Art of Attack in Chess

As you can quickly realize by reading the other reviews about this book, it is one of the best books ever written on attacking chess. Nevertheless, I disagree with the people that claims that this is the first instruction book you should get. I would recommend those players with a rating below 1600 to go through other more basic tactics books first. A good book for this is Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player by Alburt and Palatnik. Once you master the basic tactics the Art of Attack in Chess will put you through to the next level.You will also love this book if you are one of those players that was disappointed after trying to study Think Like a Grandmaster by Kotov and realized that it was way too complicated for you.Hope this helps!

I almost feel intimidated trying to review this chess book and not being that much of a player myself. Still for the many amateur players who play chess to have fun (not to reach ratings, etc.) here are some thoughts on why this is a good book to own. Most chess books that I own delve very quickly into positional analysis and the virtues of having your piece X on square Y. I understand that this is a vital part of modern chess and that most games on higher level are probably won by positional play. This book however, takes a different approach - it systematically explores the most fun concept of all - how to mate the king. One after another, the book develops outrageous strategies for preparing mating nets, sacrificing pieces, etc. and presents the reader with one amazing attack after another. I thought it was tons of fun after all the positional stuff. The analysis of classic games by Alekhine and Capablanca in the context of how to attack a castled king, uncastled king, focal points ofthe attack, piece sacrifices, etc. changed my play a lot.As a result of a series of books I have studied, my play was slowly becoming very boring to myself. I spent most of my time before the endgame trying to develop a particular position on the board and endlessly trying to calculate if the opponents moves are not leading to some attacking combination that would disrupt my nice positional setup. I probably won more games that way than I do now but it was boring. Now I boldly attack whenever I see an opportunity and although I loose more often I have played some games I am really proud of.I am no chessmaster and my interpretation of the approach of this book versus other books is probably not very educated. But still, this was a lot of fun for me. Try it.

Vukovic's work is not intended for the new player. A sound understanding of tactics and positional play is strongly recommended for the reader to be able to access the ideas he espouses. With that said, this book is the 'chess bible of attacking principles'! It will show you the key principles of attack, common and sophisticated patterns present in a successful attack, and it will enable you to develope and take advantage of these attacking positions in your own games. This is a book for serious studying, but the benefits that the average club player will receive from working through it are well worth the effort. No other book on attacking chess that I have read even comes close to being as good as this work. Nunn's conversion to algebaic notation is also a welcome relief as well. I suspect that this book is one of the 10 most instructive books on chess ever written!

This book is one of a kind! My positional play is strong, yet even though I know my pieces are stronger than my opponents I often cannot find a way to take advantage of it. This book opened my eyes to all the attacking themes found in chess. I just played one of my best games ever 2 days ago, and without this book the spectacular mating attack would have never happened. If you lack attacking skills in the middle game, this is the best book out there. Not for beginners, but great for intermediate players. One of the top 2 chess books I've read (out of MANY). The other being "Modern Chess Strategy" - another essential middle game book - based on the positional side of chess whereas this book is on the tactical side. They complement each other very well.

John Nunn did more than just edit an algebraic notation of the classic: he's gone over Vukovic's original annotation with original analysis that shows that even for grandmasters "chess can sometimes be hard." Vukovic's book is still there: he presents a comprehensive discussion of the art of attack, expounding the most basic principles and most complex forms of the attack on the castled king. Ch. 1 discusses "The Attack Against The Uncastled King." Ch. 2 "The Attack On The King That Has Lost The Right To Castle." Ch 3 "On Castling And Attacking The Castled Position In General." Ch. 4 "Mating Patterns." Ch.5 "Focal Points." Ch. 6 "The Classic Bishop Sacrifice" (with some interesting notes by Nunn. Ch.7 "Ranks, Files, And Diagonals In The Attack On The Castled King." Ch.8 "Pieces And Pawns In The Attack On The Castled King." Ch. 9 "The Attack On The Fianchettoed And Q Side Castling Positions" Ch.10 "Defending Against The Attack On The Castled King." Ch. 11 "The Phases Of The Attack On TheCastled King." Ch. 12 "The Attack On The King As An Integral Part Of The Game." Vukovic illustrates his themes by extensive comments on classic games played by Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, Lasker, etc. This is an easy book to read, a difficult one to master. Personally, I think careful study of a book like this will be worth much more than memorizing yet another opening.