Rating: 
Summary: This book is a magnificent learning tool
Review: This book is in effect a "chess problem" book. The book offers 131 "problems" and their solutions. These problems are actually really more like tests by which means you can test yourself. The solutions part of the book offers actual instruction. Therefore, when you fail to solve the problem or fail to come up with the best move, you'll know where (and why) you went wrong (in the assesment of the position and/or why the plan and corresponding move chosen by you is not the best in the given position). This way you will quickly discover what you're doing wrong. The solutions part of the book is very well written and very clear. It does not contain endless variations, but a lot of words, thus written text. Therefore the solutions to the tests make a lot of sense and even seem obvious. This book is a logical follow up to Mr Silman's excellent "How to reasses your chess", but is perfectly readable separate of the aforementioned book. This book will ask you to think a lot, just like you have to do during an actual game. That is the difference between this book and other instructional chess books where everything is laid out for you. This book assumes some positional understanding on the part of the reader, but in fairness also offers a crash course in the front of the book. The bottom line is that this book is a magnificent learning tool and can't help but improve your game. This book is fun, but also a lot of work. I like it.
Rating: 
Summary: For Beginners Who Want to Improve Their Tactics
Review: This book was excellent for amateurs looking to improve on their abilities to decide what the right move is for mostly the middle game. I found his opening and end game problems were more middle game, and that was one draw back. Otherwise, this is a great read as well as THE puzzle book for all ages.
Rating:
Summary: A New Breed of Superior Chessplayers
Review: This book will enhance a player's strength by 300 to 400 rating points if they are already around an average club strength of approx. 1500. The book has to be read and then re-read to reinforce the ideas. This book is based on a controlled method of thought regarding "imbalances" which results in a players ability to formulate effective strategical plans. What is great about this is, despite your current playing style, this book will only enhance or augment your strenghts. The book is better and easier to read through than Kotov's "Think Like a Grandmaster." I believe that IM Silman will produce a "New Breed" of players based on the methods described in this book- R.Field (USCF 1865) - I hope to reach a 2000 + rating by though mastery of the concepts contained in what I consider to be the best chess book I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars
Review: This work-book is great. Once you finish the main book, and have worked through it several times and feel you have mastered the material, get this book. The problems will bring you joy and frustration for many days, 131 problems in all. It is an excellent book to measure your understanding of the material in the main book. Get it!
Rating:
Summary: Workbook is Right!
Review: Why should you buy the Workbook if you've already read the earlier books? What's different about the Workbook is Silman's total emphasis on asking and answering lots of questions in detail that force the reader to actively participate. Silman presents a position and wants you to evaluate it, interrogate it, throw it against a wall and find out what's in its pockets before giving your plan and move. You will learn to create and use imbalances to devise plans and find moves in every stage of the game because the entire Workbook asks you to do nothing else. This isn't passive learning. It's more like, "Pop quiz, hot shot! Black has just played ...Nh5 and is going to win the two bishops. What do you do? What do you do?" You don't need to have read the earlier books since Silman gives a crash course on imbalances. If you've read them and felt you'd understood them (and yet didn't see any improvement as I had), this is another opportunity to get it right. Everyone has their own level of chess incompetence beyond which they will be unlikely to improve, and I may have already reached mine and you yours. But how can you be sure? "We can not know what is inevitable until we try good and hard to stop it." It's a fun read, too. (By the way, I actually worked through the entire book before I decided to "review" it. Maybe some of the other reviewers should've tried doing that.)
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