How Not to Play Chess
Posted: July 30th, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: Chess Books | Tags: Chess, Play | 5 Comments »
Product Description
Developing plans of action based on positional analysis: weak and strong squares, control of open lines, pawn structure, etc. 20 problems.
First I would like to ask something unusual. Read ALL the other book reviews of this book FIRST and read my review last. (I think it is very un-necessary to repeat anything that is already said here!)
I am a Chess Master. I teach chess for a living. I first read this book close to 30 years ago.
This is a great book. A tremendous teaching vehicle. MANY of my students (AND people I have chatted with on various chess servers) have said this book helped them a lot!! But in actual application, it can be difficult to always do what the author advises.
A few fairly minor criticisms. The organization of this book is somewhat dicey. He uses too many fancy terms that I guess he just sort of made up “on-the-fly.” And he sometimes can be too repetitive. And several of my students said the descriptive notation version of this book was a little difficult for them to read.
But the final verdict is that the basic premise of this book is brilliant. He basically shows you some of the the most common chess mistakes that the average player might make. And this more than makes up for any of the books minor flaws. Several students told me they learned more from this one book than all the other chess books they had read put together!!
If you enjoy this book, you will also enjoy, “Chess Master vs Chess Amateur,” by GM Max Euwe.
I am sure if you take the time to work your way through this book you will get a lot from it and decide it was worth the trouble!
Warning: If you have extreme difficulty with Descriptive Notation, or are rated 1800 or higher; this book may not be of much value to you.
Rating: 4 / 5
This book is indispensable. Yes, it is indispensable! Once you get over the fact that the notation is descriptive you will be fine. I don’t mind reading books in descriptive notation and considering the content of the book this is just a minor inconvenience [Speaking of which, have you noticed how cheap are books in descriptive?]
Znosko-Borovsky is entertaining, engaging and profound. The whole purpose of the book is to make you aware of the need to analyse the position both from the internal and the external points of view. In other words: How to make an inventory of who has the advantage in tempi, material, and space and how those factors compensate to determine which side has the advantage over the board. As a consequence of this analysis the author shows how to make a plan and execute it over the board. Sounds simple? It becomes simple after reading Znosko-Borovsky’s book. Why is it that few people write in this manner nowadays? Why is it that authors can not be entertaining?
I read this book at least once every month and have given it to some friends to help them improve their chess. At first sight it doesn’t look like much but once you take the time to read it, understand it and go back to it, you will see what a treasure you have in your hands. For the prize of the book you get a lot and this is that rare type of book that read again and again and again…
Rating: 5 / 5
A brilliant little book that is clearly written, extremely useful, and bargain-priced. Do not be misled by the author’s use of maxims for chapter titles: he is not dogmatic whatsoever. Znosko-Borovsky’s verbal analysis of a chess position, for example, on pages 54-60, regarding visualizing a plan based on the differences (however slight)in each side, and putting that plan into effect is an eye-opener. If you’ve read Jeremy Silman’s How To Reassess Your Chess, you’ll recognize the thinking method detailed decades before Silman published. I believe you will not regret time spent with this book.
Rating: 5 / 5
This classic text provides a compact collection of advice on chess strategies. A short, easy book to read, the author wastes no time and cuts right to the point in deliviring his suggestions on the various problems one must avoid in playing chess. Directed mostly at intermediate players, the book comes in very useful in explaining the many “gotchas” that inexperienced chess players frequently fall into. This book typically sells for a very low price, due to its small size and old age, but it is certainly as valuable as many modern texts at three times the size.
Rating: 4 / 5
Znosko-Borovsky’s “How not to Play Chess” is much different than its title suggests. One immediately assumes that this will be a book of tactical gaffes and poor move choices in a one-move type setting, when infact this book is basically concerned with the formation of plans within the game.
Also, this book is quite offbeat in that it has very little to do with game analysis and long-winded calculations and is more a narrative of the game of chess itself by the author. Any chess enthusiast should find the commentary useful and understandable.
The author throws around a number of messages and instructions in the form of one sentence suggestions throughout the book, but these ideas are so quickly discussed that you never really have any time to dwell on them.
This book could very easily(and perhaps should have been) called “Making Plans in Chess”, since that’s really the main theme of the book and is most likely the only thing you’ll take away from it, besides some added appreciation for the game itself.
The book proper is a very short read – only about 80 small sized pages – with about 15 diagrams using a hideous set of symbols for the pieces(I think this is sometimes called the “Leipzig” set). At the end of the book, 20 problems were added by tactical guru Fred Reinfeld(starting with number 18 for some reason). These puzzles are decent, and actually quite solvable, unlike some books whose post-mortem questions are beyond the reader(Seiriwan, et al).
A small note: This book is in descriptive notation. Read some of my other reviews for thoughts on this subject, but the author makes key references to squares(such as White’s intention to make use of the QB5 square, for example) quite frequently, and thus a solid understanding of said notation is needed. Still, DN(Discr. notation) is easy enough to learn and the book is very cheap due to the author’s choice to use it.
I would really have liked to have given the book four stars, but I can’t help but feel that I’m not going to become a better player because of reading this book. I certainly enjoyed reading through it, moreso as an avid chess fan, but the themes of the book are encompassed in many greater texts of the modern age.
If you truly love the game of chess, spend a few bucks and read through this book, but if you’re out for solid chess improvement, I would look somewhere else.
Rating: 3 / 5