to the chess student. This book does its best when illustrating how to analyze a position and come up with a concrete plan for every move based upon the imbalances, and it reinforces these lessons throughout the book. Book is well worth the price, as it gives you a glimpse of what true over the board instruction from a chess master might be like. Furthermore, any chess enthusiast looking for better instruction on how to play chess based upon pawn structure which is probably the most difficult chess skill to learn will definitely benefit from this book.

Readers of this book will benefit most if they have already mastered the basics of the game, including piece movement, general opening, middle game, and endgames principles; basic positional strategy and tactics; and the principles of time, space, initiative, and development. I would recommend this book as a great follow-up book to a reader who has already read the following books:

• Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (basic mating patterns)
  
• The Game of Chess (general principles)
  
• Genesis of Power Chess (endgame; positional play)
  

• imbalances
  
• minor piece imbalances
  
• center, territory, and space
  
• pawn structure
  
• material
  
• development and initiative
  
• openings
  
• using the rooks
  
• king hunting
  
• which side of the board should you play
  
• mental toughness
  
• tests
  

First reviewed on Dec. 17 2000

Key concepts: Imbalances; Planning; Visualization
Audience: Intermediate-Expert

Basically, a precursor of The Amatuer's Mind. Not as clearly written nor as elegant, in my opinion, but you can see the formation of the same ideas and concepts which are made much clearer in the newer book. Deals with examples from Grandmaster play, which makes the actual concepts seem more complex and harder to understand, as opposed to dealing with the glaring problems of amateur positions that most of us are likely to see. Buy and read, "The Amatuer's Mind", and if you like it then come back and buy this book. B rated players (rated >= 1600) and up will gain more from this book then lower rated players, I think. However, still contains a good overview, with a better perspective than most of the other books out there.

This book contains sections on the following:

• Basic endgames
  
• Thinking techniques; planning, imbalances
  
• Calculation & combinations introduction
  
• Minor pieces
  
• Space
  
• Center
  
• Weak & strong pawns
  
• Weak squares
  
• Material & sacrifices
  
• Temporary imbalances; development and initiative
  
• Open files
  
• Multiple imbalances
  
• Counterplay
  
• Imbalances in all phase of the game
  
• Test problems
  

Last updated on Dec. 18 2000

Key concepts: Common chess mistakes
Audience: Scholastic; Beginner-Intermediate

A super book for players of all levels. This book is very easy to read and understand, which is probably its greats feature. It will provide much return value for your time and money invested, especially for such a low cost. Most readers should be able to make it through this book in one sitting the first time, and afterwards can serve as great quick common chess principles review book. Also, can be used to give tips for beginners, who would otherwise struggle though, or give up on other books. The book is organized into very easy to understand mistakes, or ailments, that a player will typically make in their games. Following the summary of each common mistake is a short list of between 5-10 one sentence suggestions, or prescriptions, for improving this particular area of your game, followed by a few examples illustrating the information just provided. This book truly may provide "Sure Fire Cures for What Ails Your Game", and the information is certainly not coming from a town-to-town bottled "cure-all" peddler either.

Last updated on Dec. 18 2000

Key concepts: Hypermodern chess concepts
Audience: Intermediate-Expert

One of the best source for learning about hypermodern, or the dragon, if those two things excite you. Best to learn and understand classic style chess principles before you attempt to read this one. [ If you are just looking for basic introduction to the modern openings then the content of Winning Chess Openings on the modern openings may be better suited for you. ] New edition may be slightly easier to read, but some people may still struggle with the translations, the lack of diagrams, and older-style (Descriptive) move descriptions. Beginner and intermediate players should try either The Game of Chess or The Genesis of Power Chess.

Last updated on Jun. 28 2002

Key concepts: Piece movement; Mating patterns; Minor Tactics; Mating Combos; Strategical Objectives
Audience: Novice-Club Player

If you are the type of person who wants the Cliff Notes version of chess instruction booklets, or you would rather just jump right in the deep end and play chess rather then read books on chess theory, then this book may be the right match for you. This book starts with the basics and gives a concise look at most aspect of chess required for decent play. Chess Self-Teacher will take you from the basic moves, using the right approach by staring with the end game and introducing piece-by-piece until all the basic rules, checkmates and endgames have be introduced. Once you have a firm grasp of these concepts. The book then introduces the standard chess terms and tactical themes that can be encountered in the game of chess. These terms and tactics are introduced to the reader by examples. The third major section of the book deals with simple mating combinations, and recognizing common mating patterns also through examples. Finally, in the concluding chapters of this book the author builds upon the previous lessons by presenting some common strategical objectives, such as controlling the center, rapid development, space, pawn weaknesses, king safety, open files, pawn storms, and exchanges are addressed. Probably the main concept lacking from this books would be the concept of time, and tempos, and their importance to positional and tactical play [see The Game of Chess]. Also, there is hardly no discussion of common opening moves, so you will have to go somewhere else if you are concerned with that area of chess theory. Probably the biggest draw-back to this particular book is the fact that it uses the older and now less common descriptive chess notation, instead of algebraic chess notation, so it may be somewhat more difficult for some readers to grasp. For more information on chess notations see: Chess Notation. The books quizzes and reviews are broken down, into two separate sections at the end of each chapter. Basically, the Review portion of consists of a few reading comprehension type questions, which are followed by the more important quiz section which like in any typically school book will test your application of the principles to real world examples. A fairly detailed answer is given to to quiz problems, with variations included. This may be a great book to buy if you are simply looking to beat your father, or your friend at chess, but do not plan on becoming addicted to reading chess books as a main pass time.

Last updated on May 06 2003

Key concepts: Humor: The lighter side of studying chess; Tactics; Position; Endings; Openings
Audience: Novice-Intermediate
Pages: 111

Contains a classic photo of the author poised like Rodin's "The Thinker", while intently studying a chess book on the toilet. An image the reader will truly never forget. This book is light, funny and entertaining, at least as far as chess books go. The smattering of chess advice, tactical and end game puzzles, followed by positional and opening advice mixed with the humor makes this a very pleasurable read, if not overly instructive. Norwood recommends the modern and other similar opening to help simplify things for the struggling chess student because they are easy to learn (aka 1. g3, or 1... g6, etc...). An approach very similar to the building a house strategy that is also recommended by Yasser Serwain in Winning Chess Openings, so it cannot be that bad of an idea. I would not say that this books contains large amounts of essential advice to master, but it is unique in its light hearted approach, and gives a good overall idea of what type of quality one should expect from more detailed books on the various topics presented. The best portion of this book in my opinion is the part on visualizing a plan on pages 56-57, and the worst aspect is its length because it will have the reader yearning for more when they are done.

Last updated on May 06 2003

Key concepts: Illustrated chess concepts
Audience: Children (Ages 9 and up)-Novice; Anyone who prefers visual aides
Pages: 64
Another terse book from International Grandmaster David Norwood. Before there was ever was an Idiots Guide to to Anything and Everything, there was The Usborne Guide to Anything and Everything. These books may not be well known to many people in the states, but perhaps this one should be. Another great prize for scholastic chess players, on the par with Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess mating combination primer. Plenty of key chess concepts presented along with colorful Illustrations and photographs. Its all here in condensed Reader's Digest Format, but it is up to the reader to retain and apply the information to more complex situations. The guide is divided into a series of extremely short chapters with an equal mix of text offset with photos and diagrams. Some chapters include a series of comprehension self tests at the end. The material covered includes piece and pawn strength and weaknesses, the opening, middle game, and endgame, planning and defense, tactics and sacrifices, a complete game with analysis, where to go from here, and competitive chess. Can you believe that a book of this length also includes a section for the self test puzzle answers and a Glossary? Chess openings covered in detail include the Ruy Lopez, the King's Gambit, and the Caro-Kann, and the King's Indian Defense (KID). Each is discussed move by move with an assessment of how each side stands after nine moves. The perfect chess book for kids, the struggling player who also suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder, or for the recreational player who is looking for a quick and concise information before really getting into chess.

Subtitle: The Life, Games, and Writings of C.J.S Purdy

Last updated on Dec. 18 2000

Key concepts: Miscellaneous
Audience: Novice-Expert

Gives an interesting perspective on the history of chess, and just how far chess has evolved, Good mix of chess history, and chess lessons with a personal touch. Hey, if he was good enough to be Bobby Fischer's favorite chess writer, what have you to lose by checking him out for yourself? One of the most entertaining chess books that I have read. Watch a chess legend evolve before your eyes. Learn what influenced him, how he thought and studied, and how he improved.

This book is broken up into three sections; an interesting history lesson, a best of collection of a chess writer's articles, and one part annotated chess games of a correspondence chess champion. If you were interested in checking out any of Purdy's writings then this is a good place to start, as you get a good sampling of different material from throughout his life. Best of all, you can go through this book at your own pace, as most of the topics are fairly short, and not loaded with unnecessary variations or analysis, which is ideal for those who do not have much time to devote