Learn Chess from the Greats

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre, at best
Review: At first glance, this slim book held promise, and I sat down eagerly to read it. The writing, while somewhat juvenile, was still more... entertaing than the standard chess book fare. However, once I applied his so-called "tricks" to my own game, I realized how outdated they really were. For example, in the starting phase of my end game, I took his advice of 3. Nc3 e6 4. Nf3 Be7. Big mistake. I lost two moves afterwards. Pick this up if you're interested in cute anecdotes and charming plays. But otherwise, I suggest "Simple Chess," by Michael Stean, a much more enlightening read, to be sure.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre, at best
Review: At first glance, this slim book held promise, and I sat down eagerly to read it. The writing, while somewhat juvenile, was still more... entertaing than the standard chess book fare. However, once I applied his so-called "tricks" to my own game, I realized how outdated they really were. For example, in the starting phase of my end game, I took his advice of 3. Nc3 e6 4. Nf3 Be7. Big mistake. I lost two moves afterwards. Pick this up if you're interested in cute anecdotes and charming plays. But otherwise, I suggest "Simple Chess," by Michael Stean, a much more enlightening read, to be sure.

Rating:
Summary: Very Pleased!
Review: Quality book! Great use of some exciting games and the stories behind the games are very entertaining! The author really creates the mood for each game in such a way that the stategy sticks in your chess mind.

A Very good read and learning guide.

Looking forward to the next book!

Rating:
Summary: Very Impressive
Review: This book is outstanding. It goes through a variety of moves, not just openings. Also this book taught me how to get a checkmate with only two bishops left. Once I was in a tournament and I lost my rook and only had two bishops left. The other guy only had his king left. The judge told me I had to draw because you can not get a checkmate with two bishops. I refused and I proved him wrong. If I did not read this book I would have just settled for a draw. Thank you Pete for a very impressive book.

Rating:
Summary: Both Instructive and Entertaining
Review: This is a collection from the USCF's weekly syndicated chess column written by Peter J. Tamburro. Pete's mission was to resurrect some of the treasures of the past that had been lost due to the changeover to algebraic notation. Think about it...How many of you would buy a book published in the old descriptive notation? Probably not many of your hands shot up so Pete was really onto something. The positions and games that he highlighted in his column are true treasures and by converting them to algebraic notation he has made them more accessible to a new generation.

Some people might say that the games and positions can't be of value because they are so old, but that kind of comment just belies the person's ignorance of chess. I recently purchased Samuel Reshevsky's "The Art of Positional Play" and about five minutes afterwards a buddy stuck his nose up at it and said he preferred books with more recent games. I gave him the most disapproving look I could muster at such short notice and told him he should have his FIDE master's rating stripped for such a moronic comment. The point of Reshevsky's book is to increase your pattern recognition of positional themes and to learn how to handle them. The date the games were played has no bearing whatsoever on the relevance of the positions to modern play because the same themes appear in all chess games...and will continue to appear in all chess games. The same can be said about Pete's book: "Learn Chess from the Greats". As Pete points out in one of his columns: "The same positions you see in a model game may not occur again, but the ideas will."

Pete says his goal with the columns was to "instruct and entertain." He certainly succeeded. Pete's style of presentation is certainly entertaining and the positions and games are indeed instructional. He has chosen real gems to illustrate key ideas that all chess players need to grasp. And one of the beautiful things about Pete's book is that it is not written for any particular niche. All players, regardless of level, will find benefit within these pages. I recommend this book to all people who love chess.

Jon Parker

Rating:
Summary: Both Instructive and Entertaining
Review: This is a collection from the USCF's weekly syndicated chess column written by Peter J. Tamburro. Pete's mission was to resurrect some of the treasures of the past that had been lost due to the changeover to algebraic notation. Think about it...How many of you would buy a book published in the old descriptive notation? Probably not many of your hands shot up so Pete was really onto something. The positions and games that he highlighted in his column are true treasures and by converting them to algebraic notation he has made them more accessible to a new generation.

Some people might say that the games and positions can't be of value because they are so old, but that kind of comment just belies the person's ignorance of chess. I recently purchased Samuel Reshevsky's "The Art of Positional Play" and about five minutes afterwards a buddy stuck his nose up at it and said he preferred books with more recent games. I gave him the most disapproving look I could muster at such short notice and told him he should have his FIDE master's rating stripped for such a moronic comment. The point of Reshevsky's book is to increase your pattern recognition of positional themes and to learn how to handle them. The date the games were played has no bearing whatsoever on the relevance of the positions to modern play because the same themes appear in all chess games...and will continue to appear in all chess games. The same can be said about Pete's book: "Learn Chess from the Greats". As Pete points out in one of his columns: "The same positions you see in a model game may not occur again, but the ideas will."

Pete says his goal with the columns was to "instruct and entertain." He certainly succeeded. Pete's style of presentation is certainly entertaining and the positions and games are indeed instructional. He has chosen real gems to illustrate key ideas that all chess players need to grasp. And one of the beautiful things about Pete's book is that it is not written for any particular niche. All players, regardless of level, will find benefit within these pages. I recommend this book to all people who love chess.

Jon Parker

Rating:
Summary: great format
Review: Unlike other geeky chess books, this condensed book has a lot of meat to it. It allowed me to choose an article by the informative index (which was amusing,also).

I will keep this book by my side, or in my backpack, so I can continue my learning curve in an upward motion. A chapter at a time, even randomly, will allow me to completely digest each new idea before moving on to the next one.