Soviet Chess Primer (Chess Classics)

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Ultimately, I'd recommend this for the serious beginner or early-intermediate chess player looking to deepen his or her knowledge of the game. Closer scrutiny of The Soviet Chess Primer, however, leads me to question the title chosen by Quality Chess for this new translation.

I purchased it in 2015 while participating on a fide tournament and since then , I have been reading through (playing and solving should I say) this book and it is pure gold for anyone wishing to learn and master the game. After Chapter One, “The Game Explained,” readers are taught the “Aim of the Game” (ch 2) and “Tactics and Strategy” (ch 3).It should not surprise us that youthful attachment to cherished books would persist, and in this case the attachment is justified. Despite my reservations about the title, The Soviet Chess Primer is a fine book and its acclaim is deserved. The translation by John Sugden reads well, and – as one expects from Quality Chess – the production values are high. Having already studied Simple Chess, How To Reassess Your Chess, Chess Fundamentals, and My System, I found little within this book that was new.

Well it’s not a game collection but one book I think would be fantastic for starting out is Susan Polgar “Chess Tactics for Champions”, though it’s perhaps more intermediate than beginner. Please remember it can take some time for your bank or credit card company to process and post the refund too. However, readers who already have some familiarity with the game will benefit a lot from its discussions of ideas which are fairly simple to understand but often difficult to apply in real games. Such high regard may be surprising for an American audience, for whom Ilya Maizelis is something of a mystery.

Só ressalto um detalhe: apesar de ser fácil acompanhar os primeiros capítulos, logo o livro fica bem difícil! If his name is recognized at all, it is as a co-author of the classic Pawn Endings with Yuri Averbakh, although in truth Maizelis was its primary author. However, where this book shines is that it provides enough examples (of increasing complexity) that reading the book will help the reader begin to recognize when those tactics might become relevant.

The breakneck pace of the book and the complex examples preclude me from thinking it appropriate for the beginner. This new edition of a timeless classic includes the original foreword from the 2nd World Champion, Emanuel Lasker, as well as an introduction from the most celebrated chess trainer of modern times, Mark Dvoretsky.The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. For example, simple tactics like pins and forks are easy enough for even absolute beginners to understand. The author presents the material in an engaging and concise manner and includes practical examples after the theory, and exams at the end of each chapter. Yes, Black is in zugzwang, but surely there are much clearer and Elo-appropriate ways to illustrate the point than this?

Each chapter concludes with a whimsical set of “Entertainment Pages,” where miniatures and ‘fun exercises’ appear, and some of the original drawings are brought over from the Russian.Far be it from me to want anything to do with the Soviet Union, but even I have to admit, this is one of the finest tools to quickly advance your chess game if you're an advanced beginner or intermediate player.