Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters: Fundamentals of the Game Vol 1

Author: GM Lev Alburt & Larry Parr

Price: RM 86.00

Paperback: 286 pages

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (July 2003)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0393324524

ISBN-13: 978-0393324525

Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches

Shipping Weight: 12 ounces

Chapter 1. Play Chess in One Hour
Chapter 2. Chessercizes: All the Right Moves 
Chapter 3. How to Write Down Chess Games 
Chapter 4. Chess Movie: The "Write" Moves 
Chapter 5. How to Open a Chess Game 
Chapter 6. Chessercizes for Healthy Openings
Chapter 7. Middle game Strategy & Tactics 
Chapter 8. Chessercizes for Taut Middlegames
Chapter 9. Endgame Strategy and Checkmates
Chapter 10. Chessercizes for Energetic Endings 
Chapter 11. Using a Computer as a Chess Tutor 
Chapter 12. Plugging in to U.S. Chess

Index

 

Product Description
Increase your skill and understanding of chess with the tactics that have produced unparalleled Russian grandmasters.

Russia's dominance in modern chess was founded on a uniquely successful program of chess instruction. Now this program has been streamlined and adapted for American readers in a pair of books that will help readers develop, step by step, from total novicehood to an enjoyable and competitive recreational level.

Volume 1 covers the fundamentals of the game, from beginning strategies to energetic endgames. Learn from the start not just how the pieces move, but also where and why to move them.

Advance in the game—and have fun doing it—using the techniques that produced a long line of Soviet champions.

About the Author
Grandmaster Lev Alburt is a three-time winner of the US Chess Championship and the author of several books on learning chess. Larry Parr is former editor of Chess Life and the author of many articles on chess play and instruction.

Great is the disappointment to the library patron who browses for a chess instructional and finds only picked-over bones from the pre-Fischer, pre-Kasparov eras. These books by a U.S. champion and a chess magazine editor offer something more. A range of abilities, from novice to entrants in a local tournament, can learn tactics and strategies that improve their play. The authors drop the obsession with "book knowledge" about elaborate openings. More than 98 percent of games, they say, turn on tactical dangers and opportunities about two moves into the future, and for that distance of foresight, the Russian secrets the authors share consist of a series of questions players must ask themselves after each move. "Chessercizes," with hundreds of diagrams, provide practice for analyzing attacking combinations and defenses against them, from opening through endgame, making this a great contemporary resource. Including tips about computer programs.

Review
Quite simply, the quickest way to learn chess the right way. -- Grandmaster Larry Evans, five-time US champion

"Lev Alburt is a brilliant teacher, and his new series written with Larry Parr is his best yet. In fact, it is the best chess instruction I have ever seen, period. Read Lev Alburt, and you will understand the game as never before." - Charles Murray, author of What It Means to Be a Libertarian

"Grandmaster Lev Alburt, a three-time U.S. champion, is the most brilliant and effective chess teacher alive today. He is the only top-echelon player who specializes in teaching chess to beginners and other nonmasters. Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters reveals secrets that will save you years of hit-and-miss reading. You'll be winning in no time!" -Al Lawrence, former executive director, U.S. Chess Federation

A great start for visual learners, December 6, 2001

By	DC Lawyer (Washington, DC USA)

I am a very visual learner. Apparently, so are Russian children. This book is written in the manner that Russian children are taught: a chessboard is laid down, pieces placed, and a question posed, say, checkmate in two. Your job is to figure out how to get there. In the book, the first half is composed of pages of such diagrams, each geared towards either explaining visually how a piece moves, its value in trade, its best positions, etc. It is a great way to learn the game.
The book starts off slowly, explaining how the game works. You then work through various parts of the game: openings, middle moves, and closings. This game really helped me to develop a solid opening.
I have always had trouble with the middle game; this book gives the basics for that. The second volume gives a much more in-depth treatment of the game; openings, closings, and middle game strategy. But this is the book to get for a new player, or for one who always seems to get beaten. I started out losing to the computer on its easiest level, now I still lose, but at least I understand why, heh heh. Seriously, it is written in an understandable manner, and if you're a visual learner, the problem sets are really worthwhile.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

Very Informative, Excellent. , March 29, 2005

By	E. J Zapata (Los Angeles, Calif.)

This is one excellent Beginner book; it is unique and very informative. The first 102 pages have a lot of basic fundamental information ALL beginners should learn. Pages 103 to 264 of the book are devoted to Tactics & Strategy theory of The Opening, Middlegame and Endgame-this is the meat of the book. Lev mixes games, theory and teaching diagrams artfully. The diagrams are clear; most ask you a question or two with the answers right there, no flipping pages to the back of the book to hunt for answers. Many answers are very detailed. This is a great study book for beginners. Reading it once is not enough. Good Luck.