Just the Facts!: A Chess Information & Research Center Book

I've been playing for about 10 years now, but after my studies no longer at a club (just occasionally for about 5 years). A year ago I picked up club-chess again. And I wanted to climb the elo-ladder as quickly as possible. So the question was how to make forward progress??? (rating 1483 elo at the time). The answer was pretty simple: I lacked some basic skills and the few books I bought so far (in a very distant past) were completely useless (eg. Batsford chess openings)! It was clear that I had to learn to understand chess, in stead of merely calculating moves. "Just the facts" was the first book of Alburt I purchased. It's concise and to the point: it clearly states what is and what is not important. For a married working man with little time, a nice bonus. Some critics say that the analysis is sometimes incorrect. Personally, I don't care! The book explains how to treat a certain type of endgame (and therein Alburt is not wrong); so what if Fritz or whatever program doesn't agree with a certain move. Let's face it : all our games are incorrect at some point, and will be for a long time. I didn't like the ads in the (back of the) book. These books are also quite expensive if you compare with the series of Seirawan for instance. A final drawback is that is not so much fun to read like Silman, Nunn or other chess writers (who really write a story as well). But overall speaking: great book! great series! Clear cut advice for players who don't want to lose (on) time. To give you an idea, i read the whole series by now and I'm beating players of +1800 elo at my club. Filip Hellemans.

As a sub 1200 player, I have always found the endgame a mystery. This book lays out the basic principles in a manner that is easy to remember--an obvious key to putting the them to work on the board. I would highly recommend it to those who have found endgame books in general difficult to follow, and hey let's face it, boring. Alburt's book is actually fun to read. I'm finding that I remember the material and have put it to good use in club and tournament play--where it counts!

'Just the Facts' is unique for a chess book- it's not only informative, but it's fun to read. The format reminds me of the 'Idiots' series of books-it provides a number of facts, but the humor keeps the book 'light' and easy to read. The many diagrams also help the readability of the book, and I also enjoyed the sidebar biographies included in the book.Increase your endgame knowledge and enjoyment by getting this book!

'Just the Facts' is unique for a chess book- it's not only informative, but it's fun to read. The format reminds me of the 'Idiots' series of books-it provides a number of facts, but the humor keeps the book 'light' and easy to read. The many diagrams of the positions were extremely sharp, and I also enjoyed the sidebar biographies that were included.Increase your endgame knowledge and enjoyment by getting this book!