Judgment and Planning in Chess

The 5th World Champion, Dr. Max Euwe, is an underrated chessplayer; I think this is because he knocked off Alekhine during the latter's uncontrollable alcoholism. The chess legacy of this man lies, however, more in his textbooks than in his playing career. His prose is very clear, and to the point. I would even say that at many points he is refreshingly terse! JUDGMENT AND PLANNING IN CHESS is not difficult to comprehend (I didn't say "easy" because it WILL require some work, but not an inordinate amount), and because Euwe explains things that are missing in other, even great, middlegame texts. I have read many of the classics (Niemzowitsch, Pachman, Silman, Stean, etc.), but none of them, to my recollection, explicitly detail the power of a queenside majority (Ch. II), or "The Queen's side Attack" (Ch. III. Euwe's prose on Bogoljubow-Capablanca from New York, 1924 which begins the chapter is brilliant, in my opinion). Another topic that he devotes much (needed!) time to is "Knight vs. Bad Bishop" (Ch. IV). All experienced players have heard of this and have a concept of what a bad bishop is, but Dr. Euwe actually makes exploiting such an advantage understandable. In this chapter, the variations given are particularly valuable. Now, the book is invaluable simply for coverage of the above. The author does cover many of the "standard" topics of middlegame texts, including "Weakening the King's Side" (Ch. V) and of course "The Attack on the King's Field" (Ch. VI), but even here he has something worthwhile to add, especially in that he does not discuss the maneuvers of the attacking side in a vacuum (as many authors do) and thoroughly analyzes the example games as a BATTLE, and not as a one-sided MASSACRE. Implicit throughout "Weak Pawns" (Ch. VII) is the difficult motif of ALTERNATION (Euwe even calls it by name at a couple of turns). Provided herein are good examples of play against isolated and hanging pawns, the latter not receiving enough attention in the chess literature, in my opinion. "Strong Squares" (Ch. VIII) is also, it seems to me, unique. If you have surveyed Kmoch's PAWN POWER, this chapter will no doubt reinforce the power of sealer/sweeper maneuvers when available. In fact, Euwe talks about "sealing," both as a detriment to the defender, and how the attacker should avoid the sealing off of weaknesses! Very interesting! "Open Files" (Ch. IX) is much akin to Stean's "The Minority Attack" in SIMPLE CHESS, but is well-done for those who will encounter this for the first time, even if the title of this chapter should be "Half-open Files." Some general comments. There are plenty of diagrams, and Euwe certainly utilizes them in all the right places, making it possiible to gain much from this work on-the-go, because his "expository power," as the blurb calls it, is tremendous. Euwe also does not overburden us with variations: he includes them if they are important to understanding the main play, or if they help illustrate the subject o

Very informative book which is highly recommended by the great middle game teachers (Highly recommeded by Pachman).Although written in hte late 70s, the chapter on knight v Bishop was ahead of its time. All the examples are drawn from the games of famous GMs. So not aonly do you get the games looked at from the perspective of their classification, attack on king, Queen side majority, minority attack etc but the book also serves as a collection of famous games annoted by an ex world champion. What can the book do for you? Without a doubt:Great introduction to positional elements.Great intermediate text on the key peositional issues (You will go back time and again to this book)Great collection of games that are used by other teachers to illustrate other aspects, you will thus be familiar with many of the most instructive gamesFinally I would expect a gradual improvement of 100 Elo points in all players below 2000 Elo if you study & apply your new knowlege.The book is not too long so you can finish it lol.Please vote on my review page

This is a classic work of chess literature that deserves another five-star rating. If GAMBIT publications came out with this book today, with a big double-column format with a nice cover, it would be hailed as a classic. In other words, this McKay edition is not laid out in the best fashion, but it is a great book, that is ten times more useful than cranked out word processed streams of consciousness like The Road to Chess Improvement or the Seven Deadly Chess Sins. Those books are a different genre than this. This book was WRITTEN, with painstaking care, as were books by Reti, Pachman, Nimzowitsch and other greats. Because they were written out, they are more carefully done than the books today. Yes, the books today are backed up by computer analysis, but that does not make them more enjoyable to read. Read the classics of chess literature. You will see in fifty more years people will still be reading this book, whereas Yermolinsky, Rowson, will be forgotten....

This book is incredibly useful for the player who has understood opening principles; this book is one of those (very rare) which explain some middlegame's concepts very clearly. A must For a player who wants to go up to 1900 ELO.