Modern Chess Strategy

by Luděk Pachman

Book Overview

Every chess player hopes to set off brilliant combinations and win games in a blaze of glory. Such combinations do not come into being by themselves, however; they appear only as the result of proper chess strategy. It is therefore surprising that so few books deal with this highly important subject, and understandable that Pachman's modern classic has been so enthusiastically received by chessplayers at all levels. Ludek Pachman, a Czech grandmaster,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486202909
• ISBN13: 9780486202907
• Release Date: June 1971
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A required addition to your chess library

I started playing tournament chess back in the 70's. I dropped out of the chess world for a couple decades only to have my fascination with chess rekindled this year.Even back then, back in the days of descriptive notation, back when the Fischer-Spassky match was recent history, back when the USCF was 60,000 members strong this book was suggested to me as "The best middle game book you can buy". "My System" by Nimzowitsch can be a bit too dense for the class level player. Pachman's book is much easier to understand.Recently, I've been reading Jeremy Silman's book "How to reasses your chess". I'm finding that now that I've read Silman, Pachman makes a lot more sense. I'm now realizing that Pachman's strategies and Silman's "Imbalances" are just different ways of describing the same thing. Once you start seeing the ideas behind the strategies THEN you really start playing chess. This book is a great step to get there.This book, combined with Capablanca's classic "Chess Fundamentals" will give you a very strong grasp of modern chess strategy.

Best Positional Book!

I have read many many chess books, and this is one of the top 2 to really come to an understanding of the middle game. Goes over all the positional aspects of the middle game - how to use each piece to its full potential. Even a big section on pawns! The other book I'd recommend is "The Art of Attack in Chess". This book is the tactical side of how to attack once you have positional superiority. 2 WONDERFUL books!

Best One-volume strategy book

This is the best one-volume strategy book on the market for all players below the USCF 2000 (Expert) level rating.It contains virtually all of the information contained in other classic, highly-recommended texts such as ; My System (Nimzovich), Chess Praxis (Nimzovich), The Game of Chess (Tarrasch), and The Middlegame (Books 1 & 2 by Euwe). The major difference between Pachman's book and the others is that it is the most modern, concise, and highly readable. Some of the other titles are quite verbose and occaisionally stray from the main lesson being presented.In short, this book contains nearly everything an aspiring chessplayer needs to know about strategy to become a strong player.Another bonus, as with all books from Dover, is the price tag. Dollar for Dollar, you would be hard-pressed to find a better value anywhere!

In my view, better than My System

Do you want to improve your chess. Are you rated under 2000? Then this is a good place to start. This is much easier reading than the often verbose and self-serving My System. Pachman's writing is clear and insightful. Buy this book and play through every few years. You will almost certainly gain new insights into chess with every reading. This book should be on every aspiring chess player's shelf alongside Larry Evan's New Ideas in Chess, Hans Kmoch's Pawn Power in Chess, David Bronstein's Zurich 1953, Bobby Fischer's My Sixty Memorable Games, Mikhail Botvinnik's 100 Selected Games, Mikhail Tal's Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, Alexander Alekhine's Best Games and Richard Reti's Masters of the Chessboard. That is some pretty lofty company, but Modern Chess Strategy is worthy of it. Oh, and you can't beat the price.

Best strategy book since "My System"

This is the best chess strategy book you can find. I read it when I was a beginner and re-read it 2 times since then, and as I grew in chess strength I discovered new meanings to author's comments and new subtleties of the positions examined, things that I didn't understand before seemed logical and clear the next time I read it. The book presents a thorough and comprehensive examination of important positional concepts, such as the value and placement of pieces, exchanges of material, importance of the centre, flank attacks, dynamical strategy, and how tactical ideas are connected to positional elements. The games examined are carefully chosen for appropriateness and comments and explanations are clear and meaningful. Read this book and watch your rating climb up!