| Grandmaster Andrew Soltis is not only one of the most prolific writers in chess but also one of the best. One can safely say that any of his non-opening books are worth buying. His latest, How to Choose a Chess Move (Batsford - www.chrysalisbooks.co.uk, 2005, 240 pages, figurine algebraic, $21.95) continues his recent emphasis on instructional works. Last year he wrote Rethinking the Chess Pieces - also published by Batsford. The title How to Choose a Chess Move bears some similarity with an earlier Soltis book - The Inner Game of Chess: How to Calculate and Win (McKay 1994), but they are quite different. Making a quick glance through both of them the only overlap I spotted was Vasiukov-Popovic, Vrsac 1979. In fact most of the examples Soltis has selected to support his points are quite recent with many games from 2003 and 2004 - almost all involving very strong Grandmasters. How to Choose a Chess Move is divided into 11 chapters: Your move Candidate Cues Move Triggers How Much Analysis? Trees, Checkers and Worst Cases Evaluation and Expectation The Four Thinking Models Reality Check Juggling, Tweaking, Rechecking Clarity and Risk Clock Consciousness I think the chapter players will find the most useful is The Four Thinking Methods (prioritizing, thinking like Kotov, elimination and back and forth) where Soltis covers Kotov's method (1.draw up a list of candidates moves 2. analyze each variation once and only once 3. having gone through step 1 and 2 make a move) and attempts to refine and improve it. Several authors have attempted to improve on Kotov's method since How to Think Like a Grandmaster first appeared in English in 1971. Jonathan Tisdall in Improve Your Chess Now pointed out that most humans are incapable of following the rigidity of thinking that Kotov's system calls for. More recently in Amatzia's The Grandmaster's Mind several world class players discounted Kotov's theory of selecting candidate moves first and analyzing second as impractical and ineffective. Their point was that you often don't think of a candidate move until you have looked deeply into a position. Soltis covers these points and also deals with some other shortcomings of the "tree method" by using tricks that many good players routinely employ without being conscious of it. One of these is the process of elimination. For example you spot four candidate moves and immediately see that three lose on the spot - don't spend much on the fourth just play it. When drawing up a list of candidate moves it makes sense to first analyze the one that intuitively seems right to you instead of putting it down the list. If your right you have saved valuable clock time. How to Choose a Chess Move is filled with practical advice like: " The longer you study a position the less likely you may see tactically." Soltis attributes this to a phenomena he calls tactical fatigue. How to Choose a Chess Move is no substitute for spending time each day studying combinations and endgame studies to sharpen one's calculating and visualizing ability. However it definitely identifies some ways of thinking that will help the aspiring player analyze more efficiently and effectively. Recommended The first edition of International Master Simon Webb's classic Chess for Tigers (Batsford - www.chrysalisbooks.co.uk, 205, 152 pages, figurine algebraic, $21.95) was published to critical acclaim in 1978. This edition, the third, was updated by Webb shortly before his tragic death earlier this year. Chess for Tigers is not the book for you if you want to win on style points. Webb is very practical. The aim of this book is simply to score more points with the ability you have. There are suggestions on how to play better players, improve your opening repertoire, handle drawn positions and so forth. Practical stuff. Ever the optimist Webb even offers advice where it seems there is none to be had. For example in a team match where you are out rated on every board what strategy could possibly be successful? Webb admits quite frankly that the odds are stacked against your team but suggests there might be a chance. Try to scrape together as many draws as possible and hope for a lucky break on a remaining board is his plan. Chess for Tigers is required reading for all players under 2200 and even those with titles would benefit from some of his advice on how to deal with higher rated players. Recommended |