Rapid Chess Improvement (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

~ Michael de la Maza (Author) "Who is this book for?..." (more)
Key Phrases: Knight Flight, World Open, Cuzear Ford (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This is the ideal book for serious adult players who want to improve. It describes a study plan that came about thanks to a re-evaluation of standard chess teaching and includes several unique components aimed at improving deficiencies in the play of adult players. This book is the only one of its kind for the simple reason that it has been written by an author who hugely improved his own rating over a twelve month period by following his own advice. He therefore fully understands the challenges faced by enthusiastic players who are relatively new to the game. This is in sharp contrast to most books aimed at this level which are usually written by very strong players who have long forgotten what it feels like to be starting out in the game. (6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 128 pages, diagrams)

From the Back Cover

This is the ideal book for serious adult players who want to improve. It describes a study plan that came about thanks to a re-evaluation of standard chess teaching and includes several unique components aimed at improving deficiencies in the play of adult players. This book is the only one of its kind for the simple reason that it has been written by an author who hugely improved his own rating over a twelve month period by following his own advice. He therefore fully understands the challenges faced by enthusiastic players who are relatively new to the game. This is in sharp contrast to most books aimed at this level which are usually written by very strong players who have long forgotten what it feels like to be starting out in the game. (6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 128 pages, diagrams)

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857442695
• ISBN-13: 978-1857442694
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #145,984 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An important book for chess amateurs..., September 2, 2002

By	Rob Ryley "Robert" (Northeast NJ) - See all my reviews

I have numerous chess books devoted to openings, middlegames, and endgames. After reading these books, my game hasn't progressed to the point where I want it to be.

I've begun to implement De La Maza's training methods, and I think he is onto something, especially with the simplistic chess vision drills. I'm a talented, but very inconsistent 1400 player, and have been outplaying and defeating 1900 rated opponents on the US Chess Live site since doing these drills.

Tactics and pattern recognition are crucial to chess mastery. Following his program will drill standard combinations into your brain, so you won't be sitting at the board wondering "What do I do now?" Even better, you won't hang the queen on move 10, or drop a piece on move 12 like you normally would do.
While his program is good, I think he is a bit unfair to authors such as Silman--who also writes very good books. There is no conflict between studying tactics AND learning the rules of good play that other authors teach.
I'd advise someone who can't follow through with the complete program to emphasize tactics, but reward yourself by studying other books as well. Silman's books are great. Bronstein's 1953 chess tournament book is fun to study as well. Best of all--Jeno Ban's Tactics of Endgames. That will help your tactical ability and engame technique at the same time.
Overall, a helpful text.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reads like an infomercial -- but just as entertaining!, October 28, 2002

By	Michael S. Kerry (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read this book in a single night. If it was fiction, that would make it really good. As chess instruction material, it is certainly an interesting (and entertaining) read. However, I say this mostly because it reads very much like an infomercial for a piece of excercise equipment; especially the Success Stories ("I've been using my Whiz-Bang Chess Plan for only 3 days, and I just beat Kasparov in a blindfold game!! IT WORKS!!!").

Seriously, though, I will say this. I think he's probably got it 90% right. I suspect that if I did what he suggests, I would move from a mid-to-weak B-player (my last official USCF rating was 1640-something, several years ago) to at least solid A.

Clearly, tactics are king for anyone whose rating begins with a '1'. Furthermore, it must be true that for most of us mortals, lots of hard work is required to improve at chess (or anything else, for that matter). Neither of these ideas, however, is new -- despite the author's claim -- nor exactly Rocket Surgery (sic).

As another reviewer suggests, the author is a bit harsh on some well-respected authors with significantly higher credentials (even though he gives lip-service to the contrary), and I think he downplays some basic positional and endgame theory that all good players need to have (back to the infomercial: read the fine print in all excercise ads and it will say something about having a "healthy diet" in addition to using whatever goofy apparatus they are selling...read: don't eat so much and you will lose weight! Duh!).

However, his basic thesis is pretty much right on: positional knowledge doesn't help if you can't make tactics -- eventually, you have to win material to win the game. And don't even think about studying openings: yes, it is irresistable (I know!), but that +/= advantage you get doesn't ever do squat for your results if you just drop a pawn 3 moves later. However, going one step further, if you don't know how to play basic K+P vs. K endagmes, winning that pawn doesn't do you any good either...the author glosses over this point.

The main value of the book is that he has formalized a method of study -- this is a recipe you can follow, not just advice. He even does a decent job of (in a very small nutshell) giving guidance for an average player to analyse her own games in a pratical fashion (using Crafty).

The bad part is: it is a gargantuan effort! True, this is for "rapid improvement", but only those with no life will be able to actually do it. The author points out (correctly, albeit a bit harshly) that if you aren't willing to work, you won't improve ("no pain, no gain"; there's that infomercial again!). Frankly, this is the same reason that I do not have six-pack abs or speak Chinese, like I would like to. I have kids instead. But, hey, life's full of choices, right?

Still, the text is sound advice, kind of fun to read, definitely not your average chess book, and gives the average player hope that should one choose to invest the necessary time, significant improvement really is possible; even well into your adult years. So, I give it 3 stars because I enjoyed reding it and it made me feel good about myself (even though I'm still a crappy B-player). However, given that you can download the essay that the book is based on (a good 75% of the book, and 100% of the meat) for free, 3 stars may be a bit generous at the end of the day.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The advice is very good but repetitious., July 25, 2003

By	John Coffey (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

I think that maybe a feud is starting between Jeremy Silman (JS) and Michael de la Maza (MM). MM is critical of traditional study methods (including JS's) and JS has written a scathing review of this book.

It is hard to argue with success. If MM can move from D to A in a year and then onto Expert in another year, then he clearly is onto something. On the other hand, JS is so much higher on the rating scale that he says that most masters don't have a clue.

I very much like MM's observations about the failures of traditional study methods. In recent years I have taken a very knowledge intensive approach to studying chess, but I have made no improvement to my rating. He argues that I have been studying the wrong things, and I think that he might be right. His book seems eye opening, or it is at least "food for thought."

MM notices that class ranked players make gross tactical oversights, not just in blitz games but in tournament games as well. My observation at tournaments pretty much agrees with this. He believes that studying tactics will allow players to eliminate these errors and rise to at least the class A level. This is borne out by my own chess experience where I made it to class A mostly on tactics.

I very much like the 42 tactical problems, although for a book of this price I would expect maybe 300 problems and less verbiage. Parts of the book are repetitious.

MM's study plan is a bit rigid and not practical for most people:

1. According to his own numbers he spent about 3.5 hours per day on chess. Most of us don't have that kind of time, so I think that a more practical study would 10 to 60 minutes of daily tactical study depending upon how much time we can devote to the game. I have found that ten minutes of tactics per day keeps my game sharp, but I would like to double or triple this and see if it helps my rating. (As a side note, a friend of mine who studied tactics 1.5 hours a day has made huge improvements.)

2. His suggests doing a thousand chess problems in order, seven times over. I think that it might be better for some players to repeat the easier problems before moving onto harder problems that would be too difficult for them to solve.

3. He suggests the exact times that people should spend on each problem, exactly how many to do each day, how exactly to think and how many seconds to spend on each phase of their thinking in tournament games. All this seems too fixed, and I would rather not have to fit my study or thinking into an exact mold.

Although MM continues to stress studying tactics to make it to the Expert level, reading between the lines shows that he spent time studying his tournament games with Fritz, (which is a practice that I strongly recommend.) Common sense and practical experience would indicate that players need more than just knowledge of tactics to improve past the rating of 1800.

As far as the JS versus MM feud is concerned: To make it to Class B, Class A, Expert, whatever, requires a combination knowledge and skill. That knowledge and skill at least doubles with each increase in rating class. Jeremy Silman's books are full of many great ideas worth studying. Michael de la Maza is correct, however, when he states that studying tactics will produce more rapid improvement among class players. This is no secret, however, as many chess coaches have stressed the same thing. Although this book is good for motivation and some advice, you might instead just want to buy a book like "Sharpen Your Tactics" and study it as much as you can. Or better yet, buy both. A little motivation can't hurt.