Grand master and prolific chess author Neil McDonald explains every single move made in 30 striking tactical or strategical games played over the last quarter century. Each of these games has been carefully chosen for its consistent logical thread, so that the reader will get prime instruction in the art of conceiving appropriate plans and attacks and carrying them out to their natural conclusion: in short, players will learn to think logically. Watching these games unfold will prove an education and inspiration to readers who can then try to play in the same purposeful way, with a corresponding improvement in their own game.
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221 of 227 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Another book with move by move commentary,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking: From the First Move to the Last (Paperback)
It seems that numerous authors have gotten into the arena of writting books containing games with move by move commentary. "Chernev" who was the first to start with his "Logical Chess: Move by Move" wrote the classic which started the "movement". Indeed, this is a very good concept and way to use games to give instruction. However, this idea requires an understanding not of just the games themselves, but just as important is the ability to reach the reader by knowing what is needed to be covered. Have these games been tested in actual lessons to see where the student has a lack of knowledge and what kind of questions the student would have?
I feel that "Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking" is strong (four stars) in having solid insight into the mechanics of the games being covered. But the commentary itself is weak (two stars) when it comes to providing actual analysis and answering questions in the mind of the reader. There is a bit too much repetition, comments are sometimes not to the point, and actual analysis of the moves in the games has little real analysis of use. There is a lack of analysis of the openings themselves - and every game has an opening! These are the things better addressed in every respect in "Understanding Chess" - directed at the advance player and "Unbeatable Chess", "More Unbeatable Chess" - two books that progress for different levels and "Logical Chess" - a basic level. On the plus side "Chess" The Art of Logical Thinking" does cover some important ideas and is perhaps a worthwhile book for an intermediate level chess player (not solid explanations for the basic level player, yet would be boring to an advanced player). So overall this book is "so, so", especially when put in the large arena of books covering commentary of every move games.
163 of 167 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
tremendous move by move analysis!,
By
This review is from: Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking: From the First Move to the Last (Paperback)
Following the tradition of Chernev's "Logical Chess", Mcdonald's "Art of Logical Thinking" is tremendous. Advanced beginners and intermediate players such as myself are starving for books like this that review the ideas behind each move in master chess games. The understanding of openings, strategies and endgames is all in one package for each game (30 total games organized by opening motif). The author's style of teaching and analysis can be appreciated for players at any level but I think players at beginning to intermediate levels (900 - 1600) will get the most out of this book. I hope more authors will write the "move by move" analysis style. Authors in this arena so far include Snyder, Chernev, Seirawan, Mcdonald, and Nunn.
85 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sure, really explains every move,
By V. Bade (Jackson, Illinois) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking: From the First Move to the Last (Paperback)
I was torn between whether to give this book 2 stars or to be nicer and give 3 stars. At first it seemed 3 would be proper simply because I haven't yet finished it to the last page though I've read most of it, and because most people (judging from the other reviews) seem to be generally pleased with it. But then I decided that there is no reason why the remainder of the book would be any different than what I've seen and the average rating is much higher than the book really deserves.
On the face of it, this book is very attractive indeed. Who wouldn't want a move by move commentation (or is it analysis?) of modern supergrandmaster games by another grandmaster? Unfortunately, when I started studying the book I beacame somewhat disappointed by certain aspects of the commentary which makes the work seem rather rushed or lackluster. While it certainly provides some pleasant reading as chess literature, it falls far short of the mentioned goal of taking readers "of all levels" into the minds of grandmasters as they make each move, thus improving their own skills. First, the book is filled with statements that are abstract, obvious and redundant all at the same time. Secondly, it contains very little analysis of the moves themselves. I feel that what makes lesser skilled players the way they are is the fact that they often consider and play out plans and moves that might look good but have deep flaws in them. The way to improve is therefore to understand why grandmasters dismiss certain moves and strategies and to be aware of the tactical consequences of some of them. This book hardly does anything in that direction. As a result, it doesn't really give you half the reasons for each move. Take one example: the game between M. Adams and V. Salov. On move 33 black plays 33...Qh6. Alright, good. But the problem here is that the obvious alternative of 33...Qg6 which even looks better is not addressed by the author. In my opinion, neither move will stop the onslaught that follows but nevertheless h6 looks like such an odd square to put the queen that it demands some explanation. This is just one example of a recurring aspect of the book, particularly in the opening part of the games which is even more annoying because openings need more explanation. Of course I certainly do not expect this to be done for every single move. But at least touch on plausible alternatives and why they may be inferior. Very seldom does the writer do this. All in all, it's hard to tell what type of audience this book really helps in terms of improvement. For strong players the commentary is so obvious atimes that it's almost comical. At the same time, the language often seems too abstract to be really helpful to weaker players. The positive side, however, is that the book gives players an idea of the kind of things that masters take into consideration when playing, such as weak squares, center holes which are good for knights etc... Rather than say I regretted buying this book -which, thankfully, wouldn't be entirely true- I'll just say that like most non-fiction books, chess books very much require online preview capabilities for potential buyers. Sadly, this one, for instance, doesn't offer it.
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