5 comments about Positional Chess Handbook: 495 Instructive Positions from Grandmaster Games (Chess).

1. This is an excellent book on chess. The diagrams are clear and can easily be followed through and the previous reviewer who commented that they were too small, was on my part greatly exaggerated and didn't do any justice. Buy one copy for yourself and decide. This book gave me countless hours of enjoyment and I am sure it will do the same for you.



2. I recommend this book for any 1500+ ELO player who wants to improve their strategic game. A lot of the variations are given few comments, so a solid chess understanding and playing the moves on a board are essential. The book is organized into themes which any chess player can appreciate: discussion of good/bad knights/bishops, endgames, 2-bishops, bishops opposite colors, etc.



3. I've rekindled my interest in chess and, not wanting to expend too much time on the game, have limited my reading to three books: on tactics, on the endgame, and on positional chess.
   
   This book, serving the latter purpose, has 495 diagrams, mostly from practical games between top players, many of which are known classics. Each illustrates a point, and the author avoids copious variations. The moves usually extend from the diagram position to the end of the game. They are very well selected. As a result, my intuition has clearly improved in an important area of the game.
   
   Gelfer's rigor is reflected in his impeccable English (no translator or editor is mentioned). I can't think of a single typo, in word or variation, and the text is clear, no nonsense and to the point. He seems to have honed the work, culled from his training manuals for the Israeli youth and women's teams, over years. This makes the book a pleasure to read.
   
   My copy, which isn't a Dover edition (which have excellent bindings), is getting old (1993) and pages are beginning to fall out. But that's a good sign: it's due to the use the book has seen. Highly recommended.



4. This book is a great collection of strategic examples. You can dedicate many time in the themes of each position and also you will enjoy with this useful manual. A must for every chess player.



5. I am an avid player and own an extensive collection of chess books. As most chess fans have probably discovered, a lot of chess books are simply the same ideas rehashed and presented with different games. This book however, is a refreshing break from the rest, presenting strategic play in a condensed format with great exemplars of the theme discussed. Honestly, probably one of the best books on the game that I've read. Short, sweet and to the point--highly recommended!

3 comments about Starting Out: The Accelerated Dragon: Fundamental coverage of a dynamic Sicilian (Starting Out).

1. I have been contacted by the publisher of this highly anticipated title and have been informed that it has just been released from the publisher in the UK.
   
   It is available from Amazon.co.uk as it is being shipped by the publiusher to Amazon.
   
   It should be available in the U.S in about 3-4 weeks.



2. Andrew Greet has done another good job. I'm pleased for the full coverage of the Accelerated Dragon and for the Chapter One dedicated to my favorite Hyper- Accelerated line. I bought also the book "Play the Ruy Lopez" and only the handicap of my poor english language disappoints me.
   I have also the "Accelerated Dragons, J. Donaldson & Silman" and I recomend for Acc.Drag. fans to study first the Greet's book. He play's dragon and he know the plans and also he know how to explain it. Very, very good book for all the level's player's.



3. With regard to instructive opening writing for mortals, there are a few good authors, a handful of great authors, and then there is Andrew Greet.
   
   This guy cares about his readers. His books are written with passion and pride. They are gifts from him to us. Who knows his motivation - perhaps paying forward his experiences with a past mentor - but we get to benefit from his generosity and diligence.
   
   I have his book on the Ruy Lopez (now my White option against 1...e5) and I thought that was great. But he has taken to the Starting Out format like a duck to water and shames the others in the series, and many of them are pretty darn good. There is so much instructive material in here it is amazing. You are really going to *learn* this opening - to understand the chess it embodies, not just some lines.
   
   I bought this book out of sheer curiosity to see if he could repeat the success of his Play the Ruy Lopez. I had no intention of playing the Accelerated Dragon, but this book is so compelling I am tempted to try it except that my coach would have a fit. Even so, I have spent far too much time just soaking up the experience of reading it.
   
   The book appears to have wide coverage of the opening, including both White and Black alternatives. It does not address anti-Sicilians except that it has a large section on the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon (avoids the Rossolimo). With respect to the analysis, Carsten Hansen in his Checkpoint column at chesscafe and John Donaldson at Jeremy Silman's site both reviewed it very favorably, and they seem to be very knowledgeable about the opening.
   
   If you are an Accelerated Dragon player I am sure you are going to learn stuff - certainly enough for it to pay for itself. If not, this looks like a sound opening that you could take up at any chess level, and with this book as a guide you are going to save an awful lot of time. Coaches are alway chastising we mortals for continually switching openings and spending too much time on openings in general. Well, pick this one up and your search is over.
   
   Thank you Mr Greet. I won't get to benefit at the table because it's not my opening, but it's always uplifting to witness excellence.

4 comments about Unbeatable Chess Lessons.

1. This is a revised edition of the book originally published by Random House. It is one of the best books for the player who is just past the beginning stage. It has 24 games arranged by opening with explanations for every move (except for where opening moves are repeated in the next game). It also forms the beginning of an opening system for the amateur. This is expanded on in the author's subsequent book "More Unbeatable Chess Lessons." You can also find a chart of an opening system in "Winning Chess Tournaments," and the traps you might encounter are in "Winning Chess Traps."
   These four books, along with the soon to be published "Chess for Everyone: A Guide for the Beginner," form the core of the author's Chess for Everyone series. All have been revised and updated. Unlike some chess writers, the author does not rehash the same material in the different books. Instead, you get value for your money. You can't go wrong with these books.



2. This is a wonderful book for improving the basic chess game. Mr. Snyder writes in a way that is both fun and easy to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone who is serious about improving in chess, and even for those who play chess recreationally.



3. This is the revised and rebranded version of one of the best beginner's books available. I'm collecting the set for my son as he starts to compete in tournaments.
   
   I've found the books to be the best thought out and useful series for a beginner.
   
   Take a look at the reviews associated with the earlier version. There is a reason this book garners 109 (out of 112) 5 star reviews.
   
   Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors: Revised Edition



4. Being decades removed from being a "junior," I bought this book on a lark because I'm curious about chess pedagogy, and the author's beginners books seem to have quite a reputation. This book, designed for players only moderately beyond beginners, takes its cue from Chernov's classic "Logical Chess: Move by Move" and should be of interest to the multitude who love that book. For more experienced players, the book can serve as a quick read through a short selection of games, but the vocabulary is very much suited to youngsters. Assuming that developing players read the book WITHOUT setting up a board, I suspect that is very much the point. By allowing the reader to follow the no more than four moves or so between each diagram (which moves are incrementally reinforced with move by move commentary and the occasional testing challenge), the book likely serves as a building block for developing chess vision. Indeed, I'm a bit surprised that the reader is not explicity instructed to read the book in this way.

5 comments about Chess Training Pocket Book: 300 Most Important Positions and Ideas, Second Edition.

1. I had the opportunity to preview this book when I got my local public library to order Lev Alburt's complete training series. It was so good as a tournament trainer that I just bought it on Amazon. This book conveys many tactical and endgame concepts in puzzle form, many taken from famous games, such as Lasker's double bishop sacrifice. On the left hand side of the page are four problems, and on the right hand side are the solutions with explanations that vary in degrees of extensiveness. Alburt recommends to try to solve these problems quickly and don't worry about getting them correct, because the value in the book is repeatedly going over the problems until your recognition of the patterns the problems contain is automatic. I followed Alburt's advice and noticed a decent improvement in my tactical recognition when I played in a tournament in Chicago and on line. The beauty of this book is that it is truly a "pocket book" so that I was able to do puzzles on the bus and other places of leisure while sitting. :) My only quip is that the commentary on problems varies from extensive to none at all and I would like to see a categorization of problems. The price is also slightly on the high end (but in my opinion worth it) for the amount of material provided.



2. This book its very good , the positions are well chosen but most of them can be found in other books ,but Its good to have those posisions in one volume . I think it help me to improve my chess level . Good size u can really have it at ur pocket .



3. I have brought about 20 to 30 books on tactics, I totally agrees 200% that chess is 99 % tactics and I cannot disagree anymore with the author of rapid chess improvement. But this tactic book is unique, I recieved it today and from 2 p.m. up to 10 p. m. , whenever I have time, I would study it. All the examples are very interesting and instructive. Do not be misled by the picture of the cover that this book is for children, no, it is for intermediate to advanced players. Compared with John Nunn's book " Learn chess tactics ", some of the examples are even more difficult. I can assure you that, after studying all these 300 problems,no matter you solve them all, or part of it, or even none, just memorising all those moifs would make you at least 100 points higher!!!Though I have Lef Alburt's other book, only after readinig this one did I realize why he is one of the most after sought chess teacher! He deserves it!!!!



4. Some people don't seem to admire Alburt's works (for moronic reasons IMHO), but I love them because they're easy to follow, well illustrated and highly instructive without being simplistic.
   
   This book is eminently practical. On one page is a group of 4 board positions, each one being a problem for you to figure out. On the facing page are "answers" and their explanations, along with a title that summarizes the principle you're supposed to learn. And the idea is that if you study all 300 positions, you've learned fundamental ideas for ALL aspects of chess (which is the unique aspect of the book, versus a tactical problem collection).
   
   It's a book you can pick up and learn a complete idea in a matter of minutes and put it back down again. And it's nice and compact.



5. Like others, I don't buy into the "300 essential positions" concept. That being said, Alburt makes a convincing case that quality trumps quantity.
   
   What I like best is that Alburt sprinkles in some end game positions and some non-tactical puzzles. I'd actually like to see more of these (and of the end games, fewer stalemate solutions). Sure, tactics are important, but it's not all just mate in threes. In addition, I'd add that the introduction and index are very good here, rarely the case in chess books. The bit of crumpet on the front cover doesn't hurt.
   
   What I don't like is the answers being on the facing page of the problems. There are a few cases where the italicized text above the answers seems necessary before solving the problem. "Should White play Rxd5 here?" Well, if that's the question, I'd like to see it before looking at the answer page.
   
   I'd rank the target level of this book from 1450-1750 based on a real OTB rating. It depends on who you are, of course, and whether you want a stiff challenge or a brush up.

5 comments about Winning Chess Openings (Winning Chess - Everyman Chess).

1. The author has selected openings where brief analysis is provided, some of the concepts that are important in the specific opening and then provided variations. Memorizing lines is not what a beginner should be doing. It is better to "understand" the ideas behind the openings - yes this book doesn't say "memorize openings" per say, but it that is what the actions of this book seem to call for.
   
   Personally I feel that a beginner should be looking for "non" mechanical openings that contain a variety of both tactical and to a lesser degree positional concepts for learning purposes. The type of tactics that you will encounter at a beginning level in the openings you are using is important. I like the idea of getter a general survey type of opening book that has a good concentration of the ideas (like "Understanding the Chess Openings") along with a book that covers opening tactics (like one of a variety of Chess Trap books) is the way for a beginner to find the right openings and to gain an understanding of what they entail. You need a good variety of openings to be shown for you to get a fair grasp of what you might like - and this book falls short in this area.



2. I never really got good at chess until I started focusing first on a simple e4 e5 with the relative strength of second moves and then relative strength of third moves and looked at it as a tree with branches in every direction. It makes sense not to go on to d4 d5 until you have explored e4 e5 out at least 10 moves out in each popular direction.
   
   Yasser Seirawan uses a very logical arrangement of the classic games to take you down the branches of each possible move so that memorization is easy. Most importantly, he tells you WHY a certain move was made. He keeps returning you to the "main line" after he shows you the branches off to the side.
   
   I wish I had this book about 10 years ago when I was playing in competition. I have bought a lot of chess books but I think this was money well spent. I think I will buy others in the series.



3. If you seriously know nothing about the opening then this book will probably help you some. However, if you already have gathered all the basic concepts (which seem to be mentioned in pretty much every chess book ever made) then this book is a waste of money. Even for the complete beginner, I reccomend the recent books Openings for White/Black Explained by Lev Alburt, Roman D., etc., which can serve as both an introduction and a full course.
   
   I thought this book would give me a repertoir, so I would know some actual openings. However, the coverage of any one opening is so minimal you definitely dont know enough to actually play it in anysort of competetive way. To repeat: this book will not teach you to play openings competetively, it is only an introduction. Seirawan briefly covers classical openings and then covers in slightly more depth his "opening solution" which is the Kings Indian Defense versus d4, the Pirc versus e4, and the Kings Indian Attack as White. First off, I found I do not enjoy playing any of those openings at all. What is the advantage of being able to play the same 5+ moves at the start of every game? Then what after that? Well these openings are not devoid of theory and once you reach the end of the first 5 moves you have just as much work to do as with any other opening; you have just delayed the inevidable conflict for the center--which means a slower, longer, duller game. Secondly, if you do like these openings you will still have to buy more books that actually cover them!
   
   I would reccommend, even if you are a beginner, to buy the Openings Explained for White / Black by Lev Alburt, Roman D. Besides full coverage of the openings in the repertoir book, it also briefly covers some other traditional openings (just like winning chess openings). If you want an introduction you have one in the first chapter; if you want to really LEARN an opening then you have that too. Or if you already have an idea what openings your want to play then DEFINITELY don't get this book, instead get some thorough books on that/those openings.



4. What's the point of an opening book? There are two possibilities: 1)Build a reperotoire; or 2)Teach you how to play a specific opening. Seirawan's book tries to fill both categories, but spreads itself too thin and ends up being frutstrating.
   
   The structure of WCO is just like MCO, NCO, and all the other "CO"s: it systematically presents opening after opening, giving various explanations and lines. Seirawan's book is geared to much lower rating levels than more complicated books like Modern Chess Openings, but it doesn't cover enough CONCRETE ground to be of any practical use to any rating.
   
   The best example I can find is in the section on Alekhine's Defence. Yasser (or "Yaz" as he's known here in Seattle) gives only a single line for the opening: 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.ed cd 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nc3 g6 8.c5! and white apparently has a sizeable advantage. This isn't well supported by theory, and there are many other lines black can opt for (5...ed, 6...g6, 6...N6d7 etc.) that have better results. It's almost as if the author is unwilling to engage in a discussion of the more critical lines.
   
   It may be argued that there is a lot of textual explanation for the openings. Yes, there is, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't know what moves to play. There is little concrete basis for how to play in the openings, so you will inevitably find yourself struggling as soon as you get to the 6th move in an opening Yaz discusses.
   
   I'll spare it the harsh "sub 3-star" rating because Seirawan's style is very engaging and fun to read. Even given the "chessic" inadequacies of the book, it's still very fun to read, and Yasser is self-depricating and funny when he writes (his style is similar to David Norwood's).
   
   In 272 pages, Seirawan manages only a vague definition of each opening. The book doesn't, as many reviews claim, give you a reperotoire for white or black, because there simply aren't enough variations to look at. If you want to pick out an opening for white or black, thumb through WCO. Otherwise, pick up something more specific. You could get the same value from a much smaller, cheaper text.



5. It is not so clear exactly what this book is trying to do. It tries to set itself up as an "Modern Chess Openings" or "Nunn's Chess Openings" when listing variations but fails by being far to sparse to be of any use. It tries to provide some ideas of what is happening in the opening like "Understanding the chess Openings", "Winning Chess Traps for Juniors" or "Ideas Behind the Openings" but yet it is far to sparse with the ideas. The mix and match, trying to do cover all of these in one book is off base. Not enough ideas for the beginner or intermediate level player, Not enough lines/variations to be of any use to an intermediate or advanced player. I think three stars is rather generous, as perhaps the just beyond beginner or just under intermediate range of player might find some small benefit to this book. Some of the "Winning Chess" series books are very well done. This is one of the few books in the series that is at the bottom end.

5 comments about Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual.

1. I agree with other reviewers - this is probably the one book to get if you are a serious chess player seeking to get the edge in the endgame. It's advanced, so beginners might find Pandolfini's Endgame Course a good introduction. My only gripe, shared by others it appears, is the quality of the printing. The blue sections, which illustrate the essentials, vary from clear to faint. This is obviously deficient quality and needs fixing for the next print run. It's a pity as the book is intended to be studied, immersed in and pondered on.



2. I have a short attention span and this book gets around that by cramming so much information into every page that I don't have a chance to get bored. I do get bored wading through pulp and fluff looking for something useful. You probably have one or two of those books. Who doesn't?
   
   I'm just an intermediate and I don't think this book is too hard. Jeremy Silman rated it around 1400 and up. I think that's about right.
   
   Dvoretsky has a good sense of humor and his style is, believe it or not, somewhat conversational. The examples are to-the-point and he even covers some basics. The depth is not an all-or-none thing -- you'll get at least something out of the material even if you don't see it from every angle. It's the art of writing for several levels at once.
   
   Good work!



3. This book was a gift request from my chess playing son. He loves it. He said it is so far beyond anything he expected.



4. A superb book, clear, explaining top technics to all.
   
   I recommend it hotly to any Chess player [for you or as a present, you are sure to please], after many years playing chess, for fun and alos in the past in small tournaments, I learned a lot of tricks in ending that are easy to use/remember.
   
   An reference book, very enjoyable.



5. As way of introduction, I am a former USCF master who after many years of inactivity has recently taken a renewed interest in the game and has therefore decided to become acquainted with the current chess literature...which brings us to this highly acclaimed Endgame Manual by Dvoretsky.
   You may know that Dvoretsky is a famous trainer of world class grandmasters, and has perfected a system of training by which he claims he can bring a 2200 level player to the level of grandmaster. His series of books are in many ways comparable to the famous "Think Like a Grandmaster" series by Kotov (and all are also highly recommended). So, the target audience for this book is, I would think, like all of Dvoretsky's books, the serious student who has already reached a high standard and is searching for a way to improve his game even further.
   
   So, if you buy this book, and master it, will you also become a master of the endgame? You of course will be well on your way, and that alone is a good reason to add this book to your library, but still there are 2 major problems with it. The first is unfortunate, and somebody who has mastered the endgame would not commit it. Dvoretsky attempts to formulate universally general principals of endgame play, and then ignores the counter-examples that show the exceptions to his rules. This is OK for a general endgame text, but we are training future grandmasters here remember, and the promulgation of erroneous rules is not the way to do it. So, example, consider this (wrong) Dvoretsky rule on page 152 given in the section discussing rook and pawn vs. rook endgames, with the pawn on the fourth rank, and you will understand the problem with his approach:
   
   "It is important to remember that in case of a knight pawn, cutting off the king by two files is not sufficient for a win." -- Dvoretsky
   
   To support this rule, he then gives the standard position, with the black king on e6, black rook on b8, white pawn on b4, white rook on d1, white king on b3...It is very true, the rule applies here, but move the black king to either e7 or e4, and white to play wins. The sad and ironic thing here is that on page 147 Dvoretsky berates Dlugy for missing a draw against Alburt in the USA ch, Los Angeles 1991, because his adjourned position was in fact analyzed in the classic work on rook endings by Levenfish and Smyslov, and which Dlugy had at his disposal. Well, if Dvoretsky would care to obtain a copy of the classic Levenfish and Smyslov himself, turn to page 38 in either the algebraic or descriptive notation versions of the book, he will find the positions with the king on e7 or e4, showing his rule to be wrong. And, having gotten a hold of Levenfish and Smsylov, he should read the last chapter, the conclusion, where he would find:
   
   "The reader who has accompanied us along the difficult path from the simplest of rook endings to the complicated ones involving numerous pawns may be expecting ready-made rules or formulae for the correct treatment of endgames. He will not find them. The solving of even simple rook endings depends on delicate nuances in the position, to elucidate which requires a considerable amount of analytical work" -- Levenfish and Smyslov, "Rook Endings"
   
   That is also the reason the authoritative "Secrets of Rook Endings" by Nunn is 352 pages -- it is impossible to reduce the endgame to simple rules...and leads us to the second problem with the book...402 pages is just not enough to treat the subject of the endgame in an accurate fashion. So, if you are using Dvoretsky as your only source, it would be impossible to not have serious gaps in your endgame knowledge, which I will illustrate again with a Dvoretsky rook and pawn vs. rook ending example. Dvoretsky gives a fundamental position (in his exercise 9/1, page 144) with pawn on the seventh where by an ingenious maneuver, white can win. The position is white pawn on f7, white king on e7, white rook on g1, black king on h8, black rook on c7. Normally, the black king in such positions is on h7, but on h8, a new feature is introduced, the white rook can occupy g6. The solution main line then is: 1.Kf6 Rc6+ 2.Ke5 Rc8 3.Rg6!! Kh7 4.Rc6 Ra8 5.Kf6 with Re6-e8 to follow which wins. So what's the problem? Move the black rook in the initial position from the c-file to the b or a-file, and it's a draw. Dvoretsky does not tell you this. I would think a student reading Dvoretsky's exercise very likely would form the opinion that with black king on h8 white always wins such positions because the g6 square is always available to the white rook, but that is not correct.
   
   (As an aside, in the first example, Nunn gives both the e7 and e4 king positions on page 143 of his book. Karsten Muller in his "Fundamental Chess Endings" does not give the e4 position. Muller may have used computer tablebases to check the accuracy of his work, but one cannot check an omission. Both the e4 and e7 positions must be given because the winning method is different in the two cases. In the second example, Nunn also correctly identifies with the rook on the b or a-file, the position is drawn. Muller does not give the second example.)
   
   So, yes...buy this book by all means, but realize that you will be forced eventually to supplement it with either the books by Nunn, or the maybe a combination of the old Averbakh endgame series, and of course the classic Levenfish and Smyslov, together with the computer tablebases.

5 comments about Beginning Chess: Over 300 Elementary Problems for Players New to the Game.

1. This book contains 300 simple tactical puzzles. The solution to each puzzle is only one move long. For the great majority of these puzzles (297 out of the 300) there is only one correct idea, which is given in a separate solution section. Solutions are accompanied by the name of the tactic used as well as a short verbal explanation of the situation. Not only do the puzzles involve single move tactics, there are fewer than ten pieces on the board in each position. This should help those new to the game see the main idea and not "miss the forest for the trees".
   
   Problems are not grouped thematically. The 300 problems are divided into thirty tests, with each test containing ten problems. Many themes are represented in each test. Some recurring ideas include pins, piling up on pinned pieces, forks, skewers, checkmates, discovered attacks, and en prise captures.
   
   Many players might feel the positions given in this book are too easy, especially since en prise captures are included. The problems may be easy, but practicing these simple motifs builds "chess vision". Also, novice players often miss these moves in games. The tactics in this book are things players need to spot without thinking. The only way to get to this stage is practice.
   
   Look at some of your recent games and be honest with yourself. Did you lose any of these games because you hung a piece? Did you lose an exchange to a pin or a knight fork? Did you opponent blunder, only to escape punishment because you couldn't spot the chance to win material? If your answer was yes to any of these, seriously consider purchasing this book. More importantly, thoughtfully work through all the problems at least three times.



2. The book is hard to navigate through when you want to learn a solution to the problem.



3. For someone who already has a good handle on the basic rules, this book moves on and teaches some basic moves and tactics. I found it quite helpful and would recommend it if Chess is not the most importnat thing in your life.



4. I was somewhat disappointed with the book as I expected more discussion about how to implement chess strategy.



5. I bought this book for copyright reasons. A friend gave me an electronic copy of this book for ChessBase, so wanted to make sure I owned a copy before using it. I have never actually cracked the book open, but I've worked through most of the problems and it is fantastic! I'm really new to chess and it's really helped me see patterns and improve my speed. I won a game just the other day simply because I saw a checkmate that my opponent missed.

5 comments about Chess Success: Planning After the Opening (Batsford Chess Books).

1. This new book by Neil McDonald is another nice Collection of Modern Chessgames in line with his two highly acclaimed previous books "Chess:The Art of Logical Thinking" and "The Art of Planning in Chess".
   
   Everybody familiar with these previous books knows that McDonalds' style is easy-to-read. He doesn't give too many variations but he rather provides the reader with the plans that were followed by the players during the game, which is highly instructive, IMO especially for players with a USCF rating ~ 1500-2000.
   
   The games he selects are the latest Top-Grandmaster games featuring Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Ivanchuk, Svidler, Kamsky, Shirov, Carlsen ... but now-and-then interspersed with some instructive games by the "classics" ranging from Smyslov and Botvinnik to Karpov and Kasparov.
   
   What is new about this book compared with the two previous ones? - Well, it can be considered the third book in a "Trilogy" as the first book "Chess:The Art of Logical Thinking" presented games arranged by openings and giving full annotations from the first to the last move, while in the second book "The Art of Planning in Chess" McDonald arranged the games along topics (like the Bishop/Knight difference...) and no longer annotated the first opening moves.
   In his new book now he takes the reader even further and arranges the games along certain arising PAWN FORMATIONS like The Open Center without Pawns, The Closed Center, One open File in the Center, Wedge-Pawn Formations in the Center, The Isolated Queens-Pawn, Indian-Type Pawn Structures, and the Hedgehog-Structure.
   McDonald presents the games in full but focusses his annotations on the phase of the game that arises after the first 8-12 opening moves, exactly when the players decide upon their respective plans. (That is exactly what the title of the book is about)
   Reading this book is highly entertaining and also highly instructive.
   
   The physical quality of the book is very good, exactly like the book "The Art of Planning in Chess".
   
   Whoever liked his first two books will also love this one.



2. I have read the review on chesscafe on this book. The reviewer there blasted this book: simply (and kindly put) he must be mad, or be an angry fellow or whatever makes the human mind blindly hate. I have gone through the games of the book, the concepts, the prose. I am no master or anyhting but I loved it all. How can anybody not love clear explanations, extensive commentary, teaching how to -really- move into and through the middlegame? How many books are out there pretending to do this? Thousands. This and other Mc Donald books are incredible: the best I have ever read, the only ones -with Silman endgame manual -that stay on my night-table. Just open the book and if you are trying to understand what the grandmasters are thinking and why, well this is a book for you. I hope the author lives long enough to keep writing like this for many many more decades.



3. "Chess Success: planning after the opening" by Neil McDonald (published by Batsford Chess), is an outstanding book. I think the real target audience for this book is the USCF 1200-1800 player who's working on their middle game planning, and this book is great at lucidly explaining what's happening on the chess board.
   
   This book combines over 40 quality games,including many of the current giants, with very valuable and lucid strategical analysis of the pawn structures.
   
   I've read or looked at many of the new chess books on the market, and the only recommendation I can give to improve this book is to put a W or B (according to who's move it is) next to the diagrams to allow the reader to glance at a position and solve it instead of going up into the text. But just by saying this, I feel a little guilty, because honestly this by no way takes away from my love of this book.
   
   The diagrams and text are clear, the cover design is nice, but not exceptional, the binding and page thickness are very good. It's 267 pages, split into 8 chapters, has both a game and opening index, and most of all, if you're a motivated chess enthusiast, this book won't spend much time on your shelf before its read.



4. International Grandmaster of chess Neil McDonald presents Chess Success: Planning After the Opening, an in-depth guide to chess opening theories for intermediate to advanced players. Designed to be easier to follow through its pattern of assessing each of the classic chess openings by its particular pawn formation (such as "open", "closed", "symmetrical", and "exchange"), Chess Success covers over 40 games at length with move-by-move commentary. A superb guide to better understanding not only chess opening play, but how to handle the game when the opening phase is over and the time for attack has begun; highly recommended for chess enthusiasts everywhere.



5. I am disappointed in this book. Basically, it is a series of annotated games with various central pawn structures. The focus on planning after the opening is left up to the reader's insight. The book is not in the same league as McDonald's book Giants of Strategy, which is excellent. The best books I've found related to planning and pawn structures are Soltis's book Pawn Structure Chess (which is somewhat dated now) and Marovic's Dynamic Pawn Play in Chess.

No comments about Flexible French: Strategic Explanations & Surprise Weapons for Dynamic Players.

No comments about Fighting the Anti-King's Indians: How to Handle White's tricky ways of avoiding the main lines.