Skip to main content

Selling chess calculation

Chess calculation is a core skill in chess. Some say it's the most important skill, and that the ability to calculate deeply and accurately is the best predictor of playing strength. Thus, getting better at calculation should be a top priority for any improving player. So when I found the book Excelling at chess calculation, I felt that this should be a no-brainer. Let's take a look at this book!

What can you expect from this book?

Let me be upfront. When I was done reading this book, I was quite upset. The content does not fulfil the promise of the title - not even close. Upon writing this review, I went through the book again, just to check if I got a different impression. In one way, I didn't, but in another way I did. Let me explain.

"A crucial guide to the skill of chess calculation. Ideal for both club and tournament players." That's what the back cover says, and I had heard people recommending the book. My expectations were high and I was excited when the book arrived in the mail. Unfortunately, after getting halfway through the book, I came to the conclusion at least one of these statements is incorrect. As a club player, I felt that I did not learn much about chess calculation from this book. So either it's not for club players like me, or it simply isn't a guide to the skill of chess calculation. Either way, if you are a club player and want to develop your calculation, I would recommend other books.
It is important to develop our feeling for the critical moments in chess
The quote above is an example of the many truisms in the book. It is difficult to disagree with this statement. Another example is Aagaards answer to one of the most common questions from chess players: "How much should I calculate?" And his answer? "Not more than the position requires". Well, this would perhaps be a helpful comment if the reader was given some tools to determine the amount of calculation that is required by a given position. The same goes for developing a "feeling for the critical moments". But here, the book fails to deliver.

Each of the eight chapters in the book tease the reader into thinking that s/he will learn something profound about the topic that is indicated by the header, but after a page or so of general introduction, the realization slowly dawns that the promise will be left unfulfilled. For example chapter 8 is titled "How to train calculation" - arguably a central topic for this kind of book. The chapter outlines five main options: (1) Work out candidate moves, (2) do combinations, (3) work on pawn endgames, (4) solve studies and (5) analyze complicated positions. And that's about it! The chapters provides argumentation for why these types of exercises are useful, but gives little to no guidance for how to do them.

By now, my disappointment with this book should be all too clear. But I was not disappointed because it is a bad book. Rather, my objection is that it simply does not cover the topic of calculation training - at least not to the extent that one would expect. Instead, it is really a collection of annotated games. This being said, the annotations are great, and the games are interesting. So although the book does not fulfil its promise, it is still well worth reading.

Who should read this book?

As stated above, if you are looking to improve your calculation skills, this is probably not the best book for you. However, if you are looking for a book with interesting and well annotated games, this is an excellent choice. I believe that readers of all levels may get something out of the book, but the content is probably best suited for readers with a playing strength above 1700 Elo.

About this book

Author:Jacob Aagaard
Title:Excelling at chess calculation
Type of book:Game collection
Level:Intermediate/Advanced
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular reviews

Understanding middlegames

Have you ever found yourself unable to find a move in the middlegame? Of course you have. We all have. About ten years ago, this was a recurring problem for me, which led to a lot of frustration. My conclusion was that I needed to learn how understand middlegames. So what better way than to read a book with the title Understanding Chess Middlegames ? Sound like the perfect remedy, right? Ok, let's find out. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron!   What can you expect from this book? I first read this book when I was just starting to study chess seriously. I bought it after reading a recommendation in an online forum. I would say this was ten years ago, but the book came out 2011, so it couldn't have been before that. Anyhow, my playing strength was probably around 1200 (I was unrated at the time) and I was having trouble choosing moves in non-tactical positions. Basically, I was playing without ...
1 comment
Read more

Estimating playing strength

Have you ever felt like your chess rating doesn't represent your actual playing strength? Sometimes we want to be able to estimate playing strength based on individual games rather than rating (which changes more slowly). During the past few months, I've been taking a number of online courses and learning python for data analysis. In one of the courses, the final project allowed me to choose my own dataset. So surprise surprise! I chose something chess related. (Not really surprised, are you?) When we play games online, getting a computer evaluation is just a few clicks away. And a commonly used statistic is the average centipawn loss, or simply the average deviation from the computer's best move. Many of us tend to think that centipawn loss (CPL) is a good estimate of playing strength. And, of course, it gives some indication, but it's far from a perfect predictor. Fellow chess/statistics blogger Patrick Coulombe has investigated the correlation between rating and CPL ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Under the surface

I did something different. I bought a chess book without doing any research. I decided to reward myself with a new book after having written ten reviews. So I asked my friends on Twitter for suggestions, and someone suggested that I take a look at the book Under the surface by Jan Markos. Since the book is quite new, I couldn't find much information about it, so I decided to blindly trust the recommendation. Luckily, I was not let down. What can you expect from this book? I am not the only one who has done something different. Jan Markos did the same when he wrote Under the surface . He takes a quite philosophical approach to chess, which should probably be expected from a former student of philosophy. This comes across quite clearly in his choice of chapter titles. The names "Magnetic Skin", "Anatoly Karpov's Billiard Balls" and "On the Breaking Ice" are not the most transparent chapter titles in the world. But once you get under the surfa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chaos on the board

Have you ever felt tired of chess? Maybe you’ve been uninspired or perhaps you think it’s too much work. To paraphrase a famous movie: All work and no play makes you a dull person. If that is the case, I may have a cure. You need a fun chess book. Something that will rekindle your joy for the game and inspire you to play creatively. I give you Tiger’s Chaos Theory ! This book found me at a time when I needed it the most. My inspiration and motivation to study chess was way down. And like a bolt from the blue, the Swedish Chess Federation approached me and wanted me to review this book. And the kind people at Quality Chess agreed to send me a review copy. An offer I couldn't refuse. So after this happy turn of events, I have a new review for you. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from this book? Grandmaster Tiger Hillarp Persson, a multi-time Swedish chess champion, has al...
Post a Comment
Read more

Winning chess strategies

Chess strategy is one of the most elusive and difficult parts of chess. Compared to the direct and transparent world of chess tactics, strategy can be confusing and opaque. At the patzer level, tactical strikes that gain material or lead to checkmate can be obvious (provided that one understands the tactic). However, in many cases, strong players claim that a move is obvious although it doesn't result in material gain or even a semblance of an attack. We, the patzers of the world, scratch our heads and wonder how on earth anyone can find such moves obvious. How can we take steps towards this deeper level of chess understanding? Picking up a basic strategy book is a good first step. And that's what I did here. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from this book? As a part of my ambition to deepen my understanding of chess strategy, I took on a mission of reading (and rev...
Post a Comment
Read more