Customer Reviews

Win at Chess: A Comprehensive Guide to Winning Chess for the Intermediate Player

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

 

 

This a practical, workmanlike text that does nothing fancy or "innovative," yet I think it is likely to be of far more use to the improving player than more advanced or specialized works. The author covers all the usual suspects: tactics, strategy, repertoires, endgames, etc.... Excellent review material for the more knowledgeable and good intro for the less-experienced. After you read the fancy opening books, endgame texts, strategy guides, relax and study what you already "know."

The purpose of this book is similar to that of 'Mastering Chess' (in 21 days, by Kopec et al.) with a similar audience and similar deficiencies. I think it's best for players from 1300 to 1500 USCF, and it might be a fair review up to 1700.

First, I like the notation in this book. Basically, it's Algebraic Notation (eg Nf3), as opposed to the older Descriptive Notation (KN-B3), but Curry adds the original position when he refers to prior moves. "White just played Q/d1-b3." He uses the slash (/) when he refers to the position of a piece, and I find that helpful.

Curry's section on openings is weak. He lists the first 6-10 standard book moves for several dozen openings, but he does not describe their themes and goals (with a few exceptions). I don't see any value in this. However, he makes up for this by supplying a simple opening system for White, the "Curry Opening". It's similar to the Torre Attack and has much in common with both the Colle and London Systems. He does a much better job of describing the goals of this system than Seirawan does for the Barcza Opening in 'Winning Chess Openings'. And he includes 10 (unannotated) games to show typical play. It's a practical approach.

While his middlegame advice is hardly more than review and summary, his sections on the endgame are very useful. He explains some common endings. He demonstrates endgame tactics to watch for. And he provides four examples of typical endgames from actual games. Short but sweet. You will learn something here, but you will wish for more.

The best part of the book, and the only reason I'm recommending it at all, is the series of "Cover-Up" games. In these you cover up the moves and try to play one side of the board. In particular, I like the ones in the section on Attacking the King. In fact, I like that whole section, and I highly recommend studying the game fragments there closely.

Unfortunately, most of these "Cover-Up" games only assign points for good moves, rather than explaining bad ones or commenting on plans. There are only about half a dozen games with actual comments, so it is not a great value for the money.

The main problem with this book, as with 'Mastering Chess', is that the advice will not stick with anyone who does not already understand it. And there is a lot of it. The book is dense with wise verbiage and short on evidence. I don't think that's the way to teach.

The sections on tactics and combinations are even weaker than in Mastering Chess as the number of exercises is much smaller. And this leads to the main reason why I hesitate to recommend this book at any price: Curry puts way too much emphasis on the openings and fails to stress the importance of learning tactics. He mentions tactical study several times, but he never explains that you simply will not improve without speeding up your tactical pattern recognition. Most chapters have a few exercises at the end--too few. Curry gives the impression that you can learn chess by reading words on a page, and that's simply not so.

If you enjoy what Curry calls "Solitaire chess" (ie guessing the moves for one side of the board and being graded) but would like some explanation for the moves, I suggest you take a look at the 'How Good Is Your Chess' books (one by King, one by Barden). Those are bargain values, and I think your chess would improve measurably.

This opening is easy to learn and use. It fits well into the repertoire of a D4 player, especially one who uses the Colle, London, or similar openings. It adds one more dimension to what you would already be familiar with. I am 1500 and have beaten 1850s with it (club games at 5 minutes), so I know it can be effective, as most players have not played against it. I like it especially when black plays Knight to C6, blocking his C pawn - this cuts down his chances of a queenside pawn storm against white. I almost always get good games with this opening. The plans and goals of this opening are easy to follow into the middle game, which is a real plus for players of my rating. I think it's a super opening for club level players.
The rest of the book is just fair, but I would still buy the book.

Nothing to in depth here. I really liked the Curry opening, the ending section was ok. The solitare chess examples didn't alway grade correctly. Checking with Shredder 12 I foud the top rated move was not always the best move according to the computer evaluation. That was Understandable considering its publication date. Good recomendations for future reading and continued improvement. This wasn't a bad book but I don't belive my chess has improved significantly after reading this. (I'm currently 1500-1600 USCF).

The purpose of this book is similar to that of 'Mastering Chess' (in 21 days, by Kopec et al.) with a similar audience and similar deficiencies. I think it's best for players from 1300 to 1500 USCF, and it might be a fair review up to 1700.

First, I like the notation in this book. Basically, it's Algebraic Notation (eg Nf3), as opposed to the older Descriptive Notation (KN-B3), but Curry adds the original position when he refers to prior moves. "White just played Q/d1-b3." He uses the slash (/) when he refers to the position of a piece, and I find that helpful.

Curry's section on openings is weak. He lists the first 6-10 standard book moves for several dozen openings, but he does not describe their themes and goals (with a few exceptions). I don't see any value in this. However, he makes up for this by supplying a simple opening system for White, the "Curry Opening". It's similar to the Torre Attack and has much in common with both the Colle and London Systems. He does a much better job of describing the goals of this system than Seirawan does for the Barcza Opening in 'Winning Chess Openings'. And he includes 10 (unannotated) games to show typical play. It's a practical approach.

While his middlegame advice is hardly more than review and summary, his sections on the endgame are very useful. He explains some common endings. He demonstrates endgame tactics to watch for. And he provides four examples of typical endgames from actual games. Short but sweet. You will learn something here, but you will wish for more.

The best part of the book, and the only reason I'm recommending it at all, is the series of "Cover-Up" games. In these you cover up the moves and try to play one side of the board. Unfortunately, most of these only assign points for good moves, rather than explaining bad ones or commenting on plans. There are only about half a dozen games with actual comments, so it is not a great value for the money.

The main problem with this book, as with 'Mastering Chess', is that the advice will not stick with anyone who does not already understand it. And there is a lot of it. The book is dense with wise verbiage and short on evidence. I don't think that's the way to teach.

The sections on tactics and combinations are even weaker than in Mastering Chess as the number of exercises is much smaller. And this leads to the main reason why I hesitate to recommend this book at any price: Curry puts way too much emphasis on the openings and fails to stress the importance of learning tactics. He mentions tactical study several times, but he never explains that you simply will not improve without speeding up your tactical pattern recognition. Most chapters have a few exercises at the end--too few. Curry gives the impression that you can learn chess by reading words on a page, and that's simply not so.

If you enjoy what Curry calls "Solitaire chess" (ie guessing the moves for one side of the board and being graded) but would like some explanation for the moves, I suggest you take a look at the 'How Good Is Your Chess' books (one by King, one by Barden). Those are bargain values, and I think your chess would improve measurably.