Customer Reviews

Every Move Must Have a Purpose: Strategies from Chess for Business and Life

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you're looking for that perfect in-transit book to skim through, without straining your shoulders but working your grey matter, this slim treatise (115 pages, double spaced) makes for a pretty good fit.

Simply put, it draws some very thoughtful life and business lessons from Chess. Don't worry, it includes just enough chess material to keep the book relevant to the strategic game, but not so egregiously that it puts off people unfamiliar with chess (you know what a rook is though, right?)

The author writes almost like a chess player: with concentration and quick, quiet decisions expressed in single sentences. Which makes this book not only a pretty neat source of business thoughts, but also one of the better self-help and self-improvement books I've ever read.

You'll end up with a fistful of aphorisms if you really read, and while it may look a bit steep for its slim size, it's absolutely worth it. Highly recommended.

This slim volume, which draws life and business lessons from the game of chess, is one of the better self-help and self-improvement books you're likely to pick up. At only 115 pages, double-spaced, and a mere 20,000 words, the entire book is about the length of a chapter in most other books in its category. Author Bruce Pandolfini includes just enough chess lore to keep the book relevant to chess, but not so much as to overwhelm a chess-averse reader. He writes concisely, as a chess player plays, with a great deal of concentration and quick, quiet decisions expressed in single sentences. The book offers several fine aphorisms, the sort you will remember long after you have put it down. But it's not the kind of book you will want to put down. Fortunately, we are glad to note, it is small enough to fit into a purse or computer bag along with everything else you carry.

The elegant technique of chess instructor Bruce Pandolfini was never more cogent than in his latest offering, Every Move Must Have A Purpose. The chapters are beautifully delineated by chess principles and deliver incisive applications of thinking methods that penetrate relations in business and other areas of life. He supports these ideas by referencing examples from historical chess moments and sharing insights from the breadth of his experience.

This is a brilliant book. ... It certainly has some useful things to say about business and strategic decision-making, but it is a chess book, written so clearly and universally that even a person focused solely on business and nothing else could still understand and benefit from it. It does not go into chess moves or combinations, although the few times he does talk about them he makes them come alive, such as: "Sometimes a move is right only because it's a little wrong," or "Some moves explain themselves." Pandolfini presents chess ideas so cogently that anyone can appreciate them and see their larger import: "To see what they see, sit where they sit." That is the beauty of what Pandolfini has done here. He has merged straight chess and general culture to appeal to everyone with a discriminating mind. Anyone can read it, even children. Anyone can gain from it, even people stuck in their office. But while the book reaches out to cultivated businesspeople, I see it as a chess book, one of the most stimulating I have encountered in many years.

Aphorisms like "A lawsuit is like a game of chess" have never been of much practical use to me (yeah, I am a lawyer) until I read Bruce's book. The chess analogy is now vivid. The chapters do not give a mechanical how-to, but rather a way to test what I am doing. For instance, "Strive for More Than You Need" is not a smart tactic in all cases, but " Should I Strive for . . ." is always a smart question. This book was useful and fun to read.

There are many books out there that compare business to other pursuits, but I never found one drawing a correspondence between business and chess. I am not a chess player, or a fan of the game, and frankly am somewhat intimidated by it. But Bruce Pandolfini's compact monograph is less about chess and more about logical thinking. He offers fascinating stories and unusual analogies that are easy to understand and a joy to read. Furthermore, his writing is simple but discerning, and though the book is only a little more than 100 pages, it's chock full of fresh perceptions and neatly encapsulated aphorisms. I enjoyed EVERY MOVE MUST HAVE A PURPOSE so much I read it twice and gave several copies for holiday presents. I wish there were more experts like Mr. Pandolfini, with the ability to express abstractions so clearly and intelligently.

Amazing! I began to read this book prepared to improve my chess game. What I found was a way to improve my business skills. It helped me develop a framework for thinking. Not just for chess, but for business strategies. As a chess player, I was able to relate to Bruce's chess examples. Then he helped me convert that thinking to everyday thinking. After reading this book, I feel better prepared to play the "game" of life. I am better prepared to strategize and anticipate obstacles. I am so impressed with this book; I am ordering one for each of my employees. It will not only help them with business decisions, it will also help them with their personal lives. I have already given a copy to my two adult children. My 24-year-old son could not put it down. Since it is a one hundred page book, broken into 15 very easily read chapters he finished it in just a couple of hours. He feels it has changed his life. While this book is helpful for chess players, I would recommend this book to any business person who wants to understand a basic framework for planning and being prepared for obstacles and roadblocks.
Thank You Bruce for a book that makes a difference.

I really liked this book. I thought Pandolfini's observations were very insightful, and some of them were truly elegantly expressed. But it's clearly not a chess book. Rather it seems to be a motivational book about business and especially life. Though most of the anecdotes were based on chess, they had parallels that anyone could identify with. I found some of the reviews of the book ridiculous because the writers were treating Mr. Pandolfini as if he had written a pure chess book. They seemed to be disappointed because there were no diagrams or instructional examples, when clearly that's not what Every Move Must Have A Purpose is about. Frankly, I think it's a wonderful volume and couldn't put it down, all the way from Newark to Los Angeles.
--One who appreciates a great mind

This slim volume, which draws life and business lessons from the game of chess, is one of the better self-help and self-improvement books you're likely to pick up. At only 115 pages, double-spaced, and a mere 20,000 words, the entire book is about the length of a chapter in most other books in its category. Author Bruce Pandolfini includes just enough chess lore to keep the book relevant to chess, but not so much as to overwhelm a chess-averse reader. He writes concisely, as a chess player plays, with a great deal of concentration and quick, quiet decisions expressed in single sentences. The book offers several fine aphorisms, the sort you will remember long after you have put it down. But it's not the kind of book you will want to put down. Fortunately, we are glad to note, it is small enough to fit into a purse or computer bag along with everything else you carry.

This is probably the most platitudinous book on chess principles I ever read. If you apply the analogy of the education system to chess, the things you learn from this book would be taught in Grade 2. I cannot believe this costs $25. Perhaps I had the wrong impression of Pandolfini.

If you want to make use of this book, here's what you do: copy down the title of each chapter in your chess notebook, and do away with this one. Reading it through will not make you a better chess player or a better "life player."

In fact, here they are:

1. Play the Board, Not the Player

2. Don't Ignore a Good Hunch

3. Play with a Plan

4. Look at Your Opponent's Moves

5. Don't Waste Material

6. Seize the Initiative

7. Play for the Center

8. Develop the Pieces

9. Don't Overextend

10. Convert Weaknesses into Strengths

11. Learn from Your Mistakes

12. Don't Sacrifice Without Good Reason

13. Seek Small Advantages

14. Don't Apply Principles Mechanically

15. Strive for More than You Need

I'll read it again in a few years; if my impression does not change by then, I'm donating it to my local library.