Customer Reviews

Complete Book of Chess Strategy: Grandmaster Techniques from A to Z

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you looking for a lot of strategies defined and briefly covered then this is the perfect book. If you are looking for a book on detailed strategies, opening traps or tactics on a deep level then this is not the right book. It simply doesn't get into anything very deeply (though it covers a lot of different strategies briefly). For what it is (more of reference book) this is a good book (you just need to understand what it is!).

This is a pretty good starter book for someone, yet is far from complete... The name is a bit deceptive to claim to be a complete strategy guide... This reads more like a Chess Dictionary than an actual strategy guide... Perhaps a better name would of been Chess Dictionary, Grandmaster Techniques from A-Z... I would say this book is mostly good for those U1600 range... The lower you are, the more this book most likely will help you... Just realize this gives a brief basic idea of what something means... By no means is this a complete work that will make you into an IM or GM... I will try to give a basic idea of what to expect in this book...

Basically the book starts with an introduction explaining the goals of this book and how the idea to write happend... Silman explains how he had a student that basically wrote a book like this in a simple form... He could not deal with how books overwhelm person with too much information... So Silman took that idea and expanded upon it, creating basically an easy to digest Chess Dictionary... It then goes into a short explanation of what the various chess notation symbols mean... This can be good for a starter since its easy to confuse !? with ?! :)... Then he gets into Chess notation, this part bothered me a bit to say the least... I wish he covered and explained descriptive notation since that was something I had lots of trouble understanding starting out... I think that would of helped someone staring out very much to say the least... Also make it easier for them to get older chess books and understand them... Still he covers modern notation rather well and in an easy to understand way...

Then we get into the 4 main parts of the book... They consist of The Opening, The Middlegame, The Endgame, and Practical Matters... I will try to give a basic idea of what each one of these parts consist of...

Part I The Opening... He deals with basic opening strategy, castling, development, fianchetto, then he gets into some opening systems... The coverage he gives on the openings he covers here is pretty minimal... At most he gives 1 or 2 pages with only a few moves mentioned... He tries to give basic ideas of the openings using words, instead of a page or two of variations... This can be good for someone new to the game, since its likely to now overwhelm them... The openings he touches on consist of Albin Counter Gambit, Alekhine Defense, Benko Gambit, Bogo-Indian Defense, Benko Gambit, Boring Opening(Reversed London System), Botvinnik Formation, Budapest Gambit, Caro-Kann Defense, Center-Counter Defense, Colle Opening, Czech Benoni, Dutch Defense, English Opening, Four Knights Opening, French Defense, Giuoco Piano, Grob, Gruenfeld Defense, Hedgehog Formation, King's Gambit, King's Indian Attack, King's Indian Defense, Larsen's Opening, Modern Benoni Defense, Nimzo-Indian Defense, Orangutan, Petroff Defense, Pirc Defense, Queen's Gambit(Chigorin system, accepted, declined), QGD(Capablanca's Freeing Maneuver, Tarrasch Defense), Queen's Indian Defense, Reti Opening, Ruy Lopez, Scotch Opening, Semi-Slav Defense, Sicilian Defense, Slav Defense, Stonewall Attack, Torre Attack, Trompowski Opening, Two Knight Defense, and the Veresov Opening... They are listed in alphabetical order so that makes looking them up rather easy... He also touches a bit on preperation and reversed openings... The part concludes with 20 quiz questions relating to openings...

Part two The Middlegame deals with what comes after the opening... This part starts out talking about attacks on the enemy king... Castling on opposite sides, castling on the same side, and even the classic Bishop Sacrifice... He then gets into combinations and combinational themes... Stuff like Clearance Sacrifice, Decoy, Deflection, Double Attack, Fork, Pins/Skewers, Windmill, X-Rays, and Zwischenzug... He touches on King in the center and Kingside focal points next... After that he talks about Mating Net and Mating Patterns... He even lists several known mates, including Blackburne's, Boden's, and Pilsbury... This is good for a new player so he knows what people mean when they refer to these mates by name... Silman even talks a little bit about Sacrifice and Tactical Vision... Silman also gets into such things as Blockade, Candidate Moves/Imbalances, Centralization, Closed/Open Positions, Compensation, Counterplay, Defensive Strategy, Entombed Pieces, Initiative, Material Advantage, Minority Attack, Minor Pieces, Mysterious Rook Moves, Open Files, and Overprotection... He even touches on more neglected concepts to starters... Topics such as Pawn Center, Pawn Chain, Pawn Structure(Backward, Doubled, Isolated, Hanging, Passed, and Tripled Pawns), Pawn Islands, and Pawn Tension... After that he talks about Perpetual Check, Piece Activity, Plan, Principle of Two Weaknesses, Prophylaxis, Queenside Pawn Majority, Restriction, Space, Squares, Static Versus Dynamic Advantages, Support Points, Trading Pieces, and Traps... If your not sure about any of that stuff, or don't know what they mean... Perhaps this book might be something that will help you out... The part ends with a 33 question Quiz relating to Middlegame concepts... Again the coverage of the mentioned topics is rather on the brief side...

Part III The Endgame talks about what comes after the middlegame... The topics he touches on in this chapter deals with the following... Bishop and Wrong Rook Pawn, Cat and Mouse, Exchanging, Minor Pieces in The Endgame, Passed Pawns in The Endgame(Queen Endgame, Pawn Majority and Outside Passed Pawn, Promotion and Underpromotion), Queen and Minor Piece Fights, Stalemate, Using the King(King and Pawn vs King, Opposition, Saving Pawn Moves, Square of The Pawn, Triangulation), and Using The Rooks(Active Rook, Lucena Position, Philidor Position, Rooks Behind Passed Pawns, Short and Long Side of The Board and Two Hogs on The Seventh)... Again the coverage is far from complete, but still it can get you started on right path... Also help prepare you to read a more detailed/difficult book on the topics... This part ends with a 10 question Quiz about Endgame matters...

Part IV deals with Practical Matters where Silman talks about "invisible" facets to the game... He touches on such topics as Blunder, Draw Offer, Point Count, Psychology, and Time Pressure... He does preach to players to never give up and play to win... This part ends with a 10 question Quiz about Practical Matters that were covered...

So this is a pretty good book for a newer chess player, the less you know the more it will help... If not for a few things I might of given the book 5 stars... Mostly the fact that he does not cover descriptive notation and the books name is very deceptive... If someone buys this thinking it is actually a Total Complete Guide of Chess Strategy, they will find over time there are many gaps... Also some of the coverage perhaps is a bit too brief to be helpful... The end of the book with the Questions and Answers to the Quizzes is rather nice... Instead of just printing the answers to them... This makes it rather easy to go over them without back and forth looking... Other starter books to consider might be Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess and The Mammoth Book of Chess... This book is nicely priced and you get good value for your dollar... Also remember Silman is rather easy to read and understand... Just realize this is more of a Dictionary than anything else... The book is very easy to Digest and Should at least help with Chess terms if nothing else... I might not agree with all Silman says, but I still think this is a good book with a deceptive title...

I bought this book after buying Silman's "Reassess Your Chess" and "The Amateur's Mind", both of which have been very helpful to me. This book bills itself as a strategy guide.

This book covers a lot of ground and hits upon a lot of fundamental ideas that a good chess player needs. I am hardly a beginner, but some of the tactical ideas in chess are new to me as I have either never encountered them or I never had them shown to me. This book does a lot to shed light on some of them. It covers such topics as x-rays, windmills, double attacks, pins, forks, etc.

An extremely useful section of this book, to which I have found nothing comparable in other books, is a description of common opening systems and what they try to accomplish. The assessment Silman gives is related directly to his system of imbalances (see his other books for more detailed information on that), and each opening system is picked apart and explained. This is beyond helpful, this is absolutely critical. For this reason alone I bought this book.

The book reads like an encyclopedia -- not exploring each subject exhaustively, but including it and summarizing. This intent is spelled out in the introduction. This is an important point to note -- this book was not intended to be exhaustive.

This is a good book. What prevents it from being a great book is not what is has, but what it doesn't have -- it needs more examples. Each subject after the coverage of openings gets a page or two on average, including one or two examples. I would have liked to have seen more examples to further convey the concepts. This does not mean a student should expect to pick up this book and gain instant mastery, but there should be good "proof of concept" for each idea the author presents. Also, I would have preferred to see coverage of a few more opening systems and/or variations.

As a tournament preparation guide, as the introduction suggests, this book is a very valuable resource.

If you are begining chess, this is an excellent book to start with. It covers enough of most aspects of the game to get you started right. It should give an excellent and solid foundation. I wish it had been available to me 20 years ago. If you are above the level of beginner, you will likely pick up some useful ideas from the book, but most of what it contains you will have learned by bitter experience. The format and writing are excellent. Text moves can be followed in all but a few diagrams without a board, which makes it easy and pleasurable to read. The book contains two errors that I noticed, one dealing with a stalemate and another illustrating Alekhines Gun. Even so, this book contains what a new player needs, and it would be among my first recomendations to the novice. A more accurate title would be a "Basic Book of Chess Strategy."

I liked this book, but not nearly as much as his How to Reassess Your Chess. While most topics are covered, there is simply not enough explanation on some of them. For example, explanations of bishop sacrafices, deflections, and other tactical issues are able to be covered in 1-2 pages. However, positional topics, like "Mysterious Rook Moves", weak squares, and imbalances in space, material, etc., are too complex to be discussed in any short format.

I do recommend this book as an introduction to these themes, but Winning Chess Tactics is better for tactical issues, How To Reassess Your Chess is better for positional understanding, Pandolfini's Endgame Course is better for, well, endgame work, and Standard Chess Openings is better for Opening Knowledge.

If you want a quick refresher with little depth, this is it. If you want the depth, you'll still have to go elsewhere. I would love an expanded 2nd edition that covers all topics in greater detail. Then you'd have a truly "complete" book.

Silman is a great teacher, and a clear, concise writer. This book by any other author would probably only get 3 stars (assuming it was written in a less effective manner).

Every review you see on this book will read the same: TONS of topics, LITTLE explanation. That is the intent of the book. Now the only question is whether or not this approach to chess authorship is appropriate.

The book is divided into four different sections: opening, middlegame, endgame, and "practical matters" (encompassing psychology, tournament play, and all the stuff that doesn't need a diagram). At the end of each section is a little quiz on the material covered previously, generally true/false. Sounds easy, and it is pretty easy.

The section on the openings gives a smorgasbord of most every conceivable opening. It covers everything from the heavily theorized openings like the Ruy Lopez and Sicilian to the less-known openings, like the Polish (1.d4 b5) and the Albin Counter Gambit. It is never in-depth on these openings (one to three pages tops) but it gives you a real vague, general summary. What use it that? Well, if you're looking to pick out a reperotoire, like many beginning players, you're in luck. You can find an opening that caters to almost any player, check the main line and see if you like it. Even a higher-rated player could use that if they wanted a new opening or two.

The middlegame section covers motifs like "blockade", "open files", and "superior minor pieces". Things that every chess player has ingrained in them. If you've never heard the terms before, they will be useful. If you know all the terms, they can still be a great refresher course for you. How many times do we read a book on the King's Indian or the Ruy, replete with blockade ideas, yet don't always remember the little intracacies? Often enough to warrant a review.

The endgame section is weak, as it would have to be (you can't really have a treatise on the many endgames included in the space provided) and doesn't really do anything for the book. The section on practical matters is pretty cool, though, and can be inspiring for someone who wants to get a routine in order for tournaments (or answer questions about things like the staredown).

Like the title of this review suggests, the club player likely will not gain rating points from this book. A lot of people won't, even beginners. However, the book plays a VERY important role in augmenting other knowledge, making networks of association, and just being an all-around good review book. It's a fun read for the bathtub, airplane, or between rounds. If you're a beginner: go for it.

So to answer the question posed at the top: if you're over 1600 and doing a little chessic soul-searching: put it in the cart. Otherwise, perhaps you would be better served by another title.

Gives an excellent overview of basic strategies. Perfect for the avid chess player who wants to start toward tournament play (on-line or otherwise).

I got it because I was getting blasted on www.chessclub.com. I'm now able to hold a 1200 pretty consistently now (when I don't get lazy). This book, and a little polish on an opening repretoire from "Modern Chess Openings - 14" put my game above every friend and family member I play. I have to regularly get humbled on-line to remember I'm not the "master" my friends and family think I am. I've given this book to many of them (to make things more fair and fun.)

Definitately not for high-end masters, except to freshen up as the author states.

To all those solitaire players out there (you know who you are) make the move to a time-kill with mental value rather than one that numbs the brain. ;-)

This book cover all phases of the chess game.
In the first section, Jeremy Silman, give us some examples of opening systems, he coments
the main ideas and specific plans for each opening. There is a quiz in the final of this section.
The big attraction of this book is the second part: The midle-game strategies.
The contents are: tactics: Forks, pins, decoy, double attack etc. Mating patterns, focal points
at f7,g7 and h7. minority attack. He teaches when to attack on the wings, and when to attack
on the center, using pieces or pawns according to situation of the game. There are a lot of
strategical stuff in this book. There is a quiz in this section too.
The third part, Silman, writes the basic of chess finals: kings oppositions,
triangulation etc. for the rooks: Lucena Position, Philidor Position etc.
This book is indicate for beginers to intermediate chess players.

This is one of the best one volume books on chess. It is geared towards a beginner-intermediate player (ratings between 900-1499). If you know how the pieces move and understand basic concepts, but struggle, this is the book for you. I received it as a gift, and although it was a little basic for me, I was able to still learn some things from it. The book is divided into three basics sections, the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame.

The Opening: This lists just about all of the openings. For each opening, Silman describes the first few moves and the main variations. He'll briefly talk about the objectives and aims for each side. This is quite hand and important. Many big openings references like MCO or NCO list moves, but fail to describe any overall objectives, such as "Black will play for a either a c6-c5 or e6-e5 advance, while White attacks the kingside with Ne2, Ng3, h4, h5." This way you know what you are playing for without have to memorize lines (which you shouldn't do anyway.)

The Middlegame: This lists different strategy and tacics. Strategy is general overall ideas like having active bishops, having knights in advance positions, creating advance positions for your knights, putting rooks on open files, and what situations bishops are better than knights and vice-versa. Silman will shown an example and ask "what should Black do here....well the knight should go from f3 to d6 via d2 and e4. Tactics are basic and simple combinations to win material or the game such as skewers or pins. He'll show a simple example, and then show the same example in a mock game, but with more pieces and perhaps a couple of moves to make before you reach the position. Classic checkmates are also shown in a similar fashion.

The Endgame: Here are described very basic and simple endgame principles. The endgame is an equally important part of a game, but often forgotten by beginners and intermediates. Classic positions and endgame strategies are described. Many of these positions come up in games and it's good to know them

In spite of its grandiose title, Silman's book is written for beginners, and for more experienced players who want a review of the basics. It's divided into three parts - guess what - openings, middle game, and endgame. The Middle Game and End Game sections are very good, and cover important and interesting beginning-to-middle-strength player topics like basic checkmates (Morphy's Mate), pawn structure, and knights vs. bishops. The Openings section is less successful, because he just shows the first few moves and doesn't get into the really critical variations.

Silman is a great teacher, and I wish that I had read this book when I was just starting out in chess. If you are just starting out I would recommend it very highly. It will give beginning players a very solid foundation. More advanced (1500 or so) players might want to check out "The Amateur's Mind," by the same author, that covers the same ground but more in depth.