The Chess Amateur

Twenty-five chess games chosen, arranged, annotated to help amateurs avoid a variety of weak strategic and tactical moves. With commentary by 1935–36 World Chess Champion Max Euwe. 1963 edition.

This book takes the student on a journey through his own mind and returns him to the chess board with a wealth of new-found knowledge and the promise of a significant gain in strength. Most amateurs possess erroneous thinking processes that remain with them throughout their chess lives. These flaws in their mental armour result in stinging defeats and painful reversals. Books can be bought and studied, lessons can be taken -- but in the end, these elusive problems always prove to be extremely difficult to eradicate. Seeking a solution to this dilemma, the author wrote down the thoughts of his students while they played actual games, analysed them, and catalogued the most common misconceptions that arose. This second edition greatly expands on the information contained in the popular first edition.

For IM Jonathan Hawkins, the key to rising from average strength to an international title was knowing what to study and how to learn as efficiently as possible. Focusing his attention firmly on the endgame, he devised building blocks and identified important areas of study that will help you become a much better practical player, armed with a deeper understanding of key aspects of chess.

Teaches amateur chess players how to improve their chess skills so they can become better players.

Grandmaster Matthew Sadler, answers key questions such as: Which openings should I play ? How do I learn to spot tactics? What do I need to know about the endgame?

Chess players often reach a certain level and subsequently seem unable to become any stronger. They attain solid and even promising positions without having any well formulated ideas of how to continue the game. They frequently do not understand the strategic requirements of the niceties which go into the building up of a strong position. The Road to Chess Mastery is a collection of 25 games annotated specifically for the purpose of showing how to improve their chess. All phases of chess technique are included: discussions of the basic ideas behind modern openings, explanations of the handling of typical middle game positions, consideration of certain endgames, examples of the kind of technical analysis a chess player must make before deciding on the next move. Through an introduction that explains how the ordinary chess player can improve in the various phases of the game of chess, and in enlightening commentaries far more extensive than space permits in an ordinary annotated game, former World Champion Dr. Max Euwe shows how a chess player should think, by indicating the moves for all but the most obvious moves of each game. By applying what he learns in this work the reader may, indeed, find himself traveling the road to chess mastery.

A multinational array of top grandmasters explain the difference in thinking between professional and amateur chess players, and how the amateur can bridge the gap. It usually takes at least a decade of sustained effort for even the most talented player to reach the grandmaster level -- this book cannot guarantee to make the reader a chess grandmaster, but it is certainly a healthy nudge in the right direction. The editors, ex-British Champion GM Jacob Aagaard and three-time Scottish Champion GM John Shaw, have recruited a line-up of strong grandmasters to share their wisdom.