How Not to Play Chess (Dover Chess)

Beginners and even fairly advanced players agree on one thing: analyzing the strength or weakness of a position (material being equal) is the hardest part of chess to learn. It is also one of the hardest elements to teach | and there are some who claim it is unteachable. But this wonderfully lucid book | written by one of the outstanding chess expositors of the twentieth century | presents the basis of analysis in such a disarmingly simple way that even the most casual player will be able to improve his game immensely.Sticking to a few well-chosen examples and explaining every step along the way | the author shows you how to avoid playing a hit-or-miss game | from move to move | and instead develop general plans of action based on positional analysis: weak and strong squares | the notion of controlling a square | how to seize control of open lines | weak points in the pawn structure | and other aspects of analysis.He includes as well a number of tips (not often found in books for beginners and average players) that the reader would do well to commit to memory: such hints as “Never omit to blockade an enemy passed pawn |” and “Do not be content with attacking an existing weakness; always seek to create others.” Throughout the book he defines and illustrates typical chess mistakes | and anyone reading his book carefully will learn in a few hours what he might otherwise have spent years to attain. For this revised edition | the author added 20 problems from master games on which the reader can test his understanding of the principles found in the text.