Encyclopedia of Chess Wisdom, 2nd Edition [Paperback]

Eric Schiller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

From opening, middlegame, and endgame strategy, to psychological warfare and tournament tactics, you are taken through the thinking behind each essential concept.  Examples, discussions, and diagrams show the full impact on the game's direction.  Tons of diagrams, examples, sidebars, and sample games illustrate the concepts, making this book easy-to-read and a joy for players looking to delve deeper into the mysteries of chess and become a better player.  Called one of the ten best chess books ever written, readers will learn the thinking and concepts behind every aspect of a chess game.  An absolute must for players who love the game of chess.  432 pages

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Cardoza; 2nd edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580420885
• ISBN-13: 978-1580420884
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I have to agree with the "sloppy" camp, August 19, 1999

By 

John Grabowski (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Encyclopedia Of Chess Wisdom (Cardoza Chess Books) (Paperback)

Eric Schiller frustrates me. He has great breadth as a chess writer (I am not yet good enough to be able to critique whether he has "depth" too, but that's besides the point) and writes books about every aspect of the game. He also has what should be one of the best books on standard openings out there. There seems to be no aspect of chess he hasn't covered. Yet maybe that's the problem: his books are chock full of typos, diagram errors, misstatements, misattributions, and just plain poorly-written material. Perhaps he cranks these books out a little TOO fast. When I opened this book three times to random pages in the bookstore and found huge mistakes on each page (mistakes that can be found without even playing the games through on a chess set), what's the point of buying the book? He even has position diagrams where he builds up to the fact that white is about to make this oh-so-amazing move that all students should study carefully...and then he gives it, and either it's an impossible move, or in the diagram white's piece is ALREADY there, so we don't know where said piece is coming from, and thus why this move was so unexpected. That's just one error...it would take forever to catalog them all and you get the idea anyway. What's most frustrating is, as I said, his books COULD be great. Clearly I and many others could learn a lot from Schiller, but he needs a proof-reader or two. (Incidentally this review applies to all Schiller's books I have seen so far, and not just EOCW.)

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably sloppy, August 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Encyclopedia Of Chess Wisdom (Cardoza Chess Books) (Paperback)

Eric Schiller has produced yet another book which is unbelievably sloppy. Some examples are given here, although they barely scratch the surface:

Incorrect notation: Page 279 has Qa1 checkmate instead of Qh1.

Wrong history: page 69 attributes a quote to Tarrasch in 1935, by which time he was already dead. Page 167 claims that in 1895 Lasker was `on his way to the World Championship', but he had won it in 1894. Page 313 is in the wrong century for a Legall game. Page 335: the date of the Congdon v Delmar position (page 335) is a full century out.

Ignorance of grammar: `it's still you're turn to move' (page 142). Another example: `A passed pawn increases it's strength...' (page 250).

Bizarre typo: `it can also crate threats' (page 145).

Misspelling of names: `Lake Hopatong' (page 160). `Wywill' (page 297).

Wrong diagram: page 198, for example.

Wrong moves: Page 301 has the illegal move Qh4+ instead of Qh6+. The same page claims that in a simple queen ending 3 Qc1 is mate, but it is not.

Inconsistent spelling: Brinkmate/Brinckmate (page 262). Malteses Cross/Maltese cross (page 280). Wolf's/Wolff's (page 331).

Nonsensical game-score: Pages 321-322 have a game `Pillsbury v Lee, London 1889'. The two did not even meet that year. Ten years later they played a game which opened similarly, but the continuation given by Schiller was in fact what occurred, up to a point, in a different game, Pillsbury v Newman, Philadelphia, 1900. In short, yet another shambles.

Awful writing style: A specimen from page 343: `What on earth is going on here. White is giving away the store! Let's see, Black has an extra rook, worth five clams or whatever, and can eat another one at a1. Must be winning, right?'

And so it goes on... How could Cardoza have even considered publishing such `work'?

Above review by Edward Winter

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Encyclopedia of Chess Typos, February 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Encyclopedia Of Chess Wisdom (Cardoza Chess Books) (Paperback)

A review by Billy Patteson

Eric Schiller has another book out, and it is called Encyclopedia of Chess Wisdom. Schiller is a prolific writer of chess books. Some of his work is pretty good. He is a strong master and has some good ideas. But it really is a shame that he has let quantity rather than quality rule his output. Either he or his publisher, Cardoza Publishing, should slow down and actually look at each page before rushing into print another chess book. Typos in this latest work in many cases exceed anything I have ever seen. I am using the word "typo" here to also include any other goofy type of careless error which demonstrates the sloppy work that is my complaint here. Apparently pride for good work and shame for poor work does not exist with the Schiller/Cardoza team. The actual chess content of this book is decent, certainly no worse than other books of this genre. But I want to now show a few examples of what really has my dander up.

p. 59: The italics quote from a 19th century chess book gives 2...Be5 as a defense to the King's Gambit. Of course ...Bc5 was intended. But why repeat the same error in regular type in the very next sentence?

p. 63: First sentence uses `your' instead of `you are'. I quit making this error in about the fifth grade.

p. 82: This sentence makes no sense: "White offered the initial gambit, but it is Black who holds the extra pawn." Say what?

p. 131: This page contains perhaps the most incredible goof that I have ever seen in print. Ever! In describing how to attack a Nf6 and a castled king, Schiller says: "There are of course slow ways of chasing denied away including the advance of the g-pawn but sacrificial means are also often employed." Apparently he used the word "denied" because it sounds like "the knight." Unbelievable.

p. 211: The Lucena Position. This page is really an insult to all of our beginners. Schiller describes the process as "building a bridge." But his example leaves off before the "bridge" idea is completely revealed, and the line ends with an unplayable typo of 5.Rb6. If someone does not know the Lucena method, I promise you, reading this page will not teach them how to do it.

p. 332: Englisch Stalemate. Schiller explains that the name is German, thus the odd spelling. But he immediately spells it ENGLISH instead.

p. 395: Schiller attempts to tell the famous anecdote about Korchnoi in his 1974 match with Karpov. Korchnoi's KR was attacked, and not knowing the castling rule he asked the arbiter if it was legal to castle in the position. Schiller says: "You can guess who almost fell victim to the castling rule - our friend Korchnoi! It cost him, perhaps, the World Championship title." But Korchnoi played the winning castling move. He won the game, but lost the match. The incident cost Korchnoi nothing (except, of course, a little embarrassment about the rule.) Again, Schiller makes no sense.

p. 408: The rating scale shown has two glaring typos. Editing this page only one time would have caught it easily.

I could go on with other errors in the book, but these are the most obvious, and in some cases they really insult the reader's intelligence. Mr. Schiller and Cardoza Publishing can do better, and in the future I hope that they do.