Patzer's review

You should not judge a book by its cover. I don’t think this has ever been more true about a chess book than in this case. Lev Alburt’s Chess training pocket book is an excellent book, but the cover is horrible. I first read about this book in a forum on chess.com, and one member described how he wrapped a piece of paper around the book so people on the bus wouldn’t think that he read a book about how to attract women through chess (however unrealistic that concept is). But don’t be put off by the artwork. Let’s take a look at the content instead. What can you expect from this book? According to the author, this tiny book (only 175 pages) contains the most important positions and ideas you need in order to improve as a player. The statement on the cover (”300 most important positions & ideas”) may be interpreted as an indication that the book contains all you need to know in order to become a strong player. Of course, this is not true. It is hard to disagree with the fact t...