Chess Strategy in Action

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Another wonderful book from John Watson. For players beyond rank beginners, the better you are, the more you'll appreciate Mr. Watson. His work makes one proud to be a chess player.

Rating:
Summary: Another ground-breaking work - easily 5 stars
Review: As an amateur enthusiast who plays chess only for enjoyment (I do not even possess a current rating) I feel almost itimidated in trying to review this book. However, as there are many other amateur players out there, I thought it would be worth sharing my views on why this is such a great work.
The first thing to note, of course, is that this book is a sequel to the multi-award-winning SECRETS OF MODERN CHESS STRATEGY. If you haven't read that book, you should - not because it is essential to the understanding of this one (it isn't) but because it is a phenomenal book. In CHESS STRATEGY IN ACTION John Watson expands on many subjects he covered in his first book. The new material is always put in context by Watson before he elaborates.
In his first book Watson advocated his theory of "rule-independence." He demonstrated how the modern day greats will sometimes break all established convention regarding general rules on how best to play certain positions. In this successor, the theory is fleshed out with the help of numerous examples from the games of Anand, Kasparov, Ivanchuk, Bareev, Topalov etc.
So do the old general principles, handed down over generations, still apply? Only sometimes! Watson has the rare ability to sift great games and find themes overlooked by other commentators. Thus he is able to show how and why the current chess elite can sometimes violate the golden rules that we were all brought up on. I must admit that I am a big fan of all of the Gambit books on chess strategy, which all cover different areas even though the book titles can seem a bit similar. I found CREATIVE CHESS STRATEGY (by Spanish GM Alfonso Romero) to also contain many excellent examples of rule-independence.
Whether or not you subscribe to the complete Watson philosophy, the material is rich in content, splndidly written and packed with games - the index reveals around three hundred players are represented. Like Watson's first book, CHESS STRATEGY IN ACTION is a modern-day classic.


Rating:
Summary: Chess Strategy in Action
Review: Chess Strategy in Action is Watson's companion volume to his award winning work, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy. In my opinion, the companion volume is just as wonderful as the first volume. Watson has in-depth narratives about every major theme of modern chess. I especially enjoyed the chapters:
The Surrender of the Center, The Flank Pawns Have Their Say, The Positional Pawn Sacrifice, and An Edgy Day and a Sleepess Knight. Not only does the companion volume provide many complete-game examples of the themes discussed in the first volume, it also contains new theoretical material.

Thes two books have immensely increased my love and appreciation for the game of chess. They are the kind of books that you will revisit for a lifetime. I highly recommend both of these works and believe they constitute a major contribution to chess theory.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat difficult to understand
Review: I think this book had some very good pointers. However, for an advanced beginner, or lower end intermediate player the way it explains things is difficult to understand in several areas. If you are advanced this book would be good, but it doesn't make it clear in the advertizing that this book is for advanced players only.

Rating:
Summary: Dont waste your time on this book!!
Review: Im an average 1600-1700 player. I read many chess books and because this book sells itself as one for an average chess player I decided to buy it. To start, the writing is EXTREMELY boring and its likely to put anyway asleep. Watson is so obsessed with himself that he spends at least 6 pages in the intro talking about what he is going to talk about. Then chapter one starts, more of the same crap. Then you finally get to the meat and bones of it to find out that he is basically saying that in modern chess the "old" positional ideas of strong GMs of the past no longer apply. HAS THIS MAN GONE MAD???

His point is that there are too many exceptions for rules to be valid in chess (so a good rule is no rule I take it, lol). Then how is anyone to learn chess if not through positional ideas and basic strategies?? Another irritating aspect of the book is that unless you possess a huge opening repertoure of main and obscure lines you wont know how to apply the ideas behind the games in the book in real life anyway. I read the first part of the book and I am now in part two when he talks about modern pawn play (about 85 pages deep!) - note that only 200 pgs(or so) are literature and the rest are games. About the only useful ideas I have acquired from this book is the advance of flank pawns early in the game and some ideas about early pawn moves while blatantly ignoring development (sorry, but anyone could have told me that and I could have saved myself the hard earned money I paid for this book!!) I'd say this book DESERVES ONLY 2 STARS for the interesting pawn moves gaining space and restricting the opposite side from good squares for his pieces. So now you know!! SAVE YOUR MONEY!! If you really want to learn about pawns buy the books on pawn play by Marovic. He's a much better writer to begin with.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring Chess Book
Review: This is one of the chessbooks that can inspire you to play differently. I already had that experience once with Watson's book on the Chigorin Defence which indeed taught me that "offbeat" does not have to be bad.

In this new book Watson reduces his philosophical considerations somehow, which does the reading very good. Still, he does not let us get away without the insight that Adolf Albin who lived from 1847 - 1920 (!) "was not a modern player" (by the way, the Albin Counter Gambit is a positional pawn sacrifice in the modern spirit, which unfortunately happens to be weak). But that is bearable.

The examples are excellently chosen and there are real "eye-openers" among them. (I was particularly struck by one strategy - an early black attack with g5! against a castled white kingside which has been weakened by h3: Haven't I seen this before? Indeed, in my edition of Tarrasch's "Das Schachspiel", the old German teacher recommended for Black not to castle and instead to attack with g5 in case White castles and plays h3 prematurely in the Giuco Piano! This info just for you folks who think that they could not play chess in the old times.)

If you are looking for an entertaining and instructive game collection, this one is for you!

Rating:
Summary: Another towering achievement
Review: This is the follow up to John Watson's Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, rightly hailed as a pioneering work when it appeared. Chess Strategy in Action is, quite simply, another classic. It contains more complete games than the original, and fills in gaps (for example covering concepts like positional pawn sacrifices and doubled pawns. Watson's premise behind both books is the same: the top grandmasters of today are extremely flexible and undogmatic in their thinking. Watson's presentation is rich with discussion and explanation. The deep examination of the move selection process is the key to learning from this book. Superb!