WEAPONS OF CHESS: AN OMNIBUS OF CHESS STRATEGIES

Rating:
Summary: Excellent intro to chess strategy
Review: Way to go, Bruce! I am a class C-ish player who picked up the game again after 20 years hiatus (kids wanted to learn, so I decided to brush up so I could teach them). Unfortunately, I realized I was nothing more than a woodpusher and knew little or nothing about basic chess strategy. After working through the first 2 Lev Alburt books (excellent by the way), I found that further strategy books were over my head, or tried to teach above my level (Reassess Your Chess by Silman was a little over my head at first); other books offered to many games as examples without enough info on WHY the moves were being played. Then, someone recommended Pandolfini's Weapons of Chess to me. I must say that this book answered a lot of simple questions I had about pawn structure, weak squares/strong squares, and general strategy that other books ASSUMED I already knew. Obviously it isn't a book for the Expert, but for me it fit the bill perfectly. I am not sure why some chess authors knock Pandolfini and his books; for those who need to know the basics, this is the one to get.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent intro to chess strategy
Review: Way to go, Bruce! I am a class C-ish player who picked up the game again after 20 years hiatus (kids wanted to learn, so I decided to brush up so I could teach them). Unfortunately, I realized I was nothing more than a woodpusher and knew little or nothing about basic chess strategy. After working through the first 2 Lev Alburt books (excellent by the way), I found that further strategy books were over my head, or tried to teach above my level (Reassess Your Chess by Silman was a little over my head at first); other books offered to many games as examples without enough info on WHY the moves were being played. Then, someone recommended Pandolfini's Weapons of Chess to me. I must say that this book answered a lot of simple questions I had about pawn structure, weak squares/strong squares, and general strategy that other books ASSUMED I already knew. Obviously it isn't a book for the Expert, but for me it fit the bill perfectly. I am not sure why some chess authors knock Pandolfini and his books; for those who need to know the basics, this is the one to get.