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What it takes

Let me be honest; I fell for the title.
It sort of promises to take your game to the next level, doesn't it? Also, I have read a few books by Andrew Soltis, and I think he is a great writer. That combination is hard to resist.

I first heard about another book by Soltis that has a very similar title: What it takes to become a grandmaster. Someone had given it a good review, so I was curious. I looked it up and found this one as well. I bought both of them.

I spent about a week reading the book, and I have enjoyed it more and more. It is very instructive and well written.

What can you expect from this book?

This book will not make you a chess master. If you think so, you'll probably be disappointed. What it will do, is point to certain factors that characterize players at the master level and thereby indicate what you need to work on.

The book presents nine such factors that make up chapters in the book. Examples of such factors are "winnability" and understanding compensation. Each chapter begins with a brief explanation of the factor at hand, and gives a few examples of their application in actual games. The examples are given in the form of positions where the players have difficult decisions to make. The positions are usually evaluated at a superficial level, followed by a deeper analysis. Finally, the actual moves are provided along with comments and variations.

The moves are annotated in a clear and no-nonsense manner, and variations are provided where necessary. Comments such as "it is easy to see that..." or "obviously, the best move is..." are nowhere to be found in this book, indicating that Soltis has written this book specifically for intermediate players.

All chapters conclude with a handful of exercises. In total, the book has 52 exercises. The solutions provided at the end of the book have short annotations in addition to the moves.

Who should read this book?

This is not a book for beginners. In order to get the most out of this book, you should have a strong tactical foundation and a fair grasp of the fundamentals of positional play. Perhaps you have reached a plateau and are wondering why you can't seem to make that next improvement step. Or perhaps you are wondering what separates you from the strongest players in your club. In terms of playing strength, your rating is probably between 1500 and 2000 FIDE. If this sounds familiar, then this might be a book for you.

About this book

Author:Andrew Soltis
Title:What it takes to become a Chess Master
Type of book:Middlegame
Level:Intermediate
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  1. UnknownApril 22, 2019 at 10:24 AM

    I am enjoying ur reviews can you do 1 for my favourite book # invisible chess moves by yochanan

    ReplyDelete

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