The Complete Book of Chess Strategy: Grandmaster Techniques from A to Z
- Downloads：6426
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-16 09:51:33
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jeremy Silman
- ISBN：1890085014
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Reviews
Macy Davis
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This is a DNF because it’s just not the type of book one reads start to finish， but I’m still working on my chess game using it and I appreciate Silverman’s explanations of chess strategy。
Carter Lehman
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This is an introductory chess text。 There is not a specific focus to the book; rather， the aim is to provide a general account of chess and various strategies by which to approach the game。 There are a lot of graphics detailing specific opening set-ups， middle game combinations， and end game forms and tips that I enjoy having in one easily accessible book。 Oddly， this is one of the few chess books out there that I think has successfully attempted this。 Shortly， a chess game is to be broken down This is an introductory chess text。 There is not a specific focus to the book; rather， the aim is to provide a general account of chess and various strategies by which to approach the game。 There are a lot of graphics detailing specific opening set-ups， middle game combinations， and end game forms and tips that I enjoy having in one easily accessible book。 Oddly， this is one of the few chess books out there that I think has successfully attempted this。 Shortly， a chess game is to be broken down into three sections: the opening， the middle game， and the end game。 The goal of the opening is to secure the center of the board。 The goal of the middle game is to move out all of your minor and major pieces。 The goal of the end game is use those pieces to checkmate the enemy king。 Jeremy Silman details some openings， middle game strategies， and end game check mate positions that should quickly improve your chess game with some study。 （I've added the Russian Game into my repertoire now。 I guess I'll see how quickly it helps or hurts！） 。。。more
Álvaro
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Awesome book， it's not to read it page after page， as it is more of an encyclopedia of openings， endings， tactics and more but， the book is very good and I recommend it。 Awesome book， it's not to read it page after page， as it is more of an encyclopedia of openings， endings， tactics and more but， the book is very good and I recommend it。 。。。more
Mark Everglade
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The best book I've read on the subject， taking me to the 1500 level。 The way the openings are described and detailed is a tremendous help to beginners， and the book is balanced covering every aspect all the way to end game mechanics。 A must read for beginners through early intermediate。 It covers the theory on how to think about the game， it's initiative， tempo， etc。 The best book I've read on the subject， taking me to the 1500 level。 The way the openings are described and detailed is a tremendous help to beginners， and the book is balanced covering every aspect all the way to end game mechanics。 A must read for beginners through early intermediate。 It covers the theory on how to think about the game， it's initiative， tempo， etc。 。。。more
Cory Donavon
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This book was really helpful to learn a lot of important chess strategy。 Some sections were frustrating to read because a diagram would be provided， then sometimes 8-12 steps would be laid out in chess notation without an updated figure。 Each step， by the way， is a move for white AND black。 So I’m having to keep track of 24 movements on the board in my head， which admittedly I am not adequately equipped to do。 This theme was particularly pervasive in the openings section， which is the first 100 This book was really helpful to learn a lot of important chess strategy。 Some sections were frustrating to read because a diagram would be provided， then sometimes 8-12 steps would be laid out in chess notation without an updated figure。 Each step， by the way， is a move for white AND black。 So I’m having to keep track of 24 movements on the board in my head， which admittedly I am not adequately equipped to do。 This theme was particularly pervasive in the openings section， which is the first 100 pages of the book。 I couldn’t keep track of what was happening。 I even set up my chess board and followed along in real life， but even then the study was tedious and I would have appreciated more figures。 Overall I really liked the book。 There were a lot of good tips and strategies， as well as overall important themes of chess。 This book， in combination with a membership to chess。com， and of course practice， will allow you to become a stronger chess player for sure。 I would recommend this book， but I would say probably seek lessons in chess。com for openings。 。。。more
AllTheLives ICouldEverLive
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Good for amateurs/ players just starting out to get an idea of some key concepts in chess。
Alex Vasai
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As an intermediate player I liked the book， I think 15% of the patterns from the book were unknown or unclear in my mind and now they are stored there， it is an achievement to think you understand them all， I mean you are always searching for something new and chess books present to you 20-30 tiring pages for one pattern， Mr Silman made it simple。 I also enjoyed the fact that you do not need a chess board for these teachings。
Will Eldredge
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This book is exactly what the title says。 It is complete， albeit a little unwieldy。 It takes some serious uninterrupted time and focus to really dig in to this book。 I've had it for years and barely scratched the surface of its potential。 This book is exactly what the title says。 It is complete， albeit a little unwieldy。 It takes some serious uninterrupted time and focus to really dig in to this book。 I've had it for years and barely scratched the surface of its potential。 。。。more
Moncef
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Eh， I've read it a few times。 I'm not very good in the grand scheme of things。 Is this a failure on my part？ Probably Eh， I've read it a few times。 I'm not very good in the grand scheme of things。 Is this a failure on my part？ Probably 。。。more
Adrian Alvarez
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I wish this book had existed back when I was first learning the game with a friend in high school。 I'm afraid I got to it too late to be of much use but it is still an excellent overview for the beginning player （and a quick little refresher for anyone coming back to the game after a period of absence）。 I wish this book had existed back when I was first learning the game with a friend in high school。 I'm afraid I got to it too late to be of much use but it is still an excellent overview for the beginning player （and a quick little refresher for anyone coming back to the game after a period of absence）。 。。。more
Alberto
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This book doesn't teach any strategy。There's a section that covers every opening in one paragraph （what the hell good is that？）。 Completely useless。Then there's a section that covers middlegame tactical motifs （fork， hurdle， pin， x-ray， etc。）。 Completely useless。The endgame section is not completely useless， but there are better expositions out there。 Including Silman's own Essential Chess Endings。In short， there's absolutely NO reason to own or read this book （and I say this as an obsessive che This book doesn't teach any strategy。There's a section that covers every opening in one paragraph （what the hell good is that？）。 Completely useless。Then there's a section that covers middlegame tactical motifs （fork， hurdle， pin， x-ray， etc。）。 Completely useless。The endgame section is not completely useless， but there are better expositions out there。 Including Silman's own Essential Chess Endings。In short， there's absolutely NO reason to own or read this book （and I say this as an obsessive chess book collector）。 。。。more
Vikas Lather
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A must read for every chess lover to understand the dynamics of chess
Robert Palmer
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How can I rate this book？ I am only a novice chess player， so for me to rate this book written by a grand master is like a recruit still in basic training rating a book written by an experienced general。 I believe that the book has valuable insights for beginning chess players， but I also suspect that there is much that I have missed because I am but a novice。 Perhaps I should return to this review after a couple of thousand games！
Tyler
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Very good book on chess for beginners， talks about the different tactics and how they can be applied in a concise yet thorough manner。 It could probably do without the section on openings since it is a book for beginners and the openings are not very in depth for people who really want to learn about them。 Silman's other book， The amateur's mind， I feel would be a better for someone picking up a chess book for the first time。 Very good book on chess for beginners， talks about the different tactics and how they can be applied in a concise yet thorough manner。 It could probably do without the section on openings since it is a book for beginners and the openings are not very in depth for people who really want to learn about them。 Silman's other book， The amateur's mind， I feel would be a better for someone picking up a chess book for the first time。 。。。more
Tome Addiction
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More top level introductory to strategy than a detailed strategy book。
Steve Toyne
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I recommend this for beginners after they have a couple of hundred games under their belt。 I don't see club players and above learning a great deal from this book but a complete beginner would be lost。The section that deals with the openings is far too sparse。 It offers very little as to the ideas behind each open， instead it offers two or three routes that games usually go， only going about five moves deep。 A beginner shouldn't be memorising lines until they know the ideas behind the opening so I recommend this for beginners after they have a couple of hundred games under their belt。 I don't see club players and above learning a great deal from this book but a complete beginner would be lost。The section that deals with the openings is far too sparse。 It offers very little as to the ideas behind each open， instead it offers two or three routes that games usually go， only going about five moves deep。 A beginner shouldn't be memorising lines until they know the ideas behind the opening so that they can carry on when they are out of book。The rest of the book is much better 1400+ players will have to dig to get to bits that can teach them something。Not as good as Silman's other chess books。 。。。more
Lukasz
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The book is appropriate for beginners and more advanced players。 Beginners will learn a lot about chess， and players with some experience will definitely revise， complete and put their knowledge in order。 Since， the book has a form of a dictionary， it is easy to go through and find things。 Some information， however， e。g。 openings are discussed too cursorily for me， it just gives you a general idea and information。 But that has its advantages too， because as I said it's rather a dictionary on che The book is appropriate for beginners and more advanced players。 Beginners will learn a lot about chess， and players with some experience will definitely revise， complete and put their knowledge in order。 Since， the book has a form of a dictionary， it is easy to go through and find things。 Some information， however， e。g。 openings are discussed too cursorily for me， it just gives you a general idea and information。 But that has its advantages too， because as I said it's rather a dictionary on chess practical matters。 You get the idea， you research and learn about it yourself。 。。。more
Jim
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I thought this was fairly readable。 It is presented with short segments on various topics。
Jim
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An excellent book for the beginning to intermediate chess player。
Kevin
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Principles for the opening， more stuff for the middle like attacking squares， making outposts for knights， posting bishops on good squares and activating the rooks - an not necessarily going after the king。 Evaluate the differences between the two sides （Bishop & Knight， v。s。 2 bishops） and exploit the differences。 If they only have one bishop， if you post your pieces on opposite colored squares - he has no attack。 He can only support other pieces on their attack， not attack directly。
Alex
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This is the best book I have read on this topic。 It is filled with accessible， useful advice that will improve your game。 My rating jumped by about 100 points largely because of this book。
Ryan Winston
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For anyone who already knows basic Chess， this book should certainly take you to the next level。 It conveys the most common openings， tactical middle game movement， and how to be effective in the end game。 Many books speak too long on any given topic （e。g。 openings） and overwhelm you to a point where you put down the book in frustration。Highly recommended to get you to the next stage of your chess playing。
Justin P
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a good， general introduction to strategies and tactics for beginners to intermediate players。 includes rules， opening， middlegame， and endgame。 there's also a section on "practical matters" which covers chess psychology and so forth。 not incredibly in-depth， but valuable all the same。 a good， general introduction to strategies and tactics for beginners to intermediate players。 includes rules， opening， middlegame， and endgame。 there's also a section on "practical matters" which covers chess psychology and so forth。 not incredibly in-depth， but valuable all the same。 。。。more
Adam Floridia
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