Weapons of Chess: An Omnibus of Chess Strategies

One of the first chess books I ever read, after a few months of youtube videos and playing online. If you're looking for something simple that can be read without a board even by inexperienced players this is one you should check out.

Weapons of Chess: An Omnibus of Chess Strategies (Fireside Chess Library) I'm sure I've read and studied enough superb, 5 star, last word, entire truth, highly recommended chess dissertations to rival anyone. I should be a Grandmaster with a 6000 rating. But I'm not; I'm just a little pawn. I play to enjoy the game and I study to further understand the depth, nuance and subtlety in the game. Pandolfini coached Josh Waitzkin, as we all know, and the accomplishments of the kid!; the Movie, Fred's book, ChessmasterXI tutorials, etc., had me revisit Pandolfini's writings (a few years ago, as an aged adult, when I really got serious about chess, I had tried several of Bruce's books, but of course I considered them baby introductory pamphlets and couldn't wait to get my hands on the well-known, best selling authors with whom we are all so familiar. The prominent writers know their stuff and they do a great job of imparting their insights. The problem for me, though, and I'm guessing others may share in this defect, is the span between early fundamentals and advanced technique. I think I tried to get into the party without a tie, without properly finishing my homework on very fundamental principles, the "Oh, I know all that stuff" assumption). Weapons of Chess, and others that Pandolfini has written, provide a clear, concise and accurate basic foundation. I especially like his explanations of pawn behavior, even though I was fully aware of their properties. Exchanging is very good and Weakness is very helpful. I will spare you adjectives for the other topics; as you can guess, all positive. He opens the lid of insight a little more. He is not arrogant and he never speaks over my head. This book will not change you into a Grandmaster, it is not like kissing a frog. It will provide you with simple ideas that can guide you to play a little better, one game at a time. I recommend this book as a starting stone, easy reach of endgames and simple tactic studies, by which play improves with practice.

There are one zillion books on chess. This is one of those. It is written in a style that is easy to follow. It uses the new algebraic grid method for identifying positions on the board. That immediately makes it better than all those that use the old method. The narrative descriptions are well written and hold one's interest. No book on chess is exhaustive, he points out, but this book does cover strategy well for the adult beginner at least. If you read and understand it you will be well ahead of a beginner. I recommend it if you are interested in chess at all. The diagams are well done and frequent. The analysis of various moves is easy to follow and insightful. It would stand alone if it is the only chess book you read and it would be well worth having in you chess library if you have several chess books. Bruce Pandolfini does a much better than average job of offering the elements and the generalizations of good chess strategy. Well organized. Adequate Glossary and index.

Weapons of Chess is great steping stone for more complicated chess books. This book touches on strategic delimas you will need to know to inhance your study of chess. You will learn many things like backward pawns, isolated pawns, pawn centers, and much more. Once you read this book you can go over Master games and start to understand the motives behind the moves becuase of the knowledge you will recieve.

Way to go, Bruce! I am a class C-ish player who picked up the game again after 20 years hiatus (kids wanted to learn, so I decided to brush up so I could teach them). Unfortunately, I realized I was nothing more than a woodpusher and knew little or nothing about basic chess strategy. After working through the first 2 Lev Alburt books (excellent by the way), I found that further strategy books were over my head, or tried to teach above my level (Reassess Your Chess by Silman was a little over my head at first); other books offered to many games as examples without enough info on WHY the moves were being played. Then, someone recommended Pandolfini's Weapons of Chess to me. I must say that this book answered a lot of simple questions I had about pawn structure, weak squares/strong squares, and general strategy that other books ASSUMED I already knew. Obviously it isn't a book for the Expert, but for me it fit the bill perfectly. I am not sure why some chess authors knock Pandolfini and his books; for those who need to know the basics, this is the one to get.