Customer Reviews

Chess Training for Budding Champions

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What stands out about this book is the enthusiastic manner in which it is written. The author clearly loves chess and this is reflected in his writings. If you've ever been discouraged by the Informator style reams of variations in most chess books, Hall's emphasis on verbal explanations will be a refreshing change. As for contents, he limits his coverage to several key examples or games per section and then provides a set up essential chess endgame positions. Like Silman's Reassess your Chess, the book also contains suggestions for further reading. While the book may look basic, I doubt many people could complete the 'opening traps without a board' excercises. The variations in the games are quite advanced as well. As for me, I'm over 1900 and found this book helpful and, most importantly, fun. While this probably should not be the only chess book you purchase, I am sure that anyone who repeatedly reads it will become a very strong player (outside of Master standards of course). I also like Nunn's Understanding Chess Move by Move, Crouch's How to Defend in Chess, and the Tactical Targets in Chess Series by Pongo (hard to find).

This book will be equally useful for an individual ambitious to improve, or for a chess trainer looking for stimulating course material. There is a tremendous depth to the program of instruction here, with sections on openings, middlegame concepts (closed center, open center, isolated pawns) and endgames (queen endings, pawn endings, knight endings). Computers and databases are covered (2 pages), with the emphasis in that section (as indeed with the whole book) being as much on HOW to study as on the study itself.
A beginner might enjoy this book, but the most benefit will be obtained by players who have some experience but feel they have reached a plateau - a quite common situation in my experience. Gambit is well known for only publishing quality chess books, so this is a self-improvement work you can rely on to improve your game and rating.

You will find this book outlines a wonderful program on how to study, and gives a deep insight into openings, middlegame strategy and endgames. As well as teaching chess I play in local tournaments, and I can say with confidence that this well-rounded approach is exactly what will benefit the intermediate level player most. The chapters on the middlegame will help every junior solve some of the most common problems, and there is a lot of great study material on strategic themes. The section on the endgame alone is worth five stars, as it extensively covers topics you rarely see mentioned in other books.
There is no doubt that after reading this book your general strength will improve, and there is so much material packed in, that it is like having the contents of several books put together. That is my one complaint - there is almost too much material, and it could take several months to do it justice.
The author is an experienced chess teacher, and he shares his methods with a passionate enthusiasm. I found his methods to be valid, and quite insightful in some cases. I would highly recommend this book for both kids and adults to study and enjoy.

I enjoyed this book. However, it may not be the sharpest tool in the shed (as my father says). It has many good pointers. Some of the stories can be a bit silly. I collect chess books at the age of 12. Older, but a better book is CHESS FOR FUN AND CHESS FOR BLOOD.

why has no-one told me about this fantastic book before? There are sections on the endgame, analyzing your own games, how to study position-types and so on. Hall clearly writes from personal experience, and the method worked for him: he is a strong international master. The title is a little misleading in that it might imply the book is aimed at novice players, when the book could be useful for even club players. My chess library consists of around 300 books. This is one of the best self-improvement works in it.

What I really like about this book is how it caters for the student who seriously wants to improve. There is a lot more to it than you might think from seeing the cover, and I learned a lot about strategy and endgames. There are four things I found especially helpful:
1. the book covers a big range of topics, like how to make a plan or the important of pawn structures.
2. the diagram examples feature many famous games and famous players.
3. endgames are covered in detail (I have found that other books of this type ignore them).
4. there is lots of advice on how to improve

If you are an intermediate player (say rated 800 to 1900 USCF) this book will greatly benefit you.

What I really like about this book is how it caters for the student who seriously wants to improve. There is a lot more to it than you might think from seeing the cover, and I learned a lot about strategy and endgames. There are four things I found especially helpful:
1. the book covers a big range of topics, like how to make a plan or the important of pawn structures.
2. the diagram examples feature many famous games and famous players.
3. endgames are covered in detail (I have found that other books of this type ignore them).
4. there is lots of advice on how to improve

If you are an intermediate player (say rated 800 to 1900 USCF) this book will greatly benefit you.

This book is just what I've been looking for for along time. How do you study your own games? How do you come up with the right move? You know the elements of strategy and tactics but how do you use it in your own games? You'll find suggestions to these and other questions in this book. Based on his own experience IM Hall gives you ways to improve your chess and that from a practical point of view. It sets up suggestions for ways of methological training always keeping in mind that training should be fun!!!

Chess should be fun, as Hall states, and the book is filled with humourious anecdotes from Hall's own games. Like when he opened a game with 1.d4 and suddenly found himself "out of book" when the opponent answered 1...d5.

I recommend this book for everybody who needs an efficient training course to improve and develop their game.