Rating: 
Summary: 1300-1700USCF in 2 yrs thx to this and 5 other books
Review: Forget Nimzo! Read this instead. If youre a beginner OR an intermediate like myself, You will find Nimzo a little diffucult to understand. Silman is a precursor to Nimzo. Silman's concept of "imbalances" is SO good how come no one thought of explaining positional concepts in this manner before? The other 5 books are: 1. Chess tactics for students by Bain. 2. Essential chess endings by Silman. 3. chess training pocket book by Alburt. 4. Chess master at any age by Wetzell. 5. The ideas behind the chess openings by Fine. Start with Bain first then use the other 5 in combination. The KEY is to ANALYSE your OWN GAMES using a computer for tactics and a strong (at least 300pts highter than yourself) human for positional play. Then store the important concepts into chess computer software. Finally, review these concepts so that you know them like the back of your hand. Discipline yourself and good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!!!
Review: Ok, after reading only the first 40 pages of this book, my rating jumped more than 200 points, and i keep getting better each time i read it!!
Rating:
Summary: One of the very best instructional books ever written
Review: This book helped me to become an Expert and is helping me to (hopefully) become a Master. As a guide to positional chess, it is less advanced than Nimzowitsch's My System but every bit as important. Indeed, without knowing the basic concepts explained here, I doubt if it's possible to understand Nimzowitsch. If it has a fault, it would be that a reader could easily get the impression that positional ideas are more importaant than tactics.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but a bit basic
Review: This is ok for players up to class C I think ( 1400-1600 uscf ) but as a mid A player trying to break into expert, I felt it was too basic. I already know about all those positional imbalances. Mr Silman gives too little coverage to some really imporant things. He doesn't discuss HOW to devise plans once these imbalances are noticed. We get precious little discussion of tactics, even though several of the games have 20 move tactical sequences that justify the 'plan'. I second some of the other complaints, that there are an incredible amount of grammaical and spelling misakes, and that Mr Silman included an awful lot of his games. I don't think the latter is hubris, however. Rather, he may just be more familiar with the material, and may have made these moves with his method in mind. Also, I think his method is not as original as he has purported. I've read nimzowitch(sp?) notes which made some of the same ideas perfectly clear in the 1900's. Also, a lot of the exact same material has been published in chess life. So, I think it's OK for a lower-rated player to learn planning, or a stronger player with weak planning skills, but if you already have a good grasp of strategy, at least flip through it first. dave
Rating:
Summary: Laughable editing, good content
Review: This book proves that one can have a deep understanding of chess yet have a laughable command of the English language. This book is poorly edited and in need of revision. Furthermore, Silman's hubris rivals that of Kasparov with very little to back it up. The content is very good, however, and serious study is very rewarding. My play has improved just by using the thinking technique.
Rating:
Summary: Some things taught great, some can improve much
Review: This book i would reccommend to any beginner who: 1) Doesnt understand minor pieces play 2) Needs to improve middle game thought process 3) Plays without any type of plan, just waits for things to happen 4) As a bonus he explains excellently i think some concepts of endgame theory. The cons are: 1) Ego trips galore, as in how many of his moves are described as brilliant,magnificent not to mention the amount of his games analyzed. 2) Some sections are too shallow and seem to come from others ideas. 3) Few board illustrations compared with other books and many typoes.
Rating:
Summary: Imbalances. Visualization. Thinking Methods.
Review: Silman's idea and explanation of examining and using a position's imbalances, finding a realistic position, visualizing a desired position and then attempting to see if it can be obtained was worth the book's price. Did Silman invent this "method?" No, you can find it assumed in other books, but Silman explicitly creates the framework. Does he explain his method clearly? Yes, I've used his method successfully in my games and in studying other chess books. Is Silman the last word? No, the many typos, redundancies, omissions, etc., make this a less-than complete book. Will this book help improve your game? I think it should not only increase your skill level but will also help you to get more out of other "better" books on tactics, strategy, endgames, and so on. Silman is a must read for all non-Master rated players who want to be Masters.
Rating:
Summary: number 1 chess book
Review: THIS BOOK IMPROVED MY RATING BY 300 Points!!!!! FROM A 800 to a 1100. ENOUGH SAID
Rating:
Summary: Helped me a lot.
Review: This book was one of the most helpful I've ever read on chess. I think it was because it was written to be comprehended by mere mortals (players who don't know a lot about chess.) It didn't insist that you do mental exercises that only great chess minds can do.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Chess Book For All Levels.
Review: If you are serious about improving your chess game then this book is definitely for you, I have greatly increase my ratings since I've been studying this book. Brillant illustrations and ideas along with principles, Jeremy Silman is in fact a very good teacher.
| 
