Understanding Chess Move by Move

Rating:
Summary: Second to none, None at all.
Review: Another games collection. Why buy this book instead of the other 200 games collections that are available? Thats rhetorical.
Nunn's book contains good analysis but I dont believe these books could raise your rating 10 points. Study the classics like Alekhine, not these weaker derivative 21st century faceless chess players.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult for a kid
Review: As a (...)student and player rated 1000 by the USCF I found this book to be far too advanced for me. I got this book along with Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors. If you are really advanced then the in depth analysis would be good for you, otherwise, if you are a player rated under 1500 get Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors.

Rating:
Summary: Explains secret strategies as only a Grandmaster can
Review: As mentioned in some of my other reviews, this Nunn's book seems like a combination of Chernev's two books: Logical Chess Move by Move and the Most Instructive Chess Games Ever Played. Nunn's book is better organized because it groups the games and strategies in game stages: opening, middle-game and ending.
The main principles of openings like: bring out the pieces, king-safety, center control, etc. are used to illustrate part 1.
Part 3 demonstrates the methods of handling the endings: advantage of the passed pawn, active king play, and active rook in the endgame.
The most exciting part is part 2: the middle-games. To play attack is easier than to play defense. First Nunn's provides us with many strategies to start and maintain the initiative and attack. Then he supplies us with some methods to defense and wait for the moment to take over the initiative to start our own counter-attack. Then if the position is not ready, Nunn shows us the positional play, placing the pieces and pawns at the most optimal positions so that when opportunity comes they can spring out for attack, or detect the weaknesses in opponent's position to start our attack there, or repair our weakness or sacrifice it and start our attack where the opponent is weaker. This last (positional) part is similar to Chernev's Most Instructive Games.
Nunn explains the idea behind move by move like Chernev's Logical Chess, except he did not bother to repeat or invent new ways to explain the same moves that he did before, very considerate he was. It saved our time and our esteem.
Like he wrote in the introduction, it is difficult to select games in 10 years span to illustrate modern chess strategy, which has more than 100 years history. In those games, the GMs know as much as his opponents. To successfully and completely carry the plan, they have to out-fox their opponents. They use all the experience, skills and sometimes deception to steer the game into the position that is favorable to their style. The games are in high quality.
Each game begins with a paragraph of introduction, which tells us what to look for during the game. During the game, there are lots of explanation and some important variations. At the end, there are summary and lessons we can draw from the game.

Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for book, but chill on the general principles stuff
Review: First of all, this book is indispensable, necessary, and you cannot do without it. The annotations are both deep and accessible. The chess is scintillating. This is, in my opinion, Nunn's master work, the first book he has written for the entire chess world, instead of just some part of it. Having said that, and having given it the 5 stars it deserves, Nunn trips all over himself in the introduction with his "Watson-esque" attempts to show how general principles are secondary to concrete evaluation. Can authors please lighten up on that point? The way Watson, Suba, Nunn, and everyone and their mother are saying how general principles must be secondary to concrete analysis is such an obvious point. It is like saying, about driving, stay in your lane, but if a car is coming at you, swerving to avoid it is more important than the rule of staying in your lane. The summary: these authors are chess players, not philosophers. Nunn makes the absurd statement that "many of the old, established principles are now recognized to be at best half-truths." The term "half-truth" normally has a negative connotation to it, as if there is something misleading involved. But the point--that because there are exceptions to rules, then the rules are half-truths, is wrong. The rules are GENERAL principles; by definition they are not specific. Nunn continues to stumble, as after ridiculing general principles, he then begins the book by stating "here I am only concerned with the general principles governing opening play." So, even though the old principles are half-truths (at best), he is only concerned with general principles? And he ends every game with a summary of the general principles that you should glean from the game. For instance, at the end of the first game, he states that a lesson you should have learned is to "not make too many pawn moves in the opening." But isn't this just the type of principle that he, Suba and the rest are decrying with all their supposed modernism? The answer is that clearly seeking general principles is a valid way to learn chess, or any object of study. To say that there are exceptions to rules and that the concrete takes precedence over the abstract is nothing profound, and could have been stated as once clear sentence. Tarrasch knew this, Lasker knew this, everyone did, but some of these guys today act like they have discovered soemthing profound. Nunn threatens to seriously mislead the reader in his intro. with all that gibberish. With that stated, I love this book. It is a true gem.

Rating:
Summary: Nunn ... move-by-move.
Review: First off, I want to apologize to one chess fan. This person was nice enough to send me a copy of this book shortly after it was published - and asked me to review it. I had not forgotten about you in the least, I am just sometimes notoriously slow.

Secondly, you should probably know that I am a Life-Master, and I have made a living teaching chess on the Internet.

I should also add that one of the greatest chess books ever written was "Logical Chess, Move-by-Move," by Irving Chernev. (A book that has remained popular over a very long span of time, and even chess editors and book publishers have told me they don't grasp the reason why.) This book is an obvious attempt to imitate the success of that fantastic teaching volume.

I read this book from cover-to-cover right after I first got it. I also played over a few of the games, but admittedly ... in a rather hurried fashion. I personally liked the book very much, and would have probably given it five stars. But I am a higher-rated player; this book was NOT meant for me. So what I think of this book is not nearly as important as what lower-rated players might have to say about this book. ---> I also recently reviewed this book and played over about ten of the games, in preparation for writing this review.

One of the things I did right after receiving the book was to photocopy about 3 pages and mail this to dozens of friends and students, along with a questionnaire I had drawn up. I asked everyone to grade Nunn on about 20 different criteria, including writing style, clarity of thought, etc. I also asked those people who owned the copy of the book to review it briefly for me, tell me what they liked and what was less than perfect about this effort by Nunn. (Friends on the Internet have probably grown tired of my {nearly} constant questions about this subject!)

There are MANY positives to this book! There is a tremendous amount of prose, written in a very clear style. There is a comment after nearly every move, and there are more than enough variations to illustrate the various tactical points.

The comments and feedback from the people I contacted reinforced some of the criticisms I had of the book. This is what a few of these kind people had to say:
#1.) "Nunn is very good and his explanations are excellent. But sometimes the variations are too much."
# 2.) "I liked this book very much, but I thought there were too many lines. These could have been replaced by more explanations of what was happening on the chess board."
# 3.) "Nunn is good, over-all I feel I could learn a great deal from this book. But Nunn is kidding himself if he thinks I could ever calculate that far ahead. Heck, some days I do good to see one move ahead."
# 4.) "Nunn is an extremely good teacher. But I think he misses the point in one case. His constant criticisms of general principles are misplaced in this type of book, without general principles I could not play chess."

There were many more comments. I also noticed several trends. The players who liked this book best: were in the 14-to-16 hundred ... up to about expert range. This was the group that seemed to have the most positive responses. (Which means he kind of missed the mark, in his intro he states he desired to reach those players who range from beginner to 1800.) Lower-rated players complained of being drowned in variations.

Perhaps the final test was when I read this book to a few of my own students, face-to-face, including my seven-year-old daughter. Almost all of these players required me to explain what Nunn was saying about half the time!

In closing, while I liked this book very much, I think the average player should read Reinfeld's "The Complete Chess-Player," before tackling this particular volume. And while my own appraisal of this book remains very high, it seems that even Nunn could learn a few things from the timeless simplicity of the great Irving Chernev.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding Chess: A Classic Work For Intermediate Players
Review: Great writing that conveys instruction and information as well as pleasure and entertainment, excellent annotations, clearly expressed plans and supporting variations: it's all here. Nunn's 30 game selections are impressive. Among others, there's an exciting 1996 Khalifman-Shveshnikov game in which White catches the Black king in the center and never gives him time to castle. Nunn recounts his 1999 Nunn-Nataf battle in which our author is on the wrong end of a sacrificial onslaught that breaks White's kingside position. We witness an amazing 1999 Bu Xiangzhi - Ye Jiangchuan clash where attack and counter-attack are vividly displayed as both players attack on opposites sides of the board their respective rooks both holding the enemy at bay and simultaneously threatening to mate the enemy king. Nunn entertains and enlightens with both prose descriptions and heavy-duty calculations.

The reviewer who was irritated with Nunn's introduction should reread it more carefully. Nunn is not ridiculing general principles when he argues, "much greater emphasis is placed on the concrete requirements of a given position rather than obeying abstract principles." Comparing modern dynamic play (like game 20, Kasparov-Shirov, 1994) to a driver desperately avoiding a collision misses Nunn's point: "if a leading grandmaster thinks a position requires a particular plan he will embark on it." Kasparov was clearly in control during the opening when he moved his knight seven times in thirteen moves and developed his rook via a4 and b4 only to immediately sacrifice it for a bishop.

The reviewer fails to understand what Nunn means by "half-truths." I think Nunn is clear when he writes, "If the evaluation of a position depends on a tactical finesse eight moves deep, then it is misleading to pretend that the position can be assessed using general principles." Nunn never says that general principles are wrong; indeed his games all have their lessons - tempered with the knowledge that the tactics have to validate them. The reviewer thinks this "is nothing profound" but he assumes you should be on general principle autopilot "staying in your lane" until something concrete causes you to "swerve."

"Note how White was not hamstrung by traditional ideas," Nunn comments at the end the first game, "when it was best to abandon the idea of castling, White did so without hesitation..." Creative rule-independence and careful calculation are the other half of understanding and playing modern chess that reliance on general principle "half-truths" ultimately depend on. If you think that all it means is "that there are exceptions to every rule" you really don't understand chess, move by move.

Rating:
Summary: tbr
Review: I am currently re-reading it, as all the other books i rewieved when it came to my attention my rewievs may have been inaccurate.
pls don`t vote on this and pls come back and read my upcoming rewiev.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book About Chess
Review: I have used this book extensively, and I haven't even gone over all of the games. I like it so much that is very worn.
Dr Nunn, is one of the best chess authors writing today. He has done a wonderful job on this book.

Let me tell you what I've gotten out of using this book, and why I like it so much. He explains the strategies behind most of the moves to reveal concepts the I as a C/B player would never consider. He explains the squares and how to look at the light and dark square strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the board. He explains prophylactic (meaning less moves are often prophylactic) moves when they are being made and explains why they are being played, what they defend and how theses same moves can be aggressive as well as defensive.

Since I have most of them in my database, I can play over the moves of the game, then replay the game to make my own notes, then read the analysis given by one of the strongest players in the world. Then I go over them again trying to annotate the games as well as GM Nunn. Afterwards, I go over the game very closely to myself for errors. This book is a great training and teaching tool.

How much have I advanced since I bought this book? All I know is that I see the game differently. I try to see how the game will evolve and how certain squares will lead one side or the other to a victory. This method makes it easier to see candidate moves, too. Since I have a better idea of what needs to be controlled or how I want the game to evolve, I can look at the pieces that will help me attain my goals for the game.

I think this is an excellent book, it is easy to read, it has ample diagrams, and it built to last.






Rating:
Summary: Great book about chess
Review: I have used this book extensively, and I haven't even gone over all of the games. I like it so much that is very worn.

Dr Nunn, is one of the best chess authors writing today. He has done a wonderful job on this book.

Let me tell you what I've gotten out of using this book, and why I like it so much. He explains the strategies behind most of the moves to reveal concepts the I as a C/B player would never consider. He explains the squares and how to look at the light and dark square strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the board. He explains prophylactic (meaning less moves are often prophylactic) moves when they are being made and explains why they are being played, what they defend and how theses same moves can be aggressive as well as defensive.

Since I have most of them in my database, I can play over the moves of the game, then replay the game to make my own notes, then read the analysis given by one of the strongest players in the world. Then I go over them again trying to annotate the games as well as GM Nunn. Afterwards, I go over the game very closely to myself for errors. This book is a great training and teaching tool.

How much have I advanced since I bought this book? All I know is that I see the game differently. I try to see how the game will evolve and how certain squares will lead one side or the other to a victory. This method makes it easier to see candidate moves, too. Since I have a better idea of what needs to be controlled or how I want the game to evolve, I can look at the pieces that will help me attain my goals for the game.

I think this is an excellent book, it is easy to read, it has ample diagrams, and it built to last.

Rating:
Summary: My personal BOOK OF THE YEAR
Review: I spent four days lost in this masterpiece. It belongs to the select group of classics that really capture the spirit and excitement of great chess games, whilst really explaining what is going on.
It helps that Nunn himself is a brilliant grandmaster, who understands that games can ebb and flow. So often the result only tells part of the story!
My favorite games from the book? Well game 20, Kasparov-Shirov, is amazing - that's the one where Kasparov makes a rook for knight sacrifice purely on positional grounds. In terms on pure instruction, maybe game 18, Piket v Smirin, where establishing a knight outpost on the sixth rank proves decisive. Or how about game 25, Karpov's magnificent exploitation of an IQP - Isolated Queen's Pawn - against Kamsky. You choose!
This book can be enjoyed by dipping in one game at a time, or you can become hooked like I did. Either way, it will improve your understanding of chess for sure.