The Search for Chess Perfection (Purdy Series)

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Summary: exellent help for better chess thinking
Review: AUTHOR (1906-79) was an international master,first correspondence world chess champion ,many times australian national chess champion and editor/writer in chess magazines(mostly australian chess magazines).this book of about 300 pages has three parts .his detailed biography (about 25 pages),his excellent chess articles(about 39 in number consisting of 184 pages)and annotation or commentry to his 50 games(about 83 pages).main strength of this book is his excellently written chess articles.in my humble opinion there are few chess teachers/authors of his strength.this book is not for beginners but for intermediate strength chess players (uscf rating 1300 and above )with at least a couple years of chess playind experience

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: CJS Purdy is a chess student's best friend! He is a teacher who understands his students, and brings them along, gently, yet with some push, to a greater understanding of the game. This book should be in every player's library. Thinker's Press is to be commended for their reprints of Purdy's works (just about anything Thinker's Press puts out is worth purchasing!), and I hope that more of this great writer's material will be gathered, updated, and set in AN (with lots of diagrams!) for Purdy fans everywhere! Purdy, along with Silman, Chris Ward, and a few others, seem to really understand their intended audiences.

Rating:
Summary: exellent help for better chess thinking
Review: If this book were Juliet, I'd be it's Romeo. There aren't enough superlatives I could lavish on Purdy's writing. There were so many "AHA!" moments when reading that my wife thought I was having an epileptic fit! Purdy's prose is superior yet completely comprehensible. The reader immediately sees his point. Beg, borrow or steal this book, it IS that good. The only negative (and it is a very small one) is the publisher's annoying advertisements spread throughout the book.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining And Enlightening
Review: This is a great change of pace from the usual chess book in that we get not only chess insight, tips on self-improvement but also interesting prose writing. I don't think there isn't anything in a tutorial sense that you couldn't find elsewhere but if you're also interested in fine chess writing, anecdotes and ruminations on analytical chess thinking, psychology of move selections, etc., you'll get that too. This book reminds me of Chernev's style of writing somehow, mostly because I get the feeling that the author enjoyed the game as a game, not as some test of intelligence or grim problem to be solved. If you've read Chernev's "The Sixty Most Instructive Games Of Chess" or his "Logical Chess Move By Move," or "The Golden Dozen," then you'll know what I mean.

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Summary: This is really different!
Review: This is for me the first book on chess I have encountered that really puts first things first and explains a systematic method for thinking about any chess position. Even though the author makes very interesting remarks about strategical points he never forgets to remind you about the tactical problems on the board and a systematic way of taking care of these. For me definetely the most helpful book on chess that I ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not essential
Review: This rather well organized book is divided into three parts- a thirty page biography of the author, a selection of 40 articles first printed in Australian magazines spanning 1930-1970, and a selection of 50 of the author's games. Both the articles and the game section are in chronological order, which is very impressive. As someone who is perplexed at how to find enough time to study the chess books that I already own, I have to wonder how essential another book could possibly be to me. The author Purdy was an Australian master and world correspondence champion during the 1950's. Another interesting but much smaller book is How to Play Better Chess by Hartston, which contains 75 mini-lessons and is a great little inexpensive book.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not essential
Review: This rather well organized book is divided into three parts- a thirty page biography of the author, a selection of 40 articles first printed in Australian magazines spanning 1930-1970, and a selection of 50 of the author's games. Both the articles and the game section are in chronological order, which is very impressive. As someone who is perplexed at how to find enough time to study the chess books that I already own, I have to wonder how essential another book could possibly be to me. The author Purdy was an Australian master and world correspondence champion during the 1950's. Another interesting but much smaller book is How to Play Better Chess by Hartston, which contains 75 mini-lessons and is a great little inexpensive book.