Product Description
A top chess coach explains the fundamentals of chess strategy to amateur players. Herman Grooten, an International Master with over 25 years of experience, has written asystematic primer about the basics of positional understanding, with a massive amount of examples and exercises. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Useful collection of strategy positions.
The author has done a good job in collecting the positions in this book. You will recognize a lot of them, but for instance as a chess coach it is very useful to have all the positions in one place. I can't really say that the author makes any other contribution than the collecting itself.

The book I have been waiting for
I imagine many of us are looking for the book that speaks to us. I am only half way through the book and I am definitely looking forward to the second half.

Many books on strategy are either beyond me (Watson), or the examples are contrived (Nimzowitsch),or over simplistic to make a point. This one does the trick for me. The analysis of the sample games are very complete, the examples are convincing and as a result the ideas come across with great clarity. Thank you!
The book is well organized. The first chapter sets the agenda and each following chapter explores one classical theme. The individual chapter start by setting the terminoligy and giving an idea of what lies ahead. This is followed by sample games and finally the chapter concludes with a small problem set. If anything one would have wished for a few more problems but there are enough books out there with middle games problems to solve. The organization of the test helps when like me you have to steal time here and there to make it through the book because it becomes easy to continue were you left off.

The target audience is described as club players, that seems very reasonabe albeit a bit broad. I would narrow it down to USCF 1800 to 2200.
Yes this is the book I have been waiting for. Now I need to find some more time to practice what I have been tought. My response shows how the authors years of experience as a trainer have paid off. Not only do I feel I gained new insights but the impression is so strong that I feel motivated and this is definitely more that I get out of most chess books.

Finally, when considering all of the above the book is not only reasonably priced, no it is underpriced. In short if you are in the USCF range which I indicated and you are looking to deepen your understanding of positional analysis then this is bargain for you.

Good book

It's a little soon for me to give a through review of this book.But at first blush it appears to be one of the best chess books I have come across and I have read many.

The book takes you beyond chess openings and into positional chess, which is where I need to be.

A good book....but not great.
First of all, the material in this book is not very well organized.
The author also tends to combine ideas in a way that isn't very lucid.
The chapters tended to mix themes and the author needed to focus better on the lesson at hand.
Chernev, for example, was great at this.Take one concept, give a few basic examples, then more advanced ones.

In the beginning he shows some games played by his students and talks about their brilliant moves.
Excellent play, for sure, but its not very educational.
Why start a book on strategy for club players with such advanced games?Its much more instructive to show the themes in clean, simple forms first and THEN the advanced, complicated version.Patzer first, then Grandmaster.

The concepts the author discusses ARE essential to good positional play, but I didn't find it engaging or in any way superior to other books such as Silman's "Reassess Your Chess" or Seirawan's series.

In particular, I think McDonald's recent book "Chess Secrets: The Giants of Strategy" was MUCH more interesting as well as more instructive. In fact, I would recommend the ancient classic "My System" by Nimzowitsch over this book.Or really any collection of well-annotated games by players such as Capablanca or Smyslov.

That said, there IS good material throughout, it has excellent production quality, and it is certainly not a bad book.It is a nice thick, pretty book :)
But there are better, cheaper books out there.
I wanted to like it more, but it just seems standard to me.Oh well...

Excellent book on Developing Positional Understanding
Make no mistake, if you're a club player that wants to have all the basic teachings related to Steinitz in one book, there probably is no better book around that systematically goes through the material.It is ironic that the publisher "New In Chess" published this book because most of the ideas are 100 years old.With that said, you can win a ton of games with these ideas and players over the last 100 have done just that.

The book primarily uses game and game fragments to illustrate the execution of strategic plans and reaction of those plans to the opponent's moves.It is quite obvious that Grooten is very experienced chess coach and I'd gladly take a lesson from him any time.With that said, this book is a bargain at less than 20 dollars for all the valuable information in the book.It really is a one stop shop for a complete Steinitz principles.

With that said, I did give the book only four stars and it was for a reason.There were times when Grooten simply does not ask enough questions to really penetrate the finer strategic points of a position.Translating that into chess terms, he doesn't look for the really challenging moves in certain positions and then provide a clear and coherent positional assessment on why one side is better.In fact, very few authors have the ability to really elucidate why one side is better but instead provide assertions with no proof.This is a shortcoming of this book as well, albeit a minor one.Also, there were times during the book when the author presented the material as if he had been the original discover.Theory of two weaknesses was one such example.I know that he was simply trying to exhibit how HE discovered it, but plenty of material is already devoted to exploiting two weaknesses dating back to at least Nimzowitch.This could have been a problem with the translation from Dutch to English, but I'm not quite sure.Finally, certain subjects are just glossed over with limited discussion.This is forgivable because the book is already 400 pages and I'm sure that the publisher has something to say about a 700 page book for something under 20 dollars.

In summary, this is an excellent book for those who are good at self study.It actually is even decent for those who like ideas and information spoon fed to them much in the vain of Pandolfini.I would highly recommend this book to anyone really interested in understanding the basic principles so they can later on understand the exceptions (which is what Grandmasters do in almost every one of their games because they are tactically skilled and understand that dynamic chess is the part of the Steinitz school that really wasn't integrated very well).So, go and by with the confidence that if you spend time really systematically reading this book, the strategic ideas will become second nature. ... Read more

Product Description

Alex first learned to play chess when he was four years old. He loved it. He loved the pieces, the challenge, and the sweet taste that winning left in his mouth. He loved it until he played a chess game with moldy old Uncle Hooya...and lost. Then Alex decided to give up chess for good.

Now in third grade Alex wants to give chess another try. He joins the chess club and discovers that chess is fun again. He plays his friends, he listens to the coach, and he practices at school, at home, and on the computer. Alex is a chess maniac! All of this practice is leading up to the big tournament, where Alex finds himself face-to-face with Little Cousin Hooya. Memories of his earlier defeat return, but now is his chance to finally beat a Hooya. Is Alex up to the challenge?

Janet Wong's lyrical text, complemented by Stacey Schuett's bright illustrations, will inspire chess players of all ages to practice, practice, practice -- and to avoid moldy old Uncle Hooya! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Kid's chess book
My grandson, named Alex, is learning to play chess - this is a wonderful book for him.

Fun Book
Read it to a classroom full of kindergartners and they enjoyed it.Quite a few of them were inspired to play chess.

Present to grand daughter
Grand daughter is four and interested in chess.
She likes this book.
It is also difficult to find on the shelves, so Amazon deserves a thank you!! for their service.

A Kid's Review
This book is about a boy who loved to play chess.My favorite part was when the knights acted like real horses, galloping across the board and jumping over other pieces.

Helen Iorga, 2nd grader

More than a kid's book
The core of this story is formulaic (kid suffers setback, kid gives up, kid bounces back, kid finds success). But it was written by someone who obviously understands the world of scholastic chess, and chess is therefore more than a parable for the lessons of life: it is the central feature of the story. The humor and moral are subtle and understated; while they clearly went over the "kid reviewer's" head, it's easy to see why from the sense of humor he displayed in his review. Other readers should not be thrown off the scent by someone who didn't get it. Kids should be attracted by Alex, who finds something he likes to do, decides to stick with it, and perseveres to succeed even though he fails several times beforehand. But this is as much a book for adults as kids: a sly tribute to a mother who understands both the benefits and the attractive power of chess and who was wise enough to "put up with" junk food, missing chores, and an ego funk in order to get Alex hooked on the game. Smart woman! ... Read more

Product Description
A basic knowledge of opening theory is essential for club players, even those who may have little time for study and for whom chess is merely a relaxing pastime, if they are to avoid losing games because of setbacks in the early stages against a more knowledgeable opponent. This book sets out to provide sufficient coverage of all openings, explaining the basic strategy of each variation, with the intention that a few hours' study of favourite lines will enable the reader to avoid these pitfalls in future. This updated edition uses the now universal algebraic notation. The authors are both journalists experienced at writing for the average player. Tim Harding is an Irish Olympiad player, while Leonard Barden is former British Champion and chess correspondent for "The Guardian" and "The Financial Times". ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Also Contains Fifty Games At Chess, Which Have Actually Been Played. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: GamesChess; Games / Chess; Games / Video & Electronic; ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Chess Clubs, Simpson's-In-The-Strand, Oxford University Chess Club, Macclesfield Chess Club, Dallas Chess Club, Chess City, Sk Rockaden, Manhattan Chess Club, Ströbeck, Lunds Ask, Chess Centres, Mechanics' Institute Chess Club, Café de La Régence, Marshall Chess Club, the Gardiner Chess Centre. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 52. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt:Simpson's-in-the-Strand is one of London's oldest traditional English restaurants. Situated in the Strand, it is part of the Savoy Buildings, which also contain one of the world's most famous hotels, the Savoy. After a modest start as a smoking room and then a coffee house, Simpson's achieved a dual fame, for its traditional English food, particularly roast meats, and also as the most important venue in Britain for chess in the nineteenth century. Chess ceased to be a feature after Simpson's was bought by the Savoy Hotel group of companies at the end of the century, but as a purveyor of traditional English food Simpson's has remained a celebrated dining venue throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. An earlier building on the site was the Fountain Tavern, home to the celebrated literary group the Kit-Cat Club, but this was replaced by Samuel Reiss's Grand Cigar Divan which opened in 1828. The establishment soon developed as a coffee house, where gentlemen smoked cigars with their coffee, browsed over the daily journals and newspapers, indulged in lengthy conversations about the politics of the day and played chess, sitting on comfortable divans or sofas. Regular visitors would pay one guinea a year for the use of the facilities and cups of coffee. The daily entrance fee for others was 6d (2½p), or 1/6d (7½p) with coffee and a cigar. Chess matches were played against other coffee houses in the...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1017157 ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
About This Book: Her are 73 of the outstanding short chess games of the past hundred years instructively annotated. The author, an eminent chess player and writer, thouroughly explains the brilliant moves leading to victory, as well as the bad moves that caused the loss of games. For the convenience of the player, games and notes are arranged on facing pages. Thus students can play over games before looking at the notes (as a kind of self-test), while those seeking only relaxation may check notes or ignore them, as they please. ... Read more