Rating: 
Summary: Very Good SECOND Book - Too Advanced for Beginners
Review: I think it is worth noting that this is a complete book of chess "strategy" - not a complete book of the "game of chess" as a whole. I went searching for a book about chess that would help me improve as a player, and this book was an outstanding help to me. Within just a couple days of reading and doing some of Silman's quizzes, I noticed that I was suddenly "seeing" many moves that I didn't recognize in the past - for example, I never considered a chess piece "sacrifice" prior to reading this book, and now I bait my opponents into messes by doing so all the time (which demonstrates how much of a novice I really am). The only downside to this book is relates to my first comment: this book is about strategy, NOT rules. Often when playing other novices and so-called intermediate players, rule issues sometimes come up (such as when you can and can't castle - I know it's probably basic and simple - don't laugh) and Silman's book is absolutely no help in resolving rule clarifications. I figure that I should have realized that when purchasing only a strategy book, but it seems that including a section on the rules would improve this book, since you are going to have to buy another book to get them if you are a first-timer. I was brought up on chess from time-to-time, but by no means knew all the rules prior to purchasing this book, and still don't consequently. For this reason, this is NOT a book for true beginners. Insofar as chess strategy alone is concerned, however the book is wonderful and written in an enjoyable style.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Introduction, Intermediate and up look elsewhere.
Review: If you are begining chess, this is an excellent book to start with. It covers enough of most aspects of the game to get you started right. It should give an excellent and solid foundation. I wish it had been available to me 20 years ago. If you are above the level of beginner, you will likely pick up some useful ideas from the book, but most of what it contains you will have learned by bitter experience. The format and writing are excellent. Text moves can be followed in all but a few diagrams without a board, which makes it easy and pleasurable to read. The book contains two errors that I noticed, one dealing with a stalemate and another illustrating Alekhines Gun. Even so, this book contains what a new player needs, and it would be among my first recomendations to the novice. A more accurate title would be a "Basic Book of Chess Strategy."
Rating: 
Summary: Very good first or second book
Review: My first Chess book was Robert Fisher Teaches Chess (a very good book). This one may very well be better. It is a very good opening reference. It gives examples of all of the tactics used during a chess game, it covers middle game strategy. One very important part of the book is its coverage of the mating patterns. There is also an overview of endgame strategy. This book has a lot of the stuff you will find in the Art of Attack. It is easier to understand, however. I mention this because it may be a much more advanced book than I indicate in the title. So if you don't know how to destroy a castled position or you don't know how many basic mating patterns there are this book is for you. It is also a must if you want to know the names and moves of about 20 different standard opening lines. International Chess Master Jeremy Silman gives a lot to chess. Most chess authors lack his passion. His web site has numerous book recommendations too.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest chess books you could ever read
Review: The Complete Book of Chess Strategy: Grandmaster Techniques from A to Z is the greatest book I have ever read. Not only did it improve my game, it opened my mind up to new ideas. This book is a must buy if you are into Chess
Rating: 
Summary: Only for under 1600 of rating
Review: The name of "Grandmaster techniques" is only marketing publicity. There aren't deep explanations. For example in the Nimzo-indian said that you need to close the game in order to manage your knights. Every opening book says that. I really hoped much more. But this book is very good for persons who don't have other chess books.
Rating:
Summary: Really good strategies for your game
Review: This book cover all phases of the chess game.
In the first section, Jeremy Silman, give us some examples of opening systems, he coments
the main ideas and specific plans for each opening. There is a quiz in the final of this section.
The big attraction of this book is the second part: The midle-game strategies.
The contents are: tactics: Forks, pins, decoy, double attack etc. Mating patterns, focal points
at f7,g7 and h7. minority attack. He teaches when to attack on the wings, and when to attack
on the center, using pieces or pawns according to situation of the game. There are a lot of
strategical stuff in this book. There is a quiz in this section too.
The third part, Silman, writes the basic of chess finals: kings oppositions,
triangulation etc. for the rooks: Lucena Position, Philidor Position etc.
This book is indicate for beginers to intermediate chess players.
Rating: 
Summary: Not great to say the least
Review: This book is absolutley not a complete book of chess strategy. The ideas in it are explained VERY briefly so beginners can't really understand them. To advanced players this book is ueless of course since they know all this. The section about openings is the worst one. It doesn't explain the ideas of the openings, but it shows very short lines as examples which of course mean nothing to a beginner. In my opinion a much better option instead of this book is "The mammoth book of chess". it has everything this book has and more. it also explains everything in a much better way, and it's cheaper.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book for Beginner/Intermediate Players
Review: This book is great in that it presents all of the considerations for a chess game in one place. While some of the descriptions and explanations are rather brief, this is more of an all-in-one summary book, either for a brief introduction to the elements of chess, or as a review. If you are a beginner player, then this book is great as a primer, but don't expect it to boost your play too much, at least not until you get more experience with the elements discussed in this book. While I knew some of the things in this book already, I mainly used it as an introduction, and am planning to read about some of the particulars more in-depth later from other sources. If you want a book to introduce you to the important aspects of chess to prime you for some more complicated books, then this is a good one. Grade: A-
Rating:
Summary: A Good Reference Book
Review: This book works off the believe that you have some ideal about tactics and want to review. It increased my rating from 1400 to 1600 (Internet Rating) but I knew nothing about tactics to begin with. Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player (Comprehensive Chess Course, Third Level) is geared more to teach you fundementals about tactics than this book. Once you have the basics down you can use this book as quick review.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but More Brief Than Complete...
Review: This is a pretty good starter book for someone, yet is far from complete... The name is a bit deceptive to claim to be a complete strategy guide... This reads more like a Chess Dictionary than an actual strategy guide... Perhaps a better name would of been Chess Dictionary, Grandmaster Techniques from A-Z... I would say this book is mostly good for those U1600 range... The lower you are, the more this book most likely will help you... Just realize this gives a brief basic idea of what something means... By no means is this a complete work that will make you into an IM or GM... I will try to give a basic idea of what to expect in this book... Basically the book starts with an introduction explaining the goals of this book and how the idea to write happend... Silman explains how he had a student that basically wrote a book like this in a simple form... He could not deal with how books overwhelm person with too much information... So Silman took that idea and expanded upon it, creating basically an easy to digest Chess Dictionary... It then goes into a short explanation of what the various chess notation symbols mean... This can be good for a starter since its easy to confuse !? with ?! :)... Then he gets into Chess notation, this part bothered me a bit to say the least... I wish he covered and explained descriptive notation since that was something I had lots of trouble understanding starting out... I think that would of helped someone staring out very much to say the least... Also make it easier for them to get older chess books and understand them... Still he covers modern notation rather well and in an easy to understand way... Then we get into the 4 main parts of the book... They consist of The Opening, The Middlegame, The Endgame, and Practical Matters... I will try to give a basic idea of what each one of these parts consist of... Part I The Opening... He deals with basic opening strategy, castling, development, fianchetto, then he gets into some opening systems... The coverage he gives on the openings he covers here is pretty minimal... At most he gives 1 or 2 pages with only a few moves mentioned... He tries to give basic ideas of the openings using words, instead of a page or two of variations... This can be good for someone new to the game, since its likely to now overwhelm them... The openings he touches on consist of Albin Counter Gambit, Alekhine Defense, Benko Gambit, Bogo-Indian Defense, Benko Gambit, Boring Opening(Reversed London System), Botvinnik Formation, Budapest Gambit, Caro-Kann Defense, Center-Counter Defense, Colle Opening, Czech Benoni, Dutch Defense, English Opening, Four Knights Opening, French Defense, Giuoco Piano, Grob, Gruenfeld Defense, Hedgehog Formation, King's Gambit, King's Indian Attack, King's Indian Defense, Larsen's Opening, Modern Benoni Defense, Nimzo-Indian Defense, Orangutan, Petroff Defense, Pirc Defense, Queen's Gambit(Chigorin system, accepted, declined), QGD(Capablanca's Freeing Maneuver, Tarrasch Defense), Queen's Indian Defense, Reti Opening, Ruy Lopez, Scotch Opening, Semi-Slav Defense, Sicilian Defense, Slav Defense, Stonewall Attack, Torre Attack, Trompowski Opening, Two Knight Defense, and the Veresov Opening... They are listed in alphabetical order so that makes looking them up rather easy... He also touches a bit on preperation and reversed openings... The part concludes with 20 quiz questions relating to openings... Part two The Middlegame deals with what comes after the opening... This part starts out talking about attacks on the enemy king... Castling on opposite sides, castling on the same side, and even the classic Bishop Sacrifice... He then gets into combinations and combinational themes... Stuff like Clearance Sacrifice, Decoy, Deflection, Double Attack, Fork, Pins/Skewers, Windmill, X-Rays, and Zwischenzug... He touches on King in the center and Kingside focal points next... After that he talks about Mating Net and Mating Patterns... He even lists several known mates, including Blackburne's, Boden's, and Pilsbury... This is good for a new player so he knows what people mean when they refer to these mates by name... Silman even talks a little bit about Sacrifice and Tactical Vision... Silman also gets into such things as Blockade, Candidate Moves/Imbalances, Centralization, Closed/Open Positions, Compensation, Counterplay, Defensive Strategy, Entombed Pieces, Initiative, Material Advantage, Minority Attack, Minor Pieces, Mysterious Rook Moves, Open Files, and Overprotection... He even touches on more neglected concepts to starters... Topics such as Pawn Center, Pawn Chain, Pawn Structure(Backward, Doubled, Isolated, Hanging, Passed, and Tripled Pawns), Pawn Islands, and Pawn Tension... After that he talks about Perpetual Check, Piece Activity, Plan, Principle of Two Weaknesses, Prophylaxis, Queenside Pawn Majority, Restriction, Space, Squares, Static Versus Dynamic Advantages, Support Points, Trading Pieces, and Traps... If your not sure about any of that stuff, or don't know what they mean... Perhaps this book might be something that will help you out... The part ends with a 33 question Quiz relating to Middlegame concepts... Again the coverage of the mentioned topics is rather on the brief side... Part III The Endgame talks about what comes after the middlegame... The topics he touches on in this chapter deals with the following... Bishop and Wrong Rook Pawn, Cat and Mouse, Exchanging, Minor Pieces in The Endgame, Passed Pawns in The Endgame(Queen Endgame, Pawn Majority and Outside Passed Pawn, Promotion and Underpromotion), Queen and Minor Piece Fights, Stalemate, Using the King(King and Pawn vs King, Opposition, Saving Pawn Moves, Square of The Pawn, Triangulation), and Using The Rooks(Active Rook, Lucena Position, Philidor Position, Rooks Behind Passed Pawns, Short and Long Side of The Board and Two Hogs on The Seventh)... Again the coverage is far from complete, but still it can get you started on right path... Also help prepare you to read a more detailed/difficult book on the topics... This part ends with a 10 question Quiz about Endgame matters... Part IV deals with Practical Matters where Silman talks about "invisible" facets to the game... He touches on such topics as Blunder, Draw Offer, Point Count, Psychology, and Time Pressure... He does preach to players to never give up and play to win... This part ends with a 10 question Quiz about Practical Matters that were covered... So this is a pretty good book for a newer chess player, the less you know the more it will help... If not for a few things I might of given the book 5 stars... Mostly the fact that he does not cover descriptive notation and the books name is very deceptive... If someone buys this thinking it is actually a Total Complete Guide of Chess Strategy, they will find over time there are many gaps... Also some of the coverage perhaps is a bit too brief to be helpful... The end of the book with the Questions and Answers to the Quizzes is rather nice... Instead of just printing the answers to them... This makes it rather easy to go over them without back and forth looking... Other starter books to consider might be Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess and The Mammoth Book of Chess... This book is nicely priced and you get good value for your dollar... Also remember Silman is rather easy to read and understand... Just realize this is more of a Dictionary than anything else... The book is very easy to Digest and Should at least help with Chess terms if nothing else... I might not agree with all Silman says, but I still think this is a good book with a deceptive title...
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