Lit Review Wednesday: Winning Chess

Winning Chess: Tactics & Strategies, by Ted Nottingham, Al Lawrence, and Bob Wade, is the first chess book I should have read. It starts out right where I was a month ago--someone who knew the basic moves but knew nothing about the theory behind those moves. The book highlights all of the important tactics: the fork, the pin, and the skewer. It also goes into some detail on discovered check and double check.

I think this book was written for a younger audience, particularly high school students, but it was still very informative. It's definitely the best beginner book I've come across so far. It's not really the most complete book, but if you're just trying to learn the game, this is where you should start.

 

With that said, I would give this book a 4 out of 5. It has a lot of really good basic info, yet there are some glaring problems too. For example, it uses a weird form of algebraic notation for most of it, one that isn't what the professionals use. If they had used the more commonly used version, I think this book would be much more complete.

Literature Review Wednesday: Logical Chess

Logical Chess Move by Move: Every Move Explained is not a book in the traditional sense. Written by Irving Chernev several decades ago, this book looks at many famous chess matches and breaks them down in painstaking detail, explaining what the masters behind the games were thinking when they made their moves. Chernev also takes the time to list the pros and cons of each move and even lists what alternative lines may have produced for the players.

I thought that this book would be boring, but it's actually quite enjoyable. I haven't made it through all of the games yet, but the ones that I have read are written in an entertaining manner and they are very detailed--which is great for the chess player with a basic grasp on the game, but doesn't yet truly understand why some moves are better than others. This is right where I am with my game now, so this book is perfect for me.

 

 

I highly recommend this book for players just getting into serious chess. Chernev is very thorough with his explanations why the moves made are good or bad, and this line of thinking will eventually its way into your game. It's already starting to show with my play.



Literature Review Wednesday

I wanted to have a few commonly recurring subject matters that I will be addressing on a weekly basis. I've decided Wednesdays will be a slot for me to review chess books.

Last week, I took out two books from the library and am almost done with the first. It's called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess Openings, by William Aramil. So far it's decent. The first few chapters were especially good for me as they go over algebraic notation and some very basic strategy principles. Concepts like material, space, tempo, King protection, and Pawn structure are introduced, and this is a very good thing for beginners. These five things are the building blocks of what makes a good board setup, and something that absolutely every budding chess player needs to be aware of.

However, these subjects are only briefly introduced and there isn't much space given to them--a couple paragraphs at most. It's pretty much assumed that the reader is already familiar with them, which is fine, but this makes me think that the book is not really geared toward the beginner, but rather someone who has already seen some moderate success.

After that, the most common openings are explained in good detail. For the beginner, this is great, but parts can be confusing because Aramil relies greatly on algebraic notation. There are several diagrams of board setups, but to really get the most out of this book, you will want to have a chess board handy so you can fully appreciate the various structures and their nuances.

If you're new to chess, this book can help you, but I wouldn't recommend this being your first read. I'm going to finish the book, but I think I will need to reread it in a few weeks.