Chess Praxis

Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: This along with My System is one of the all time best selling chess books. Writing a review of this book is almost like trying to review the Holy Bible.

Someone gave me an extremely old edition of this book because they knew I enjoyed chess. I not only enjoy playing chess but I also collect chess books. I have many rare and out of print books. As soon as I saw the title I recognized this book as one of the all time classics. The great condition and yellowing pages of this original edition also made me smile. At the time I first read the book I was not rated high enough to fully understand it. If you are not rated at least 1900 then you should be reading a chess tactics puzzle book or something along those lines. Chess is 95% tactics but when you are ready to learn the strategic and positional side of chess then you are ready for this book. I am still not good enough to say I understand everything in this book. If you want an easy to read book then this is not the book. If you want a book with ideas and techniques that are easy to grasp than this is not your book. If you are about to reach Master level (or collect classic chess books) than this is the book for you.


Rating:
Summary: A book must-read by players of all levels!
Review: After reading this book I improved my game a lot from first move that I started to score against players rated at 1900+ and even to 2100+ players. This book is filled with instructive games by Nimzovich which includes an annotation of his games under a particular play.

Rating:
Summary: Learn the motives for master moves
Review: Chess Praxis has been a best seller for practically the whole 20th century. Nimzo's ideas in My System are put into practice and thoroughly explained via two, three, or even more games per idea. He speaks of centralization of forces, blockade of double pawns and pawn majorities and freeing moves. Just the concept of restraint gives me a clearer picture of why grandmasters make the moves they do. Tactics result in a poor position or from a weakness in your position. If you can grasp Nimzo's concepts of position play, you'll obtain a nearly flawless position which is tactic-proof and you can start looking for tactical possibilities against your opponent. Certainly brilliant tacticians such as Tal have defeated Nimzo. Nimzo wasn't known for his all-out tactical abilities and attacking games, but he avoided many tactical ideas against him through solid positional play in which he could concentrate on looking for combinations towards weaknesses in his opponent's position, and certainly he could do that. "Only when the center is clearly defined can you embark on an attack", quotes Nimzovitch. Easily worth the money, especially with the algebraic notation and many diagrams in the new edition.

Rating:
Summary: Learn the motives for master moves
Review: Chess Praxis has been a best seller for practically the whole 20th century. Nimzo's ideas in My System are put into practice and thoroughly explained via two, three, or even more games per idea. He speaks of centralization of forces, blockade of double pawns and pawn majorities and freeing moves. Just the concept of restraint gives me a clearer picture of why grandmasters make the moves they do. Tactics result in a poor position or from a weakness in your position. If you can grasp Nimzo's concepts of position play, you'll obtain a nearly flawless position which is tactic-proof and you can start looking for tactical possibilities against your opponent. Certainly brilliant tacticians such as Tal have defeated Nimzo. Nimzo wasn't known for his all-out tactical abilities and attacking games, but he avoided many tactical ideas against him through solid positional play in which he could concentrate on looking for combinations towards weaknesses in his opponent's position, and certainly he could do that. "Only when the center is clearly defined can you embark on an attack", quotes Nimzovitch. Easily worth the money, especially with the algebraic notation and many diagrams in the new edition.

Rating:
Summary: Nimzovich Rules!
Review: I suggest you read "My System" first and then proceed to this, otherwise you'll feel like you've caught the flick "mid-reel". Essential reading for those aspiring for mastery.

Rating:
Summary: Will repay close study ten-fold
Review: This book contains hundreds of examples of extremely difficult positional chess. It is one of the most important chess books. Nimzowitsch is difficult to comprehend, but his vision and his principles can take you to the promised land where you have a sense of really understanding chess. Absorb this book, and your chess will become more interesting and rational. You will have reasons for your moves. This book, and Nimzo's vision of chess, is mostly about pawn play in the final analysis. Pawns ARE the soul of chess, and I have never seen books that really get at the heart of pawn play like Nimzo's. This book contains heavily annoated games by this chess genius. Plus, there are many narrative discussions where he further elucidates the principles of pawn play in chess. Absolutely essential for any serious chess book collection.

Rating:
Summary: Nimzovich Rules!
Review: This book is really a must read. It is a collection of games from Nimzowitsch praxis. The author implements the ideas expressed in his other famous book "My system": the basis of hyper-modern chess. I find this more readable than the former, cause it's "lighter" in some sense.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book is really a must read. It is a collection of games from Nimzowitsch praxis. The author implements the ideas expressed in his other famous book "My system": the basis of hyper-modern chess. I find this more readable than the former, cause it's "lighter" in some sense.

Rating:
Summary: Simply the best chess book ever.
Review: This book was recomended to me by an International Master, and has really improved my game more than any other book I've read on Chess. Nimzowitsche's theories are fascinating, and sophisticated, as well as beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: Simply the best chess book ever.
Review: This book was recomended to me by an International Master, and has really improved my game more than any other book I've read on Chess. Nimzowitsche's theories are fascinating, and sophisticated, as well as beautiful.