Art of Attack in Chess (Paperback)

~ Vladimir Vukovic (Author) "Action is the essential basis on which the game of chess is founded and any action which contains a threat - i.e. attack in its..." (more)
Key Phrases: Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defence, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

One of the finest chess books ever written, the Art of Attack has been transcribed into algebraic notation for the first time. In this revised edition of the great classic, the author expounds both the basic principles and the most complex forms of attack on the king. A study of this masterpiece will add power and brilliance to any chess enthusiast's play. (5 3/4' X 8 1/4', 352 pages, illustrations, index)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857444000
• ISBN-13: 978-1857444001
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #309,416 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

170 of 173 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chess Attacks, Traps & Tactics all rolled into one!!!, September 11, 2006

A Kid's Review

My favorite books: books that cover "tactics and combinations" (the reason why most people lose or win at the non-master level), "traps" (tactics in the opening while learning your openings are important) and "building and executing attacks".
This is one of the most detailed (I haven't seen a more detailed one) books on building (from the opening on into the middle game in many cases) and the executing your attack! Many important themes are covered - these are the most common ideas - and often much of the time it will show why an attack idea has a flaw in it!

182 of 200 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars too advanced for early intermediate players, August 8, 2004

By	A. D. Davis "Brad D." (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is the 6th one to be added to my chess library. I can't say whether it's a good book because it is too advanced for me. I've been playing chess very seriously for about a year and think I'd probably be rated about 1300-1500 if I competed.

Most of the chapters have a small amount of text offering general discussion and then proceed with about 4 or 5 complete games that contain good examples of the chapter's focus. I worked (yeah, that's the right word) through several of the chapters and more or less understood what the author was trying to convey. My abilities might have increased some, but only by a small amount compared to the number of hours that I spent on the book.

I'm not convinced that it's possible to generalize knowledge from this format, but I guess I can't really say. Chess seems to be a lot more about 1st-hand experience than about vicarious learning. This kind of book is definitely in the second category.

I think that players at about my skill level would be far better served with chess puzzle books. I bought a book called 303 Tactical Puzzles or something like that and saw an almost immediate gain in my effectiveness. After going through about 100 of the puzzles I began to recognize patterns and combinations dramatically better than before -- and this took about a week. I play most of my chess on Chessmaster 9000 in the rated games section and beat an opponent that was CM rated 1670 and absolutely slaughtered one rated about 1550. 1600 was the previous record for me, so I'd say that's a dramatic improvement. I could see the computer's 2 or 3 move tactical combinations from a mile away because of my improved pattern recognition. I spent about 3x that much time with Art of Attack in Chess and couldn't see much, if any improvement -- it's just too advanced for me to get much of anything out of it.

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Updated, Annotated Classic Well-worth Buying, December 14, 1999

By A Customer

John Nunn did more than just edit an algebraic notation of the classic: he's gone over Vukovic's original annotation with original analysis that shows that even for grandmasters "chess can sometimes be hard." Vukovic's book is still there: he presents a comprehensive discussion of the art of attack, expounding the most basic principles and most complex forms of the attack on the castled king. Ch. 1 discusses "The Attack Against The Uncastled King." Ch. 2 "The Attack On The King That Has Lost The Right To Castle." Ch 3 "On Castling And Attacking The Castled Position In General." Ch. 4 "Mating Patterns." Ch.5 "Focal Points." Ch. 6 "The Classic Bishop Sacrifice" (with some interesting notes by Nunn. Ch.7 "Ranks, Files, And Diagonals In The Attack On The Castled King." Ch.8 "Pieces And Pawns In The Attack On The Castled King." Ch. 9 "The Attack On The Fianchettoed And Q Side Castling Positions" Ch.10 "Defending Against The Attack On The Castled King." Ch. 11 "The Phases Of The Attack On TheCastled King." Ch. 12 "The Attack On The King As An Integral Part Of The Game." Vukovic illustrates his themes by extensive comments on classic games played by Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, Lasker, etc. This is an easy book to read, a difficult one to master. Personally, I think careful study of a book like this will be worth much more than memorizing yet another opening.