Attack the king

One of the finest chess books ever written.
Those are tall words from the back cover of this classic book. But The art of attack in chess is one of those books that keep popping up in lists of best chess books. It is highly regarded by many players and trainers, so the initial statement is probably not all wrong. This is a book that has been on my reading list for several years, but it has taken some time for me to actually pick it up. I've been curious about what the hype is all about, and now that I've finally found out for myself, I am ready to share that insight with you. So let's dive in!

What can you expect from this book?

Before we begin, let me just get one detail out of the way. One thing that struck me when I picked up the book is the title, which seems to be missing a "the". When reading about the book online, it is referred to both with and without "the". When I looked up the original book (this one is a revised edition, edited by John Nunn), I found that the cover says "The art of attack in chess", so that is probably most correct. With that sorted out, let's go beyond the cover and take a look at the contents.

The art of attack in chess has received overwhelmingly positive reviews on various booksites, and as indicated above, it is often mentioned as one of the classics of chess literature. Just to name a few examples, it has been recommended on the Perpetual chess podcast and by Dan Heisman. The book was recently added to the Chessable catalogue, and on their webpage, it is described with the following words:

It is a masterpiece in clear, precise instructions on how to bring the house crashing down

One thing has to be pointed out: This is not a book on attacking in general. The term attack is used here to indicate an attack on the king. However, this does not mean that we are dealing exclusively with mating attacks. Some attacks are carried out in order to weaken the king enough to divert defending pieces from other tasks and create weaknesses that can be exploited in an endgame. But as far as this book goes, the attack is always focused on the king in one way or another.

The structure of the book suggests that it is written by a very thorough man. He gives you the basic building blocks before moving on to the more advanced applications. The first three chapters are dedicated to a general discussion of the various ways to attack the king: (1) the uncastled king, (2) the king that has lost the right to castle and (3) the castled king. This is followed by a checkmate primer; chapter 4 presents just about every known mating pattern, and chapter 5 devotes 40 pages to the discussion of 'focal points' or potential mating squares. These chapters form a foundation for the following chapters, which in turn build on each other to describe progressively more complex forms of attack.

The chapter on the 'classic bishop sacrifice' (a.k.a. the Greek gift) is one of the highlights of the book. Vukovic presents the basic case, and builds on that to explain when the sacrifice will work and not, how the king can attempt to escape, and how to adjust the attack in the different circumstances. Close study of this chapter will ensure that you will never misplay such an attack ever again.

Although the chapter on the bishop sacrifice is very detailed and as close to a manual as you can get, the entire game of chess cannot be played based on a standardized procedure. Thus, the principles described in the book should (of course) be seen more as guidelines than rigid sets of rules to play by in each game.

One thing that I really like about this book is that the analyses is not only a series of lines with brief comments. Especially in critical positions (usually diagram positions), there are at times quite lengthy discussions of the key characteristics that indicate which move should be played. Also, there are some rather philosophical passages that I enjoy (which not all readers will). Here is an excerpt that describes the difficult relationship between a king and the opposing queen.

The queen, which in an endgame on an open board feels such an aversion towards the opponent's king that it will not allow it nearer than two paces away, is filled in attack with some kind of dark desire and dreams only of how it can steal into the castled dwelling and there fold the king in a close and deadly embrace. (p. 183)

I really enjoyed reading the book. It requires quite a bit of concentration if you want to get something out of it. But if you are prepared to put in some work and really study the contents, you will be rewarded.

If you want some more details, I can recommend another review that aligns pretty well with my thoughts on the book. John Watson has also written a review that might be of interest.

Who should read this book?

I would say that players with a rating between 1500 and 1700 will probably get the most out of the book. In A guide to chess improvement, Dan Heisman recommends it to players between 1700 and 1800. Either way, this is a book for intermediate players. It can of course be read by beginners, but I don't think it would be the best use of your time. You will need to have a fair understanding of positional play and tactical shots in order to understand what is going on in the book. So if this is you, and you are looking for a book to help you hone your attacking skills, go get a copy of The art of attack in chess.

About this book

Author:	Vladimir Vukovic
Title:	The art of attack in chess
Type of book:	Middle game
Level:	Intermediate