Rating: 
Summary: Explains everything in Chess by Science. Most profound chess
Review: This is the most profound chess book ever written. It has been helpful to my chess in more than 1 ways. I have been playing chess for 3 years professionally, and i knew all the rules of chess but after reading this book, i realized all the mistakes and misconceptions i use to have. I was reading through the index and said i know what an open file is. I know how important the 7th rank is. But after i read this book, i realized that i only knew the first paragraph of each of these topics. It went indepth and i finally realized that i was completely lost and now, i have a solid rating of 1700 without memorizing any openings. Only following the rules of chess, i'm able to counterplay and restrict my opponent.
Rating: 
Summary: Covers a broad range of topics at a fairly easy level
Review: I must admit I only got through half of this book before I had to return it to a friend, and I have not yet purchased my own copy. However, what I did read was an immense help to me.If you are _really_ serious about chess, the criticisms of this book as being outdated and other flaws are probably accurate. If, like me, you enjoy playing chess but have never really had any chess education, this is a quick way to get up to speed on basic strategic principles (e.g. 7th row, open files, passed pawns, etc.) If you already know the significance of the 7th row, if you already know what overprotection is, then you'll probably find this book outdated and mediocre. If, on the other hand, you are more or less clueless about chess strategy, this book is your ticket to a quick, easy, and significant improvement on your entire game, from opening to checkmate.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor grammer/usage
Review: I played chess in Germany during the late Eighties and recently returned. This was supposed to be the best book on chess ever written. As far as the chess material is concerned it is first class information. If you can figure out what Mr Nimzowitch is talking about, the principles he recommends will be very usefull. However, I cannot recommend this book because the grammer and English usage are horrible. Mr. Nimzowitch's writes in a style that is indicative of a person who is trying to sound smart. He uses too many big words too close together. When I read this book I found long sentence fragments, too many consecutive adjectives and nouns etc. The chess material is useful, but for me it takes too much concentration to extract meaning from the condesendingly written text. My two stars are for content and effort. I cannot even finish this book. Please refer to Jeremy Silman's Books for superior content.
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Summary: Groundbreaking!
Review: All I can say is WOW! This book took me awhile to finish simply because of the quantity of information presented. I needed time to degest it and understand before moving on with the next chapter. Once I finished I couldn't wait to go out and play anyone I could and try out my new understanding of positional play! Now armed with the information presented by Nimzowitsch I'm playing with a plan the entire game and several quality wins have proven that I'm a much more effective player after reading it then before. If you want to study chess seriously, at some point you MUST read My System. It's just as imporant today as it was when it was published. Regarded as one of the best chess books ever created, and for good reason.
Rating:
Summary: A good book for players
Review: Ok,
This is a text-book of chess.
All players should have it.
Now the contents:
They are very important topics about chess here.Well,the most interesting skill I ever learn is 'frontal attack'.
Whenever,you read the book,you will learn a new thing.
Ok,
If you think Yasser[The editor] will be in his usual style[if you ever read his books],no he isn't.
He re-write what the great Nimzowitsch wrote few years ago.
The texts will be more like your biology books.
But,that's not bad.Instead,it will teach you that to be good,hardwork is the cure.[in all field too]
Now,
Buy the book.It will be very useful for you. I will give 5 stars for this book but an excellent book means easy too.[sorry,these days,all looking for easy ways]
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Book But Not The Only One
Review: (coppied and pasted review)
Victor, a F.I.D.E candidate master., August 27, 2001: This book is required reading for anyone who is serious about chess. It's a 'must read' book. But it's not the only one. For those of you who are U.S.C.F. members this book is for class D and below rated players. However, if you are a higher rated player (including IGMs) and have never studied this book then you should. For those of you who aren't U.S.C.F. rated players, this book may help but if you don't know some basics most of what's in this book won't mean a thing to you. Before studying this book you should know all the basic checkmates (including K + N + B versus K; see Basic Chess Endings by Ruben Fine ... all the rules should be second nature to you (as in how to move and capture with all the pieces, castling, capturing En Passant, and pawn promotion; see Comprehensive Chess Course by Roman Pelts and Lev Albert, also at B & N)and you should already know some basic tatics. See books by Fred Reinfeld, Bruce Pandolfini, and Irving Chernev all on B& N. If you're really serious also see all books by John Nunn. Once you know all this then you're ready for My System. After My System continue with Chess Praxis and The Blockade also by Aron Nimzowitch. Then study Emanual Lasker's Manual of Chess. While you're doing all this you should also be studying those puzzle books by Reinfeld, Pandolfini, and Chernev. Look for increasingly difficult puzzle books. You should also be studying one or more books on TACTICS! I can't emphasize this part enough. The Art of The Checkmate by Renald and Kahn, The Art of Chess Combination, are but two of many books on TACTICS you'll find on B & N. If you're really into serious ches you can follow Lasker's Manual of Chess with The Game Of Chess by Sigbert Tarrasch. Once you've got all this to the point that it's second nature you're ready for Jeramy Silman's books. Again, you can find them all on B & N. You need an opening repertoire so look at And Opening Repertoire For The Attacking Player and An Opening Repertoire For The Positional player. Do all this and your chess skills will increase enough to make you fairly difficult to defeat. For those of you who have a U.S.C.F. rating it'll increase your rating by as much as 400 points. That's two rating classes. Enough said! Also recommended: Chess Praxis, The Blockade, Lasker's Manual of Chess, The Game of Chess, Basic Chess Endings, An Opening Repertoire For The Attacking Player and Positional Player.
Rating:
Summary: A Classical.
Review: A fondamental book to understand the basics of strategie.
The only disturbing element to me is the old war-like language that gets on my nerves. A must.
Rating:
Summary: rebuttle to "It'll warp your development..." and review.
Review: I'd like to start by saying that the last negative review on 'My System' does not actually say anything in depth about the contents of the book. Also, the reviewer's anecdote about a "handful of grandmasters who never read My System" is exactly what he admitted it to be, an anecdote. It is important to realize that the anecdote, or the "handful of grandmasters", are just that, a small, non-random sample of the whole community of grandmasters. An anecdote will not be able to give you an accurate view of a community of anything and should not be used to argue the point. I find it amazing that the title of this person's review is "It'll warp your development--a stylistically inferior way up". I myself have just completed reading the 1st half of My System, which was recommended to me by my chess coach who is also a grandmaster. My System was also recently recommended by Grandmaster Mark Taimanov, who said, "...the books of Nimzovich were those which made the deepest impression on me", in an interview on www.chessbase.com. I would also like to include that the introduction to the 21st century edition was written by Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan, the same one who is currently #7 on the USCF rating list and also #60 in the world. He is also the same one who wrote and leaded the recent proposal 'A Fresh Start' to unite the chess world championships that for 10 years have been divided. I would also like to rebuttle this statement. "Today's GMs would never overprotect the way Nimzowitsch advocated". Has this reviewer happened to do interview an actual random sample of GMs to find out if they would use the idea of overprotection? Or maybe he has just studied countless grandmaster games from a random sample of them? Or even studied games from the top players? I'd like to know where the reviewer got his info. Enough rebuttling. If the reader of this review does his/her own research about My System, s/he will be able to come to their own conclusions as to whether grandmasters and other strong players find it useful. However, in order to add my own review of the book as a point of reference, I am finding that Nimzovitsch's ideas about chess are very useful to think over, if you're willing to take the time to read the book analytically, and study the games in depth. There can be no harm in your development by looking at grandmaster games and trying to understand ideas. In fact, it is great practice mixed in with studying important ideas about strategy. I have read many other chess books, some terrible, some decent, some good. The ideas in My System 21st century edition have been the clearest I have ever read about chess. The method of explaining every idea and the necessary subpoints to each idea is very thorough and to the point. A lot of chess books have trouble in the explanations, some can be complicated with variations or lacking in explanation so it is difficult for the average player, while some are questionable in their ideas. It is a rare book that has such clarity, strength of ideas, thoroughness in explaining why. My System by Nimzowitsch can be used as a model for playing the game as well as a model for writing one's own instruction books. It also doesn't hurt that there are 50 games Nimzovitsch annotated at the end of the book, which I consider worth the price alone. These games are used to illustrate important ideas in the book or can be studied alone. I wish this book was Recommended to me 2 years ago.
Rating:
Summary: It'll warp your development--a stylistically inferior way up
Review: I realize that this is the top selling chess book at amazon.com, so I felt that it was important to lend some objectivity to the matter of your chess development. I know of a handful of grandmasters who never read My System--Timman and Spraggett come to mind (at least not before having become Grandmasters, and Spraggett seriously claimed that after reading it, his performance went markedly down!). As to the claim that one's strength increased after reading the book, there is obviously the issue as to the absence of controls. You could probably gain in playing strength reading any number of books. Moreover, even if this book gave you the most increase in strength (and even if it were verifiable that indeed, a large number of players increased by more points with this book than others) one still has to address the issue as to whether the intrinsic lessons are reflective of what is necessary objectively on the board. Today's GMs would never overprotect the way Nimzowitsch advocated--though many might assert that it was worthwhile knowing of the old ways. I don't think my review alone will sway many of you, but I hope at least you are able to make a more balanced choice. This book certainly has a lasting historical value, I do believe that in 100 years, fewer players will use this book as their bible. Do a search of the best selling chess books at amazon.com as a partial aid... of the top 20 books (and I am cognizant of the fact that most shoppers are beginners) only this book and Alekhine's Best games selection seem misplaced (too high for their intrinsic worth, perhaps correctly placed for the enjoyment they provide). The above GM anecdotes are true. This book is a 2.5 rounded down to 2 solely to counteract the large crop of unknowing fives.
Rating:
Summary: essential
Review: great book!
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