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Review index

Reviewed books
Books are sorted by title

1001 Deadly Checkmates by John Nunn, March 2 2024
1001 winning chess sacrifices and combinations by Fred Reinfeld, July 24 2022
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman, April 30 2019
Art of Attack in Chess by Vladimir Vukovic, November 18 2019
Attack and Counterattack in Chess by Fred Reinfeld, February 8 2020
Back to Basics by Dan Heisman, October 4 2019
Blindfold Endgame Visualization by Martin B. Justesen, January 8 2021
Bobby Fischer teaches chess by Bobby Fischer, October 4 2019
Bobby Fischer goes to war by David Edmonds and John Eidinow, December 4 2022
Carlsen vs Karjakin by Lev Alburt and Jon Crumiller, May 6 2019
Catastrophes and Tactics in the Chess Opening by Carsten Hansen, March 4 2020
Chess for life by Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan, October 15 2023
Chess Fundamentals by José R. Capablanca, September 1 2021
Chess Improvement - it's all in the Mindset by Barry Hymer and Peter Wells, April 21 2021
Chess Master vs Chess Amateur by Max Euwe and Walter Meiden, May 10 2020
Chess Queens by Jennifer Shahade, December 28 2022
Chess Tactics for Champions by Susan Polgar and Paul Truong, January 24 2021 
Chess Tactics for Students by John Bain, October 4 2019
Chess tactics from scratch by Martin Weteschnik, March 9 2024
Chess Training Pocket Book by Lev Alburt, September 15 2019
Chess Visualization Course by Ian Anderson, May 1 2021
Common Sense in Chess by Emanuel Lasker, April 4 2021
Dynamic Chess Strategy by Mihai Suba, August 5 2021
Elements of Positional Evalutation by Dan Heisman, March 17 2023
Evaluate like a Grandmaster by Eugene Perelshteyn and Nate Solon, May 1 2024
Excelling at Chess Calculation by Jacob Aagaard, October 12 2019
Go - a complete Introduction to the Game by Cho Chikun, August 23 2020
Graded Go Problems for Beginners by Kano Yoshinori, August 23 2020
Grandmaster versus Amateur, by Jacob Aagaard and John Shaw (eds.), September 27 2021
How good is your Chess? by Leonard Barden, November 22 2019
How to reassess your Chess by Jeremy Silman, August 9 2020
How to Study Chess on Your Own by Davorin Kuljasevic, July 30 2021
Instructive Chess Miniatures by Alper Efe Ataman, May 11 2021
Is your Move safe? by Dan Heisman, August 21 2019
It's your Move by Chris Ward, April 22 2019
Judgment and Planning in Chess by Max Euwe, September 21 2021
Learn Chess Tactics by John Nunn, February 10 2022
Learn from your chess mistakes by Chris Baker, August 2 2023
Lessons with a Grandmaster by Boris Gulko and Joel Sneed, October 27 2021
Lisa - a chess novel by Jesse Kraai, August 11 2023
Looking for Trouble by Dan Heisman, August 21 2019
Mastering Chess Strategy by Johan Hellsten, February 23 2023
Mastering Opening Strategy by Johan Hellsten, February 23 2023
Mind Master by Viswanathan Anand, March 31 2023
Move first, think later by Willy Hendriks, April 29 2019
My great Predecessors by Garry Kasparov, January  6 2020
My System by Aaron Nimzowitsch, May 18 2019
Power Chess for Kids by Charles Hertan, October 4 2019
Questions of modern Chess Theory by Isaac Lipnitsky, December 20 2020
Rapid Chess Improvement by Michael de la Maza, May 15 2019
Secrets of a Grandpatzer by Kenneth Mark Colby, December 1 2019
Secrets of Practical Chess by John Nunn, January 19 2020
Silman's complete Endgame Course by Jeremy Silman, October 25 2023
Simple attacking Plans by Fred Wilson, July 17 2021
Simple Chess by Michael Stean, June 30 2021 
Sjakkgeniene by Atle Grønn and Hans Olav Lahlum, February 14 2020
Starting out: Chess Tactics and Checkmates by Chris Ward, October 4 2019
The 10 most common chess mistakes by Larry Evans, May 24 2023
The Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman, April 21 2019
The Art of the Middlegame by Paul Keres and Alexander Kotov, April 13 2020
The Chess Memory Palace by John Holden, November 29 2023
The Improving Chess Thinker by Dan Heisman, April 3, 2022
The Match of All Time by Gudmundur G. Thorarinsson, September 2 2022
The nation's gambit (En nasjon i sjakk) by Johan Høst, June 8 2024
The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis, July 9 2021
The power of pawns by Jörg Hickl, October 16 2022
The Reassess your Chess Workbook by Jeremy Silman, August 23 2021
The tactics bible by Efstratios Grivas, February 10 2024
Think like a Super-GM by Michael Adams and Philip Hurtado, July 3 2022
Tiger's Chaos Theory by Tiger Hillarp Persson, November 14 2024
Tune your Chess Tactics Antenna by Emmanuel Neiman, June 20 2019
Under the Surface by Jan Markos, July 5 2019
Understanding before moving by Herman Grooten, April 29 2019
Understanding Chess Middlegames by John Nunn, June 25 2020
What it takes to become a Chess Master by Andrew Soltis, April 21 2019
Winning Chess Strategies by Yasser Seirawan and Jeremy Silman, February 13 2021
Winning Chess Strategy for Kids by Jeff Coakley, May 11 2019

Upcoming reviews

My main priority is to review the books in my collection. Here is a list of books (in alphabetical order) that I will choose from in upcoming reviews. Let me know if there is a specific book you would like me to review.

  1. 100 headachingly hard mate in two chess puzzles (Martin Justesen)
  2. Better thinking, better chess (Joel Benjamin)
  3. Beyond material (D. Kuljasevic)
  4. Chess Duels (Yasser Seirawan)
  5. Chess for zebras (Jonathan Rowson)
  6. Chess is my life (Korchnoi)
  7. Fire on board: Shirov's best games (Shirov)
  8. Forcing chess moves (Hertan)
  9. Game changer (Matthew Sadler, Natasha Regan)
  10. How to choose a chess move (Andrew Soltis)
  11. How to play chess endings (E Znosko-Borovsky)
  12. Imagination in chess (Paata Gaprindashvili)
  13. Improve your chess pattern recognition (Arthur van de Oudeweetering)
  14. Improve your chess tactics (Yakov Neishtadt)
  15. Inside the chess mind (Jacob Aagaard)
  16. John Nunn’s chess puzzle book (John Nunn)
  17. Mastering Endgame Strategy (Johan Hellsten)
  18. My 60 memorable games (Bobby Fischer)
  19. My best games of chess (Alekhine)
  20. Pawn structure chess (Andrew Soltis)
  21. Perpetual Chess Improvement (Ben Johnson)*
  22. Positional chess handbook (Israel Gelfer)
  23. Positional chess sacrifices (Mihai Suba)
  24. Positional decision making (Boris Gelfand)
  25. Practical Chess Exercises (Ray Cheng)
  26. Rethinking the chess pieces (Soltis)
  27. Secrets of modern chess strategy (John Watson)*
  28. Seven deadly chess sins (Jonathan Rowson)
  29. Solving in Style (John Nunn)
  30. Tal-Botvinnik 1960 (Mikhail Tal)
  31. Test your chess IQ (August Livshitz)
  32. The Art of Sacrifice in Chess (Spielmann)
  33. The chessmaster checklist (Andrew Soltis)
  34. The chess manual of avoidable mistakes (Romain Edouard)
  35. The life and games of Mikhail Tal (Mikhail Tal)
  36. The Road to Chess Improvement (Alex Yermolinsky)
  37. The wisest things ever said about chess (Andrew Soltis)
  38. Thinking inside the box (Jacob Aagaard)
  39. Timman’s Titans (Jan Timman)
  40. Van Perlo's endgame tactics (Ger Van Perlo)
  41. What it takes to become a grandmaster (Andrew Soltis)
  42. Winning quickly at chess (John Nunn)
  43. Your chess battle plan (Neil McDonald)*
  44. Zurich international chess tournament 1953 (David Bronstein)
*) Currently reading

Wishlist/suggested reviews

  1. 1000 Best short games of chess (Irving Chernev)
  2. 1001 Chess Exercises for Advanced Club Players (Frank Erwich)
  3. Chess structures: A grandmaster guide (M. Flores Rios)
  4. Domination in 2545 Endgame Studies (G Kasparyan)
  5. One hundred selected games (Mikhail Botvinnik)
  6. Pump up your rating (Axel Smith)
  7. The best move (Hort & Jansa)
  8. The Inner Game of Chess (Andrew Soltis)
  9. The secret ingredient (Markos & Navarra)
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Comments

  1. Mike from WisconsinAugust 23, 2020 at 1:08 AM

    Openings For Amateurs and his follow up book Openings For Amateurs-Next Steps
    Many Patzers would like to see these reviews as many Patzers buy these books.

    ReplyDelete

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Popular reviews

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
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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
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Master of strategy

During the past two years, I’ve been working on improving my strategic/positional play. In this process, I have read a number of books, and two books that have long been on my reading list are the strategy books by Johan Hellsten. So when the Swedish chess federation requested reviewers for two of these books, I didn’t hesitate. I am happy that I was given the opportunity to review these books, and hope this review can be of help to you as a reader. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from these books? Johan Hellsten has created a name for himself as one of the leading experts of chess strategy in modern times. His series of strategy books ( Mastering Opening Strategy , Mastering Chess Strategy and Mastering Endgame Strategy ) have received glowing reviews from many parts of the chess world. So it feels good to finally dig into these nuggets. His endgame book is still in my boo
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Judgement and planning

Some books "fly under the radar" and do not get the same attention as the evergreen classics. But sometimes, there is gold in old mines. And I found a little golden nugget while shopping for used books. A book written for amateurs, by (arguably) the best amateur of all time; former world champion Max Euwe. Sounds promising, right? 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? In my previous review of Chess Fundamentals , said that few world champions have written books for beginners and intermediate players. Capablanca is, of course, one exception. And another is Max Euwe. Euwe is not the most well-known world champion. He was in his prime in the 1930s and 1940s, most notably in 1935 when he dethroned none other than the great Alexander Alekhine. Although many have suggested that Alekhine only lost because of heavy use of alcohol, beating him is no small feat (rega
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Learn chess tactics

Where should you turn for tactics training? This is a frequently occuring question, not only from beginners, but also from intermediate players. Which books are suitable for your specific level, and which ones should you get? In this review, I take on a book that I suggest you do get - at least if you're at or near the beginning of your chess development. This was actually my first tactics book back in the day, and I recently reread it in order to give a proper review. I remember that I liked it the first time around and that my tactical skills improved. Although rereading it didn't contribute all that much to my learning, I still have a good impression of it. Please read on for more details. 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? Learn Chess Tactics is written by the one and only John Nunn, and (as the name implies) it is a tactics book. I would go as f
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