The Chess Doctor: Surefire Cures for What Ails Your Game [Paperback]

Bruce Pandolfini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 19, 1995

Pandolfini, author of Beginning Chess and Chess Openings, has nursed players of all levels through the rigors of learning chess and participating in competitions. Now he focuses on the chronic deficiencies that prevent chess players from playing their best game every time. 200 b&w line drawings.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Many amateur chess matches are battles to see which player can postpone the fatal blunder the longest, so noted chess teacher Pandolfini presents 100 common errors that get intermediate players into trouble. He assumes his student knows the classic openings and follows the basic principles of chess--controlling the center, opening files, etc.--but is bedeviled by bad habits such as taking out the queen for an aimless drive around the board. That's an easy cure for the Doc, who prescribes lots of rest for the lady until midgame; Pandolfini handles the harder diagnostics by grouping symptoms of losing into the opening game, midgame problems of piece exchanges, and miscellaneous mistakes made with pieces (as with castling) or with the crucial c and f pawns. For each sickness, he provides a diagram with commentary to illustrate each error. Kasparov may not need Pandolfini's handy Rx, but 99 percent of coffeehouse hackers do. Gilbert Taylor

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Fireside (December 19, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684801213
• ISBN-13: 978-0684801216
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,931,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Short for the money, but still useful, July 14, 2003

By 

C. Dunn "independent thinker" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chess Doctor: Surefire Cures for What Ails Your Game (Paperback)

This book surprised me. It's really a pretty good book. It consists of 100 pieces of advice, each with at least 1 chess position for amplification.

At least, that was Pandolfini's intent. However, I think that the pages with just words (which accounts for half the total) are TOO wordy and unnecessary. And the headline (the "ailment") for each one makes the solution to the diagrammed position a bit less challenging than it otherwise would be.

But these are minor quibbles. It's easy enough to skip the text. The puzzles are quite interesting if they are at your level. What level? Well, I estimate about 1250-1350, and you absolutely must have read a simple endgame book first. (Pandolfini's Endgame Course is perfect preparation, but anything that covers King + Pawn v. King will do.) And be comfortable with simple tactics as well.

With just that much preparation, you can get a lot out of this book. It will build on your knowledge. For example, if you understand a few fundamental endgame positions, then you'll see why it makes sense to aim for, or avoid, such an ending via trades.

I suggest that you read this book out of order. Start with Section 2, continue through 3 and 4, and finally return to Section 1 on Openings, easily the most advanced part of the book with the longest analyses and most subtle explanations.

On the whole, the book is worth reading. Unfortunately, the price is rather high for only 100 simple puzzles. So look for it used. It's not a bad gift though.

3.0 out of 5 stars Quite a Decent Book, but..., February 21, 2008

By 

Avital Pilpel "classics_lover" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chess Doctor: Surefire Cures for What Ails Your Game (Paperback)

This is a good book that uses an annoying gimmick. The basic idea is useful: Pandolfini gives us in this book 100 common "diseases" amateurs make--such as hanging material to a knight fork or playing too quickly when the *opponent* is short of time.

The choice of problems is very good. Pandolfini does cover, just about, all of the common mistakes amateurs make, and the division (opening mistakes, tactical mistakes, etc.) is clear and useful. The best part is the balance in the advice. For example, weak amateurs tend to ignore doubled pawn; somewhat stronger amateurs, hearing that "doubled pawns are weak", avoid them in all situations, even when they shouldn't. Pandolfini correctly censures both mistakes.

The problem is with the solutions Pandolfini offers. The written advice is usually so general or obvious as to be meaningless--saying, in effect, "so don't do that, unless there's a good reason to!". The "chess doctor" angle giving "perscriptions" is more of an attempt to make the book "cool" and "original", which simply listing the problems with amateurs' play will not do. This unnecessary gimmick greatly decreases the book's appeal, in my view, but nevertheless it is a decent effort.

3 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad Medicine!!!, January 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Chess Doctor: Surefire Cures for What Ails Your Game (Paperback)

This doctor has nothing but Bad Medicine for your game. If you think you got problems before this book, your gonna have even more after. First you will realize after a while that you just wasted your money :)... Then you will already of lost a few games hoping for something in this book to happen. The reason this is the first review should be a warning sign. Nobody that bought this book wants to admit it and review it. They are hoping someone else will make the same mistake so they can laugh at them. I really don't care if you wanna waste your money go for it. Just ask yourself why a book this old has no reviews yet if its worth getting. That should help you make your decision where to spend your money.