Excelling at Chess Calculation: Capitalizing on Tactical Chances [Paperback]

Jacob Aagaard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

Jacob Aagaard tackles the art of chess calculation, unravelling its many secrets and arming the reader with the necessary tools to be able to calculate effectively at the chessboard. Aagaard pays particular attention to the searching practical questions like "when should you calculate?" and "how can you discover candidate moves?". A thorough study of this book will enable the reader to calculate with confidence in future games.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

There are many differing opinions amongst the top players in the world of chess, but there is one thing upon which World Champions, Grandmasters and other experts all agree: the art of chess calculation is the absolute key to the success of a player. Master this discipline and you can surely expect your results to improve dramatically. And yet there have been very few serious attempts in the past by chess authors to delve into this delicate topic, perhaps not surprisingly given its complexity and difficulty. In Excelling at Chess Calculation, Jacob Aagaard tackles the subject matter head on, unraveling the many secrets behind chess calculation and arming the reader with the necessary tools to be able to calculate effectively at the chessboard. Aagaard pays particular attention to searching practical questions like 'when should you calculate?', 'how can you discover candidate moves?' and 'how long should you spend on critical moves?' A thorough study of this book will enable you to calculate with confidence in future games.

*A crucial guide to the skill of chess calculation
*Ideal for both club and tournament players
*Written by a renowned chess coach and author

About the Author

Jacob Aagaard is an International Master from Denmark who has earned himself a deserved reputation as an industrious and no-nonsense chess author. His recent books for Everyman include Queen's Indian Defence and Excelling at Positional Chess, while his earlier work, Excelling at Chess, won the prestigious ChessCafe.com Book of the Year Award.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857443608
• ISBN-13: 978-1857443608
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #306,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Calculation is only the half of it, though an important half!, September 18, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Excelling at Chess Calculation: Capitalizing on Tactical Chances (Paperback)

Here we have it! One of several new books on chess tactical calculation (or planning? - kinda some of the same stuff, though not always). I will say for sure, this guy knows is stuff! With books on general tactics/pattern recognition puzzles, chess traps, and much more on the rise, you kinda need to look for thinks a little different to "get the edge". I will not say this book is better than the recent other tactics calculation book I got or chess traps books (actually opening tactics - found it very useful), but I will say it is up there!
Some totally different ideas were given in this book, that I didn't find in others, some useful, some less than useful (that is why when you read any chess book, do not ever think that the written word is always right!). But I did learn from it, and I liked it. Just one comment. I think that either the author didn't write English as his first language or it was translated - because there were obviously some grammer mistakes that sometimes effected what I think the author was trying to get across - my only complaint. Otherwise, a good book!!

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A little delusion, May 22, 2008

By 

FKav chess - See all my reviews

This review is from: Excelling at Chess Calculation: Capitalizing on Tactical Chances (Paperback)

There are not many hints about training in calculation, just a final chapter which gives obvious advice like "solve combinations", "analyze games", "purchase these other books", and 100 exercises.
The rest of the book are just commented games where calculation is important.

7 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Author doesn't stick to the topic., January 3, 2010

By 

Jeremy "Metal bigot" (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Excelling at Chess Calculation: Capitalizing on Tactical Chances (Paperback)

This book sucks and is the first chess book I'd really like to just return. The author's ideas are good, but his writing is completely unclear and strays off topic all the time. There is a lot of stream of consciousness crap in here. For example p. 40 after move 11. "I don't much like this move but that is a subject for opening theory and not a subject for this book." ?? Then why freakin' mention?! Stupid/sloppy writing practice.

p. 38 "If you can calculate well, you should use this to your advantage; if not, don't feel pressure to play as if you can, but use intuition and other facets of your chess ability blah blah..."

Are you kidding me!??! This is a book about improving one's calculation and the author is telling people if they're not good at it to just rely on other facets and intuition????? WHAT?! Maybe the author forgot people buying this book are trying to improve their calculation because they're not good at it. sheesh! Stupid rambling again.

Those are two specific examples. I'm only on the third chapter "When to calculate?" thinking he will give advice on how to determine when a position is critical, but no. He just gives a bunch of examples with annotations and comments completely irrelevant to the supposed main point of helping the reader determine when to calculate.

Bottom line: Don't buy this book. Get Dan Heisman's "The Improving Chess Thinker" instead.