Rating: 
Summary: Very accessible
Review: I agree with the reviewers before me who said that this is a great book, but I don't agree that one has to be a strong player to find it useful or worthwhile. I found it increased my enjoyment of the game tremendously and I am NOT a very strong player - not yet at any rate. To anyone who is afraid to launch a sacrificial attack on the opposing king without calculating it to the end - please read this book.
Rating:
Summary: How To Have Some Fun
Review: I almost feel intimidated trying to review this chess book and not being that much of a player myself. Still for the many amateur players who play chess to have fun (not to reach ratings, etc.) here are some thoughts on why this is a good book to own. Most chess books that I own delve very quickly into positional analysis and the virtues of having your piece X on square Y. I understand that this is a vital part of modern chess and that most games on higher level are probably won by positional play. This book however, takes a different approach - it systematically explores the most fun concept of all - how to mate the king. One after another, the book develops outrageous strategies for preparing mating nets, sacrificing pieces, etc. and presents the reader with one amazing attack after another. I thought it was tons of fun after all the positional stuff. The analysis of classic games by Alekhine and Capablanca in the context of how to attack a castled king, uncastled king, focal points ofthe attack, piece sacrifices, etc. changed my play a lot. As a result of a series of books I have studied, my play was slowly becoming very boring to myself. I spent most of my time before the endgame trying to develop a particular position on the board and endlessly trying to calculate if the opponents moves are not leading to some attacking combination that would disrupt my nice positional setup. I probably won more games that way than I do now but it was boring. Now I boldly attack whenever I see an opportunity and although I loose more often I have played some games I am really proud of. I am no chessmaster and my interpretation of the approach of this book versus other books is probably not very educated. But still, this was a lot of fun for me. Try it.
Rating:
Summary: Finally the algebraic notation version of this classic!
Review: I've waited years for this book to be translated into algebraic notation
Rating:
Summary: The Best Manual of Attacking Chess Hands Down!
Review: If you want to be a serious chess player, you have to master the art of chess tactics especially chess tactics that support a successful attack of the king in either the uncastled or castled positions. STOP LOOKING NOW! You've found the right book! Buy it, read it, understand it and watch your winning percentage soar into the stratosphere!
Rating:
Summary: one point of note
Review: In almost every list of most helpful chess books this has found itself right up near the top...any questions...go get it.
Rating:
Summary: chessplayer loves ATTACK, Attacker loves this book!
Review: In this book, the author used a style similar to Sun Tzu's in The Art of War. Vukovic tried to summarize why some attacks work and some don't. He provided some concrete evidences where the attack is successful and some where the intuition takes a major role. Without intuition and imagination, I doubt we have many masterpieces from Tal, Fischer, Kasparov or Alekhine.
When we say "attack", the modern chess has two main goals: attacking the King and attacking a weakness (piece or square). Vukovic is all about the first goal. The modern chess somehow inter-connects the two goals, the attacker uses one goal to distract the defender's attention in order to start the other, and vice versa. The attack in the enemy King is more exciting, because checkmate is the ultimate goal in chess. A win is a win, but a direct attack on the King (together with some pretty sacrifice) seems like a slam-dunk while winning materially with a pawn promotion seems like a lay-up. Vukovic's writing was very detailed and authoritative. He gave some guidelines on how to attack an uncastled King as well as a castled King. With each King's position, he showed some weaknesses for where the attacker to aim at.
The chapter about the 'classic' bishop sacrifice saved me a game. I played with the black pieces against a strong player. I had two Knights on d7 and e7 in some French Defense. Suddenly I saw my opponent lifted his King Bishop from d3 and slammed hard into my h7 Pawn (I had castled King-side). I was careful to preserve my two Knights during the game (I was lucky to scan thru Vukovic's book before). However, I was shocked when I saw he did such a sacrifice. It took me 5 minutes to double-check my defense; I could not see the forced mate. Finally, I put my reputation on the line (often I resign when the situation is hopeless or checkmate is foreseeable) to play on, and planned to turn down the King when a mate-in-three or four became obvious. I just wanted him to show me the ($$$) checkmate. There was no mate. With a trade-up to my advantage, a Bishop for a pawn (lost at h7), my opponent lost in a late middle game when my major pieces coming down to his King-castle. A few weeks later, my opponent showed his recent game with the 'classic" bishop sacrifice, and this time his sacrifice worked!!! So the knowledge on this 'sac' helped me save our game and also helped my opponent to sharpen his tactics for the Kingside attack. The story didn't end here. About two years later, I did the same 'classic' bishop sac and due to my lack of calculation depth I messed up the order of the Queen, Bishop and Pawn moves I lost the game. When I got home, entering the move sequence back into my CM8000 and it showed me that the sac was sound, just I didn't follow thru correctly.
When I play a weaker player (about 200-point difference), when there is a decision about attacking a weakness or a King, no doubt that attacking the King is the chosen one. A few pawns sac or a piece sac to open his Castle is not a difficult choice. An attack on a weakness (square or piece), the opponent can ignore it; but an attack on his King always catches his attention, and the reply is almost forced. Often the persistent attack prevails.
One time my opponent, playing white, early in the opening, maneuvered his Queen to d2 (blocking his QB) and g5 in order to steal my g7 pawn; and he challenged me to give up that pawn. He made up his mind to win that pawn; therefore I swung my QN to prepare an attack on the Queenside (as a decoy). After capturing the g7-pawn, he retreated his Queen back to d2 and castled Kingside (naturally). As soon as he castled Kingside, I castled Queenside and brought both Rooks to the g-file and attacked his King, sacrificing another pawn along the way. His QB blocked by his Queen could not help. He gave up instead of exchanging his Queen for a Knight and a Rook.
This proves the above assumption that an attack on the King seems more powerful than an attack somewhere else. Vukovic's book shows how to conduct an exciting attack on the enemy King. So far, examples on the "classic' Bishop sac have given me some good experience. The attack on the castled King also works for me, and against me! There were quite a few times my opponents (at least two) know that I automatically castled Kingside, especially with black pieces. They prepared the attack with pawns to h4 and/or g4. As soon as I castled K-side, they castled Q-side or lifted the King to 2nd rank, and then the Q-Rook swung over to K-side to work in unison with other Rook. My King hit the dust soon afterward. And of course I too had been on either side of an "unbearable" attack on the uncastled King.
Vukovic gave many many more examples of the 'slam-dunk' King-attack.
P.S.: I can't depart if not mentioning: Yes, I have been also on either side of a "horrible" Dragon Sicilian, which Vukovic showed in chapter 'the attack on the fianchettoed castling position'. Chess is a game of give-and-take, however checkmate is better to give than to take... ;-)
Rating:
Summary: An Updated, Annotated Classic Well-worth Buying
Review: John Nunn did more than just edit an algebraic notation of the classic: he's gone over Vukovic's original annotation with original analysis that shows that even for grandmasters "chess can sometimes be hard." Vukovic's book is still there: he presents a comprehensive discussion of the art of attack, expounding the most basic principles and most complex forms of the attack on the castled king. Ch. 1 discusses "The Attack Against The Uncastled King." Ch. 2 "The Attack On The King That Has Lost The Right To Castle." Ch 3 "On Castling And Attacking The Castled Position In General." Ch. 4 "Mating Patterns." Ch.5 "Focal Points." Ch. 6 "The Classic Bishop Sacrifice" (with some interesting notes by Nunn. Ch.7 "Ranks, Files, And Diagonals In The Attack On The Castled King." Ch.8 "Pieces And Pawns In The Attack On The Castled King." Ch. 9 "The Attack On The Fianchettoed And Q Side Castling Positions" Ch.10 "Defending Against The Attack On The Castled King." Ch. 11 "The Phases Of The Attack On TheCastled King." Ch. 12 "The Attack On The King As An Integral Part Of The Game." Vukovic illustrates his themes by extensive comments on classic games played by Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, Lasker, etc. This is an easy book to read, a difficult one to master. Personally, I think careful study of a book like this will be worth much more than memorizing yet another opening.
Rating:
Summary: An Updated, Annotated Classic Well-worth Buying
Review: John Nunn did more than just edit an algebraic notation of the classic: he's gone over Vukovic's original annotation with original analysis that shows that even for grandmasters "chess can sometimes be hard." Vukovic's book is still there: he presents a comprehensive discussion of the art of attack, expounding the most basic principles and most complex forms of the attack on the castled king. Ch. 1 discusses "The Attack Against The Uncastled King." Ch. 2 "The Attack On The King That Has Lost The Right To Castle." Ch 3 "On Castling And Attacking The Castled Position In General." Ch. 4 "Mating Patterns." Ch.5 "Focal Points." Ch. 6 "The Classic Bishop Sacrifice" (with some interesting notes by Nunn. Ch.7 "Ranks, Files, And Diagonals In The Attack On The Castled King." Ch.8 "Pieces And Pawns In The Attack On The Castled King." Ch. 9 "The Attack On The Fianchettoed And Q Side Castling Positions" Ch.10 "Defending Against The Attack On The Castled King." Ch. 11 "The Phases Of The Attack On TheCastled King." Ch. 12 "The Attack On The King As An Integral Part Of The Game." Vukovic illustrates his themes by extensive comments on classic games played by Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, Lasker, etc. This is an easy book to read, a difficult one to master. Personally, I think careful study of a book like this will be worth much more than memorizing yet another opening.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book on Attack Ever Written
Review: Let's face it...this is the SAME book that the best players in the world learned from. Why is that? Because it is simply the single best book ever written on the subject of attack in chess!
Rating:
Summary: Classic in every sense of the word
Review: Quite simply, an unmatched book that will bring out the aggressive chess spirit in your play. There are two other notable books - Keres & Kotov's Art of the Middle Game and Dvoretsky & Yusupov's Attack & Defence. I think Vukovic's timeless treatise stands out. For under $20, it's a steal.
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