Customer Reviews

The Middlegame in Chess

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

 

 

Obviously I am giving this book 1 star because of Burt Hochburg, not Reuben Fine. This revised edition is a complete insult to chess and chess literature. Almost every page has a typo, incorrect move, or incorrect diagram (many times several errors per page). If you are a beginner do not get this book. Get the original. And if you're someone who isn't that familiar with chess notation then do NOT get it. You will be confused over and over at all the stupid mistakes. I bought this book at a book store and after becoming more and more fed up I have decided I'm going to return it. This is a disgusting book and an insult to Reuben Fine. Mr. Fine must be rolling over in his grave right now. The cover of this book says that it's revised. So basically typos, move errors, incorrect diagrams, the removal of a game from the original book, and the removal of the unnecessary (Hochberg's words) player index and opening index make this book revised? He lists six revisions at the beginning of the book. First, the notation has been changed from descriptive to algebraic. This is the only good thing about the book (although personally, I'd rather read a chess book in descriptive without errors than in albebraic with a googol plex errors). Second, he says that in some places the text has been updated to conform to modern style. What the hell does that mean? Could he be any less clear? Sounds like BS to me. Third, he says all the diagrams are new and several have been added. Excuse me? That makes no sense. If all the diagrams are new how can more be added? Why would you even say that? More BS. Fourth, he says in the new page layouts the diagrams are properly integrated with the game moves. Since when does combining incorrect moves with incorrect diagrams make something properly integrated? Two negatives make a positive? I don't think so. More BS. Lots of these diagrams have pieces on the wrong squares and extra pieces that aren't supposed to be there. Fifth, he says the game Flohr-Ragozin, an uneventful and unenlightening draw, has been deleted. HAHAHA! Wow what a brilliant revisionist you are Mr. Hochberg. It must take a lot of skill to remove a game from a chess book. I'm sure your opinion on that game is much more respectable than the ORIGINAL author's opinion. Thank you so much for taking it out. It would have been too much to skip it if I had the original version. A true revision, if I ever did see one. Sixth, he says the unnecessary index of players and the index of openings and variations, half a century out of date, have both been omitted. What kind of idiot thinks that the player and opening index is unnecessary? Are you out of your mind Mr. Hochberg? Those two things are extremely necessary for referencing. What if a reader is trying to look up a particular player or opening? Is he just supposed to quickly skim through the 400 pages? You didn't even give a reason for omitting the player index. The only reason you gave was why you took out the opening index. And if the opening variations are out of date, then why don't you make them up to date? That's obviously the most logical thing to do. But no, to you revision means subtraction. You have added nothing to The Miggle Game in Chess, except your own countless errors. And another thing, I laughed my @$$ off when I read how he changed the original title, which was "The Middle Game in Chess" to "The Middlegame in Chess." Wow, that was brilliant. Thanks for telling us all. So let's recap: you changed correct moves to incorrect ones, you added incorrect diagrams, you took out a game, you took out the player index, you took out the opening index, and you invented a new word that doesn't exist by changing Reuben Fine's original title. Bravo. Great revisions. My recommendation? Don't buy this book. If you did, return it immediately (if you aren't able to return it then it might come in handy if you're in the bathroom and run out of toilet paper). Please, get the original if you can find it.

This is a revised edition of Reuben Fine's 1952 classic. However, this edition has an average of two or three typos per page! It is disgusting what they have done to an otherwise interesting book.

This is an excellent book, but the reviser needed only a chess amateur or two to clear up 99% of the errors in this book. It's truly insane and hilarious how obvious they are. at one point you see 20. Rxf8 Rxf1 21. Rxf8# and they're supposed to be talking about f1!!!!!! hahaha...There's even a diagram with three rooks (and a pawn hadn't promoted). There's another diagram with pawns on f2, g2, h2, and h4! Seriously ugly.

I wish the publisher would fix the errors and offer a recall on the existing books as an apology instead of just settling for rushing it out the door. It's ludicrous.

I used to own a copy from the earlier printing of this book, and it was one of my favorites. I passed it along to a friend who was searching for improvement in his game. While I agree with the previous reviewer that this book lacks the writing style Fine used in previous books, for the serious student, this is THE textbook on how to play the middlegame. It covers combinations, attacks, how to analyze a position, how to make the most of different types of advantages, how to defend, and the transitional points between the opening & the middlegame and between the middlegame & the endgame. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Reuben Fine, he was one of the strongest, if not the strongest, chess player in the world in the 1930's. He tied for first with Keres in the celebrated AVRO tournament of 1938, possibly the strongest tournament in history (certainly in the top 3).
My only reservation with this printing consists of the numerous typos. The language was changed to algebraic, but in the conversion an incredible number of errors were made in the move lists. I would recommend this book to the player seriously interested in improving their middlegame play (club players rated 1400 - 1800), but with the warning that you WILL be confused by many of the examples and the moves given for those positions. Perhaps, if you have a good games database, you can locate the games on your own and use your own game copies with Fine's explanations.

... Reuben Fine's "The Middlegame in Chess" is one of the greatest technical manuals ever written. The revisor (Mr. Hochberg) states in his revisor's note that "the book was, and is, a unique volume of chess wisdom from one of the greatest players of the twentieth century." Mr. Hochberg then proceeds to ruin the book with typos and mistaken diagrams. A reader will have to spend a significant amount of time trying to figure out what the moves in the original play lists were or where the pieces in the diagrams are actually supposed to be. I still give the book three stars because it really is outstanding information. But I don't recommend it to anyone who can't figure out what the errors in the text and diagrams are.

Reuben Fine had a unique, clear style in explaining the game of chess, and it shows in this work. His assessment of positions is great for a patzer like me. However, Burt Hochberg & McKay / Random House have managed to revise this on the order of John Nunn doing Bobby Fischer's 60 Memorable Games. Huge numbers of typos and errors in diagrams make for difficult reading.

Fine produced a classic work. the reviser and publisher forgot a couple of things -- proofreading and accuracy.

This is an excellent introductory middlegame book for the 1400-1800 player. When I bought it, I did had read the previous critics on mr. Hochburg and considered them as amusing but a little bit overkill: but... it's really true.
Reuben Fine would turn in his grave as he knew that mr. Hochburg would translate his work. I read the book in parallel with a databaseprogram, so that a lot of things are 'automaticly' corrected by the db-engine, but after a while it's not so funny: left/right or upside/down interchanged, changing pieces etc..
The translater is an insult for Reuben Fine and his book and shall be forbidden to translate any book from chess literature.
I give it 3 stars when it should have deserved more with another translater.

Some of the diagrams and a lot of the text items have typos and mistakes as the other reviewers have pointed out. This guy who did the update to this book did a horrible job.
If you want to learn a lot about the middle game get Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors along with Winning Chess Tournaments for Juniors. These books will also help make your game stronger in the Opening and Endgame too. Also, The Middlegame by Euwe is also good.

I borrowed every book written by Reuben Fine from the local college library, to see if I might model my playing after him. (I studied Fischer, but I'm no Bobby.) I so enjoyed this book, I decided to buy it. I agree that this version is flawed with typos in move lists and diagrams, but its re-vamped organization allows the pertinent info to flow more freely.

I always seemed to get lost in my games around the middlegame. This book is so full of recognizable patterns, that I can see my way more clearly now. I especially enjoyed learning the proper way to conduct an attack on the castled king using a pawn storm.

I highly recommend this book for intermediate players, like myself.

What a perfect book! The first chapter is excessively simple and then the subsequent chapters are ridiculously complex. I hope you are not fooled most of the mistakes in the book are intentional. If you are really really good at chess you probably have the ability to make false mistakes thus making your games more interesting and doing more to improve your chess skill. The book would be mediocre, really, if it was not full of intentional mistakes.

Thank you Reuben Fine for writing one of the silliest and most impressive books,

Confident Christopher