Patzer's review

I first heard about Barry Hymer and Peter Wells on the perpetual chess podcast where they were interviewed about their new book on chess improvement. I was intrigued by the ideas they presented, so I decided to get the book. And I was not disappointed. In this review, I will tell you why I like this book and why you should probably read it too. Let me begin by making one point very clear. The subtitle of this book  ("it's all in the mindset") has a very specific connection to the psychological theory of  mindset . It should not be confused with statements such as "you can get whatever you want if you just ask the universe for it". And it is not a quick fix. With that disclaimer out of the way, let's dig 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? The concept of mindset  was first presented in 2006 by Stanford professor Carol Dweck in her semi...

Who is the greatest chess player of all time? Hard to say. But one of the people on the list is arguably Emanuel Lasker. He was the second official world champion and held his title for a massive 27 years. Apart from this achievement, a significant part of his legacy is the book Common Sense in Chess  which was first published more than a hundred years ago. This review is an attempt to present this classic book with all the respect that it deserves. 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? Emanuel Lasker (1868-1941) was a German chess player, mathematician and philosopher who was one of the world's greatest chess players.  He won the World Championship title against Steinitz in 1894 and kept it for 27 years until he lost it to Capablanca in 1921. Besides being the longest reigning world champion of all time, he had some outstanding tournament results. For ...

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...

Chess is 99% tactics. At least, that’s what some people say. Whether that is correct or not does not really matter, because either way you slice it, tactics is a central aspect of chess. Especially at the patzer level, games are often decided by a missed tactic. Working through a tactics book can extend your chess vocabulary and can be great for establishing and reinforcing patterns until they become a part of your chess intuition. So for a chess player, tactics training is like going to the gym. 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 many readers probably know, Susan Polgar was born in Hungary and is currently living in the USA. Susan and her younger sisters Judit and Zsofia were all famously trained by their father László Polgár as an educational experiment as kids to become chess prodigies. And, the experiment was a success. Susan is the former women’s world ch...

Are you impressed by people who can play chess without seeing the board? For the uninitiated, this is a very impressive display of skill. But it is a skill that can be learned, and you don’t need to be a grandmaster to achieve it. The trick is to start small, with few pieces on the board - or in a diagram. In this review, I will discuss a book that can help you on the way to becoming a blindfold chess wiz.   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? A few years ago, my chess club arranged a small chess display in a local shopping centre. One of the things we did was having someone playing blindfolded against one of the spectators. People around the table were completely blown away by this, and many even asked if it was a trick. (It’s not!) Although blindfold chess seems amazing, even impossible, to some people, it is a skill that is very attainable. I would even c...

A Soviet classic - that's what it says on the front cover. And for good reason, I think. At the beginning of this year, I decided I would invest some time studying strategy books. I already had a number of them in my collection, and then I stumbled upon a thread in the facebook group ”chess book collectors”. The post contained some controversial claims about the book Question of modern chess theory , which was unfamiliar to me at the time. The post and the ensuing discussions piqued my interest, and I decided to check it out. After some research, I realized that this was a stepping stone for many other books, so I put it at the top of my reading list. I read it during the summer, but haven't got around to writing a review before now. So I actually had to read it again. Anywho, I am finally ready to share my thoughts with the world. Hope you enjoy it. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! Wha...

Now it's time for something completely different. As you probably know, I usually review chess books. But during summer I have spent some time reading my first ever books on the game of Go. So I would like to share some thoughts on that with 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 these books? I first came across Go about ten years ago, when a friend of mine introduced me to the game. He was also fairly new to the game, but he kicked my behind every time we played. So I don't consider myself to be very talented, but I was still very fascinated by the game. And the fact that I took such a beating from my friend is something that has stuck with me over the years and made me curious about what it is I need to learn in order to play the game at a half decent level. And finally, I decided to take a look at some basic books on the topic. After a quick search on the we...