Chess Secrets: The Giants of Strategy: Learn from Kramnik, Karpov, Petrosian, Capablanca and Nimzowitsch

McDonald introduces the reader of the book by giving concise biographies of the five "giants" along with descriptions of their playing styles. These accounts are pithy and serve to whet the appetite for the games which follow. Although each player's stylistic approach differs from the other there is, nevertheless, a nexus that might loosely be termed a positional school which groups these exponents together. The author's emphasis is clearly on this as opposed to a tactical or sacrificial motif (for this see Great Attackers in the same series). The vast majority of the games are presented in full and only a few taken from diagrammed positions to illustrate a strategical theme under discussion. Analysis tends to be light with emphasis on prose to explain events on the board; since the content deals largely with schematic thinking this is hardly surprising and thus makes for very enjoyable reading. The material covers nine chapters under such headings as: the seventh rank; the outpost and open file... Readers familiar with Nimzowitsch's My System will recognize the relevance of these immediately. However, McDonald's book is no mere clone of an original as there's plenty of new material also: chapters on such things as pawn breaks; how to use a pawn ram; planning on a grand scale... The five chess heavy weights go about demonstrating their expertise throughout and in so doing providecogent examples of Grand master nous. It is tempting to view Giants of Chess Strategy as an updated, modernized version of My System or Chess Praxis. But it is more than this. For a start it's more in tune with contemporary taste and thus easier to read; it also contains an impressive list of modern games since three of the five mentioned GM's were active from the 50's onward. McDonald's offering would make an excellent accompaniment to Nimzowitsch's writings for any practical player wishing to make an impression on tournament or league play. In common with other books in this series, EVERYMAN publishing have seen fit to provide plenty of diagrams per page, clear layout and text along with bold algebraic notation all of which makes for facile understanding. Unusually, there is no player and opening index, but perhaps the format renders this unnecessary. All in all an enjoyable read whether you are a serious student intent on improvement or some one keen to understand the development of chess strategy.

This is the best single book on strategy and positional play I have ever read. It tells you how to properly use your rooks, how to make plans through converting advantages, how to use pawn breaks, and I finally understand restraint and prophylaxis. And it does all of this by starting with the idea and virtues of the 7th rank. Then expands to talking about open files, and outposts, then expands again about proper planning. The whole book is interrelated into a cohesive whole. In fact, it finally made me realize the way chess functions. You restrain the opponent's pieces and pawns so you can blockade them. Use a pawn break to open lines, especially open files, and through proper planning and use of rooks, outposts, and passed pawns, penetrate to the 7th rank. So now, I ALWAYS have a plan when I play chess. In fact I discovered through reading this book that converting advantages is cyclical, one advantage converts into another. Piece Activity converts to a Structural or Material Advantage. A Structural Advantage converts into Piece Activity or a Material Advantage, and Material Advantages convert into Piece Activity or Structural Advantages. Knowing this allows you to constantly convert one advantage into another to create plans across the whole board and constantly apply positional pressure.Also I read this book after I read My System by Nimzowitsch and it really helped me understand what Nimzowitsch was saying. This is like a modern My System because it removes Nimzowitsch's horrible non-chess examples and speaks an plain language. But it doesn't have everything from My System, like attacking the Base of the Pawn Chain. But it does have most of the important ideas.So, what I would recommend is, read Michael Stean's Simple Chess first. This will give you a great introduction into the basics of positional play. Then Read Giants of Strategy, which expands beautifully on everything Simple Chess says. After that , read My System, which will take you a while, so take your time. Then GO BACK and reread Giants of Strategy, which will help clarify and reinforce everything in My System. If you do that you will have a very sound understanding of positional play that will serve you your entire chess career. As such I cannot recommend the book enough!

This is a nifty little strategic primer, targeted at <1800 USCF (<140BCF) players. Many of the games are well-known and can be found in several other books, but McDonald has done a good job of collecting the most important and easy-to-understand games pertaining to any one of the six or seven themes he covers (rook on the 7th, pawn breakthrough, restraint, etc.) and giving enough verbal explanation so that a reader can understand the underlying logic of the game. I would have liked to have seen Rubinstein included among the giants but it would appear one can't have everything.

A didática e seleção do conteúdo desse livro é muito boa

Remarquable pour celui qui veut progresser en stratégie. Nous retrouvons des monstres dans ce domaine.

Excelente servicio y excelente libro. Profundiza en los elementos posicionales de manera profunda y amena. Aconsejado para cualquier jugador del nivel que sea.

This is one of the best series of chess books I have come across in my 60+ years of playing and Neil McDonald presents the games in this selection with his usual user-friendly, expert approach that make all his books so accessible to players but especially for those around the 1300 - 1800 level of.ability. Presented with the usual high standard generally associated with Everyman chess books - full marks to the publisher and authors of all the books in the Chess Secrets series!

I wasn't really expecting too much from a book which looks at positional play through the eyes of four giants of chess. However, the book was a real joy due to the engaging analysis and plentiful diagrams (always welcome when are anything less than expert). Also, it was easy to read in kindle format.