Chess Strategy Pdf Free Download
Donnie Ehlen
In my previous review, I praised Bobby Fischer's compact use of language. This time, I want to show that good chess writing doesn't have to be compact - the book I'm reviewing today is everything but compact, but it's also very good. IM Herman Grooten, a well-known Dutch chess trainer and author of chess books, has finally collected his training material and put his ideas (partly published in Dutch already) into one book, Chess Strategy for Club Players, published by New in Chess. The result is one of the most detailed and well-explained books for serious (club) players.
Herman Grooten has an excellent reputation as a trainer in the Netherlands. He has trained grandmasters Loek van Wely and Jan Werle as youngsters, and also ChessVibes co-editor IM Merijn van Delft, who still speaks highly of him. Grooten is best known for his positional feeling - in his foreword to Chess Strategy for Club Players - The Road to Positional Advantage, Jan Timman recalls that Loek van Wely once said of Grooten that "his positional rating was much higher than his tactical rating". I add to this that Grooter's "teacher rating" is also much higher than his FIDE rating, because the book could easily have been written by any 2600-player. The book explains strategic and positional aspects of chess by dissecting Steinitz's famous Table of Elements. This is already an indication both of Grooten's ambition and his 'structured elaborateness'. (This love for structure goes quite far in some cases. As an example, all chapters in the book - even the 'epilogue' - start with a new paragraph number and the word 'introduction' - as if we hadn't guessed that yet!) In fact, according to Timman, Grooten has 'modernized and updated the work of Steinitz'. Indeed, Grooten has looked critically at Steinitz's table (both with a computer and - much more extensively - with his trainees) and has formulated his own opinions and principles as well. This makes the book not only useful, but also interesting from a historical point of view. Although it surely wasn't Grooten's intention to write a book on the historical development chess strategy à la Watson, it definitely can be read that way. (But I can't help noticing it is a missed opportunity that Grooten doesn't actually mention Watson's books at all, nor does he mention Jonathan Rowson's or Jacob Aagaard's recent classics. In general, it's something many great chess books are lacking in my opinion: they are very good in discussing the works of Nimzowitsch and Steinitz, but they hardly ever mention any of the scholarly progress made in recent years. On the other hand, you could argue that a trainer and his students - especially club players - should only be concerned with simple, straightforward lessons, rather than be confused by all sorts of postmodern developments. Yet, isn't this underestimating readers? In highschool, we didn't only read Romeo and Juliet - we also saw West Side Story...)Apart from this, the first two chapters of the book (introducting Steinitz' elements and discussing 'the eye of the grandmaster') are very well-researched and scholarly. For instance, Grooten very eloquently describes A.D. de Groot's pattern-recognition research, its importance - and there's even a photo of grandmaster Adorjan doing an eye movement test. Grooten's (well-argued) theory is that pattern recognition doesn't only exist for tactical combinations, but also for strategic factors. So, if you know a lot of general strategic elements, you'll recognize them faster in your own games, and you'll become a better chess player. In the preface, the author explains himself quite clearly:
(By the way, I still recognize Grooten's style when analysing with Van Delft or Van Wely - they too are in my opinion very fond of formulating 'principles' or 'rules' as they go along, even when they're just talking about a single game! Of course, they also have a fine eye for detail.)Grooten's eye for detail can also be seen in his writing style. He tends to explain himself very carefully and extensively. Take the following explanation of the difference between 'tactics' and 'strategy':
Well, and so on. If there's one thing that I would criticise in this book, it's that I think Grooten occasionally overstreches his explanatory drives a bit. Make no mistake: the analogy is a very good one, and an important one to make too (if only because the usual 'chess' analogy-nonsense from soccer commentators is often rather annoying to watch) but to drive the point home in three more long paragraphs is really pushing the limits of the reader's attention. But besides this minor quibble, it was most often a relief to read Grooten's down-to-earth comments, explaining things truly clearly and honestly not only to titled players, but focussing on club players' level especially:
Fortunately for us, Grooten isn't one of these authors. He specializes in 'making the seemingly obvious truly obvious', which is quite a rare gift for chess authors, no matter how strong they are. He manages to explain things are that sometimes (or rather often) taken for granted in analysis. Grooten may not write snappy sentences like Fischer, but he knows how to put emphasis on important moments in his own right. In the following example from the chapter 'passed pawns' (which was one of Steinitz's original elements), many authors would probably not even have commented on Black's first move.
Chess strategy is the purposeful attempt to gain an advantage over your opponent. Unlike tactics, chess strategy involves long-term goals, usually related to king safety, pawn structure, space, piece activity, etc.
According to the renowned Chinese general Sun Tzu, "Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." Indeed, relying solely on your opponent falling for a tactical shot might work well for beginners but is a losing approach for more advanced players.
World champions like Jose Raul Capablanca, GM Tigran Petrosian, and GM Anatoly Karpov excelled at chess strategy. Playing against a strategically solid player is a difficulty that few players like to undertake.
Chess strategy is a complex subject that requires many years of study and hard work to master. However, learning a few principles can improve your play and help you win more games. Those are material count, piece activity, piece mobility, pawn structure, space, and king safety.
Pawn structure refers to the way pawns are placed in a specific position, disregarding the placement of other pieces. Understanding pawn structures is critical for any serious chess player because it affects many other strategical concepts. Attacking plans, piece activity, and holes are just a few examples of crucial strategical ideas influenced by pawn structure.
What is chess strategy? The art of chess strategy is knowing how to formulate a plan for the chess game, and arrange your chess pieces to accomplish this plan. The chess strategy outlined below will get any new chess player on the road to understanding correct chess opening strategy - how to control the chess board from move one. Later you will discover many resources to aid in further improvement.
Introduction to Chess Strategy
Beginning chess players discover very quickly that learning how the pieces move is only the tip of the chess playing iceberg. It's usually after several moves of a typical chess game that the question arises, "What now?" Here we will discuss general chess principles in the chess opening.
This page will provide you with some very simple, easy guidelines in chess strategy for playing the chess opening. Aimed at beginners who know only the rules and moves, there is no talk about specific openings or strings of moves to memorize; only general chess strategy principles to think about when starting a chess game. Later you'll notice that on occasion (rarely) it's best to ignore a principle of chess strategy in the opening; nothing here is carved in granite. But for right now, these chess tips are excellent to follow during the first few moves of your game.
Every chess opening aims to occupy or control these central squares. Why? In chess geometry the center is important because each chess piece exercises maximum mobility in the center. Here's an example using only the Kings and a Knight for each side:
Center occupation and central control, getting the King castled to safety; these are the two principles of chess strategy behind all popular chess openings. Below are some typical chess opening moves, which illustrate the back-and-forth fight to dominate the center squares.
There is no need to take the game further - we see rapid development, a race to control the center squares and get the King to safety. Note that both players are also trying to prevent the opponent from achieving these strategic goals. It is also clear that no single pawn or piece can stand alone; the whole chess army needs to work as a unit to carry out our chess strategy. Remembering this will help you to understand the principles we're about to discuss.
1) Good chess strategy is to make your first move with the e-pawn or d-pawn advancing two squares. In either case, you will open pathways for the pieces to get off of the back rank and into the fight for the central squares.
2) Good chess strategy is playing each piece one time to its best square, developing them all in turn, and getting your chess pieces off the starting squares. You want to get your pieces into the game rapidly, and posted where they can accomplish something - either aiding your attack or defense of the center. Seldom will you move the same piece twice in the chess opening.
3) Good chess strategy is keeping your King safe, so castle early and get him behind your wing pawns. Castling is a great way to safeguard your King from sudden chess tactics and even checkmate - it gets the King away from the center and develops one of your Rooks at the same time. Top level chess strategy!
31c5a71286