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| Understanding Chess Move by Move |
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List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $13.57
You Save: $ 6.38 (32%)
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Manufacturer: Gambit Publications
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 794
EAN: 9781901983418
ISBN: 1901983412
Label: Gambit Publications
Manufacturer: Gambit Publications
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 239
Publication Date: 2001-02-14
Publisher: Gambit Publications
Studio: Gambit Publications
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Editorial Reviews:
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John Nunn is one of the most highly regarded chess writers in the world. He has carefully selected thirty modern games to help the reader understand the most important aspects of chess and to illustrate modern chess principles in action. Virtually every move is explained using words that everyone can understand. Jargon is avoided as far as possible. Almost all the examples are taken from the 1990s and show how key ideas are handled by the grandmasters of today. The emphasis is on general principles that readers will be able to use in their own games, and detailed analysis is only given where it is necessary. Each game contains many lessons, but to guide the reader through the most important ideas in each phase of the game, the thirty games are grouped thematically into those highlighting opening, middlegame and endgame themes.
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| Spotlight customer reviews: |
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Comment: Nunn does everything right in this book. First off, the games that he selected are very interesting, and they directly illustrate the themes he discusses. Second, he is one of the finest game annotators going on the planet because he can combine a deep understanding of a position with user friendly annotations. Fantastic stuff, and kudos to the brainy Nunn.
Customer Rating:
Summary: i have been using this book for eight years
Comment: This is a really great book. I have at least one hundred chess books. I have even read many of them! I have read, studied, and used this book more than any ohter. It is a good to great collection of games. The annotations are the critical part of the book and they are great. When I study a game, I write the date in the margin. I have been through some of the games as many as ten times. Why? Well, first, I can and do learn new things each time. Sometimes I learn things that I was not ready for the first time. Other times I just enjoy the game (but still I usually learn something). The earliest date that I notice as I write this is from eight years ago! Not only do I expect to enjoy many of the games many more times, there are still some games that I have not been through the first time! Mostly the games that I have not studied are openings that I have not had interest in playing. That too changes over time so I expect to have more fun and learning with those games in the future. A related matter is my only real criticism of the book. It does not have an index of openings. In spite of the fact that the author has taken a different approach to organization, such an index would be very helpful in using the book. Indeed, I intended to prepare such an index to include in my review. That intention has delayed the review so I gave up on that idea. I will consider some of Nunn's other books, but since I have so much to learn from this one, I may not get any of them soon.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Whoa there! This book is NOT for most of us...
Comment: If you look at the book description (above), you get the idea that this book is focused on teaching fundamentals to non-experts. Wrong. The title's obvious parallel to Chernev's [excellent] work (Logical Chess Move by Move) only reinforces this misleading perception.
Each chapter does begin with a few paragraphs on a fundamental principle of chess. And the first moves are described as if to total novices. But as soon as Nunn gets beyond those first few moves, you'd better be able to follow lots of algebraic notation with very few visuals, because the vast majority of this book is variation intensive, and thus useless to non-experts who don't want to spend hours getting through a few pages at a time.
On the other hand, if you ARE an expert, then what's the point of reviewing fundamentals that are already second-nature? In that case, this is just a group of highly analyzed games.
This book sits useless on my shelf. If you haven't read Chernev's book, then you're better off getting IT because it is what it says it is.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Chess
Comment: My word; I took up this magnificent game only a very short while ago, and now, three months later, I'm hooked. To learn, I saw at once the need for expert guidance, and I can confirm that there is plenty of guidance to be had, and most of it turned upon pure vanity. I tried CD's and numerous online instructions, and purchased various unreadable books, and until I came across 'Understanding Chess' by John Nunn, through Amazon. Com, I was at my wits end trying to understand the most simple game plans, tactics and strategies. This book gave me instant confidence. It is a real chess page turner, full of exciting plots and positions, encouragement and really good advice. So much so, I have it next to me when I play online and in this regard I've already begun to win a few games against much more experienced and very much stronger players. The key lies in its simplicity of approach. It is well written and so easy to understand. It does for chess everything that is essential in developing the skills demanded. For all those keen to take up chess, to improve performance, to gain greater advance, and to discover in this ever more fascinating game the fruits of clear thinking and the joys and rewards in winning. Chess is not a game which can be self taught overnight. The essence is long term, so one needs something constant to guide one along the way, and this book will most certainly do that for me.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Instructive, but too complex for novice.
Comment: This is a very popular and famous book, and John Nunn is a well-known chess writer. Almost every move is explained deeply in this book. But there is one problem with this book: For whom did Nunn write this book? I'm confused because, in a specific game the first move "1.e4" is explained as if the reader is beginner or a novice. But later in the same game, Nunn includes a lot of long and complex variants in several analyses after a specific move, analyses that are only useful for a strong chess player. For me it seems like the author couldn't decide for whom he wrote this book for, and that sure makes this book not one of the best "move-by-move" books. The games chosen, for instance game 20 between Kasparov and Shirov is to complex, to explain weak colour complex for a novice/beginner. And some games presented in the book are actually exceptions from basic guidelines, e.g. "don't keep your king in the centre, but castle quickly", guidelines that an intermediate player should follow.
Improvers should instead try books like McDonald's "The Art of Planning" or Giddins "50 Essential Chess Lessons". Beginners should try Chernev's "Logical Chess Move by Move"
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