Patzer's review

Would you like to know a fun fact? You know that online chess community that everyone is talking about? Back in the day, there were a few different suggestions for which hashtag we should use. As you all know, we arrived at the decision to use #ChessPunks, and the rest is history. But initially, this was not the leading suggestion. Instead, it was #Chess4Life, but for various reasons we had a new poll and got a different result. This has nothing to do with the book in this review, apart from the fact that they share the same name. But with slightly different conditions, we would have a thriving chess community with the same name as this book. That would have been a fun coincidence. So after this pointless introduction, you may have chosen to stop reading. But if, for some reason, you are still reading, I hope you enjoy this review.   If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect f...

Study your own games and learn from your mistakes! This is an age-old piece of advice that is thrown around in the chess community all the time. But how do you actually  learn from your mistakes? This is a tricky question that rarely gets the same level of attention. So when you come across a book with the title Learn from your chess mistakes , it has to be a good sign - right? A friend of mine had this book in his collection and suggested I read it. It took me some time to get around to it, but finally I went through it. And let me just warn you at the get-go; this book has very little to do with your  chess mistakes. But anywho, let's dive in! 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? Chris Baker (author of this book) is a British IM, and as far as I can determine, this is the only chess book he's written. However, he is also the writer of the column "How b...

If you had actual lessons with a grandmaster, would you be brave enough to publish the transcripts? Well, someone did. And that someone wrote about it in book form — three books, to be precise. In this review, I present my thoughts on the first book in the book series Lessons with a Grandmaster . 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? Lessons with a GM  is written in collaboration between Boris Gulko and Joel Sneed. Gulko is a grandmaster who emigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1980s. According to Wikipedia, he is the only player to win the Soviet as well as US Chess championships. Sneed is a professor of psychology at Queens College in New York as well as an amateur player.  In essence, this book is a game collection. There are 25 games in the book, all played by Gulko. There are some real heavyweights among his opponents, such as Kasparov, Karpov,...

What is it that separates a grandmaster from an amateur player? This is a topic of several books, and it is also a question that I've asked myself. I have long been curious about what we can learn from grandmasters and what a patzer like me can implement in my own games in order to take at least a small step towards becoming a competent chess player. And the book under review here is one that promises to do just that.  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 versus Amateur  is a book that I've had in my collection for several years. I bought it back in 2015 and started reading it immediately. For some reason, I only read the first two chapters and then I put the book away. I don't remember why. During my vacation this summer, I decided to pick it up again, and now I've finally read the entire thing. The premise of the book is to discuss what...

What if you could get chess lessons from a former world champion? Would you say yes? This is a question that Kostya Kavutskiy asked in a recent video . I decided to accept that offer, and during the past few weeks, I've spent some quality time with the third world champion, José Capablanca. In his 100 year old book, he outlines some of the most important principles of chess. If you haven't already read this book, maybe you should? Hopefully, this review will help to decide if this book is 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? Several world champions (most of them?) have written books for advanced players. Capablanca is one of the few who have written chess books for beginners and intermediate players. And his book Chess Fundamentals  is a classic introductory book. Many people have recommended it, and I've had it on my reading list for a long time...

If you can't learn something from a game, you're doing something wrong. These are the words of adult improver extraordinaire Neal Bruce in an interview on Chess Dojo . For most people, learning from games means studying master games. But what about games played by amateurs? This review covers a book that aims to extract important lessons from amateur games. 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 came across Dan Heisman's writing through his blog on chess.com. This must have been about 5 years ago. I was impressed by the large number of suggestions that are relevant for amateur players (patzers like us). And when I started to explore his bibliography, there was one book that quickly made it to my wishlist: The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book. (a.k.a the chess book with the longest title ever ). And after several years, I finally go...

A while back, I almost completely lost my motivation for chess. I felt uninspired and uninterested. Nothing seemed to be fun anymore. But one day I looked at my book shelf and picked up a little book and started to flip through it. I went through a game. Wow! I went through another. Wow again! This book is nice! So since that day, the book has been on my bedside table, and I have (mostly) gone through one game per day before going to sleep. The book I am talking about is Instructive Chess Miniatures . Let me tell you why I like this book. 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 have written about miniature games before. In my review of Catastrophes and Tactics , I mentioned that the definition of a miniature can vary. In Ataman's book, the games last 25 moves at most. So what's the point? Why study miniatures? First of all (and obviously), they are quite sh...

Let me tell you a secret. There is no such thing as 'the best chess books'. It all depends on the preferences and expectations of the reader and of course the work s/he puts in when working with the book. So just because someone else claims that a certain book belongs in the 'best books of all time' category, it does not necessarily mean that it is a book that you will appreciate. This little intro may have given away the content of this review, but that's ok. Secrets of practical chess is an example of a book that has gotten a lot of praise on a more than one occasion. So let's dig in and see what the fuss is all about. What can you expect from this book? Secrets of practical chess has seemingly been well received in the chess world. Overall, the opinions are very positive. John Watson gave it a very positive review , and Jacob Aagaard has listed it among the top 10 books of the 20th century . It is also mentioned in another list of 'best' books ....

A while back, I set myself a challenge to memorize all the 16 undisputed world champions along with the matches they played. During this process I became aware of the long periods that some champions reigned. This fact alone made me realize that Botvinnik was one of the great champs, but I knew next to nothing about him. Curious to learn more, I decided to pick up the definitive (?) book on the world champions - My great presecessors by Garry Kasparov. What can you expect from this book? This is a book that will be different thing to different readers. It gives an account of the lives and games of past world champions along with the events that took place in (and outside) the chess world at the time. Some will be in it for the chess; others for the history. My great predecessors is a massive work of chess literature. It is a five-volume series that covers a more than a hundred years of chess history. Since I was curious about Botvinnik, I picked up vol 2. I have not read the o...

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 e...

I know, I know. This match was a long time ago, and there has already been another world championship match - against that other guy that begins with "Car" (By the way, is that a prerequisite for the championship now?). Anyway, there isn't a book out on the latest match yet. And, even if there was, this one is really (!) good. So if you're into this kind of book, go read it. What can you expect from this book? This book is not just a game collection. It is a book about the match in its entirety. It begins with an introduction that sets the scene for the match. There is a presentation of each player and their respective road to the match, as well as the venue. The book is also full of behind the scenes footage and a other goodies. I would imagine that the book could even be interesting for non-chessplayers. Each game is of course presented in its entirety along with first class annotations by the authors. Alburt is a renowned chess writer and grandmaster, and C...