Keep it simple!

What is the best chess book? I see this question asked all the time. I always respond with a question: What is your level? If you are a beginner or lower-level patzer and you're looking for a strategy book, I think this review gives you one possible answer to the question. And to top it off, it's a very small and convenient book. But don't be fooled by the title; chess is never simple. Or is it?

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?

For those of you who are active on chess Twitter, you will probably have read about Neal Bruce's various book championships. One of these is the basic chess strategy book championship which was won by Winning Chess Strategies.

This is my 3 year, master basic strategy curriculum.

1 stack per year. 😁

All but the puzzle books are really annotated game books. 👍

IMO, Stay away from My System and Pawn Power in Chess. 🤮 pic.twitter.com/sHheBvCtNf

— Neal Bruce (@NealBruceBC) May 1, 2021

Throughout Neal's various posts on the topic, he repeatedly lauded Simple Chess by Michael Stean. The book didn't win his competition, but Neal's praise was all over my twitter feed, and many others joined the choir. This made me curious. Had I missed a classic?? I had never even heard of the book before. So I simply (no pun intended) had to see what the fuss was about.

Simple Chess is a small book with a big punch. It has only 160 pages, but still manages to cover the majority of what a patzer will need in terms of chess strategy. The book contains seven chapters:

1. Introduction
2. Outposts
3. Weak pawns
4. Open files
5. Half-open files: the minority attack
6. Black squares and white squares
7. Space

In the introduction chapter, Stean describes a common path of progress for beginners in chess. First, you learn how the pieces move, simple checkmates (e.g. the scholar's mate) and basic tactics (pins, forks, skewers etc.). This is the foundation that Simple Chess presupposes. In other words, you don't have to know anything about chess strategy before reading this book. But you do need a fundamental grasp of how the game is played.

A core ingredient in the book is pawn structure. Although there is no chapter dedicated to the subject, it is a recurring topic throughout the book. For many players, this can be a somewhat abstract concept. But in my opinion, Stean manages to clear a lot of the smoke that tends to cover this topic. His explanation of why pawn structure is important is very clear (pp. 7-8):

The most important single feature of a chess position is the activity of the pieces. (...) The primary constraint on a piece's activity is the pawn structure.

Anyone who has some experience playing chess will recognize the fact that the pawns determine which squares are available for the pieces. But I have never really seen anyone connecting the various strategic concepts as clearly as Stean does in this book. I have read about concepts such as pawn structure, outposts, activity, king safety and space in other books. But my impression is that all of these concepts tend to be presented in isolation. Stean manages to describe how they are interconnected. In the introduction of the final chapter (p. 132), Stean really hammers down this point and gives an excellent summary of the message that this book tries to convey:

The essence of simple chess is mobility. Pieces need to be kept active and used economically. All the objectives of simple chess can be traced back to this underlying notion. Outposts are springboards from which pieces can generate activity, weak pawns hamper mobility because they require protection, 'bad' bishops are bad because their movements are restricted.

After reading this passage, I stopped to think. Somehow, Stean had put words to a feeling I've had for some time but have not been able to express myself. It is so clearly phrased. So concise. So simple. Hmm... Perhaps that's where the book got its name from.

In my opinion, it is in this final chapter on space that the book really shines. Before reading this, my understanding of space was how far advanced the pawns are on the board. My limited understanding was that a pawn or two on the fifth rank automatically meant a space advantage. But after reading Simple chess, I gained a new understanding of the concept. I have often read the "rule" that you shouldn't trade pieces when you have a space advantage, but I have never really given any deeper thought to why that is. Stean explains this with a clarity that I have not seen in any other book. And the best example is his explanation of the ideas in the Ruy Lopez (p. 141):

Black's position has sufficient 'capacity' for three pieces, but not clearly enough for all four of them. (...) If his spatial strategy is to succeed he must leave Black with four minor pieces.

Stean further exemplifies this principle by a game between Karpov and Westerinen from 1974. This is an excellent example of how game selection really amplifies the points that are presented in the text.

I worked through the first few chapters of the book together with my 8 y/o son. We played through the games on a physical board, read the annotations, discussed the key positions and tried to summarize the most important lessons. I think that a lot of it may have been over his head, but it felt like a good way to introduce him to the world of chess strategy. If nothing else, we had a good time going through the games.

For the last two chapters of the book, my son didn't join the fun, so I studied them on my own. I didn't bother getting the board out. So for these games, I tried the study companion from fellow blogger The Abysmal Depths of Chess. I think it was a good way to get an overview of the games and understand the annotations better. The author of the blog, Jonathan, co-hosted an episode on the perpetual chess book recap where they discussed Simple chess. In that episode, Ben and Jonathan suggest that the book is suitable for a wide range of players; with a suggested rating span of 1300-1900. 

The book is extremely succinct and very well written. The games are well annotated and clearly illustrate the selected strategic concepts. Overall, a truly excellent book.

As stated above, this is a book for beginners. But because of Stean's brief and "compressed" writing style, the reader has to put in more work than other books such as Winning chess strategies or The amateur's mind. I would consider all of these books more or less equal in terms of quality and target audience. But the latter two have more detailed explanations which makes them easier to read. This being said, Simple chess presents the same concepts and lessons in fewer pages and fewer words. So I wouldn't necessarily say that any one of them is better; it's a matter of preference and taste. They are all great books. Why not get them all?

Who should read this book?

Simple Chess is clearly written for players in the early stages of their chess development. In the foreword, the author states that it is aimed at "those players for whom strategy in chess is an almost impenetrable mystery". In terms of playing strength, the "sweet spot" is probably between 1000 and 1500. But I think it's an enjoyable read for even stronger players. Personally, I liked it very much and would recommend it to anyone.

About this book

Author:	Michael Stean
Title:	Simple Chess
Type of book:	Middlegame
Level:	Beginner