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Product Description
Product Description
There are plenty of chess books that cover openings, but not so many that tell you what to do next. Every player has encountered problems once the opening phase of the game has ended, and this book provides solutions. Renowned chess author Neil McDonald guides you through a selection of over 40 recent instructive and entertaining Grandmaster games, all of which illustrate how sound planning and a clear head can help you through that crucial post-opening phase.
About the Author
Neil McDonald is an International Grandmaster and a prolific chess author and trainer. Previous Batsford titles include The Art of Planning in Chess (071349025X), Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking (0713488948), The Sicilian Bb5 Revealed (0713489804) and The Benko Gambit Revealed (0713488689). He lives in Gravesend, Kent
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7 reviews
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Third one in an excellent trilogy...
2 April 2008
Format:Paperback
This new book by Neil McDonald is another nice Collection of Modern Chessgames in line with his two highly acclaimed previous books "Chess:The Art of Logical Thinking" and "The Art of Planning in Chess".
Everybody familiar with these previous books knows that McDonalds' style is easy-to-read. He doesn't give too many variations but he rather provides the reader with the plans that were followed by the players during the game, which is highly instructive, IMO especially for players with a USCF rating ~ 1500-2000.
The games he selects are the latest Top-Grandmaster games featuring Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Ivanchuk, Svidler, Kamsky, Shirov, Carlsen ... but now-and-then interspersed with some instructive games by the "classics" ranging from Smyslov and Botvinnik to Karpov and Kasparov.
What is new about this book compared with the two previous ones? - Well, it can be considered the third book in a "Trilogy" as the first book "Chess:The Art of Logical Thinking" presented games arranged by openings and giving full annotations from the first to the last move, while in the second book "The Art of Planning in Chess" McDonald arranged the games along topics (like the Bishop/Knight difference...) and no longer annotated the first opening moves.
In his new book now he takes the reader even further and arranges the games along certain arising PAWN FORMATIONS like The Open Center without Pawns, The Closed Center, One open File in the Center, Wedge-Pawn Formations in the Center, The Isolated Queens-Pawn, Indian-Type Pawn Structures, and the Hedgehog-Structure.
McDonald presents the games in full but focusses his annotations on the phase of the game that arises after the first 8-12 opening moves, exactly when the players decide upon their respective plans. (That is exactly what the title of the book is about)
Reading this book is highly entertaining and also highly instructive.
The physical quality of the book is very good, exactly like the book "The Art of Planning in Chess".
Whoever liked his first two books will also love this one.
Everybody familiar with these previous books knows that McDonalds' style is easy-to-read. He doesn't give too many variations but he rather provides the reader with the plans that were followed by the players during the game, which is highly instructive, IMO especially for players with a USCF rating ~ 1500-2000.
The games he selects are the latest Top-Grandmaster games featuring Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Ivanchuk, Svidler, Kamsky, Shirov, Carlsen ... but now-and-then interspersed with some instructive games by the "classics" ranging from Smyslov and Botvinnik to Karpov and Kasparov.
What is new about this book compared with the two previous ones? - Well, it can be considered the third book in a "Trilogy" as the first book "Chess:The Art of Logical Thinking" presented games arranged by openings and giving full annotations from the first to the last move, while in the second book "The Art of Planning in Chess" McDonald arranged the games along topics (like the Bishop/Knight difference...) and no longer annotated the first opening moves.
In his new book now he takes the reader even further and arranges the games along certain arising PAWN FORMATIONS like The Open Center without Pawns, The Closed Center, One open File in the Center, Wedge-Pawn Formations in the Center, The Isolated Queens-Pawn, Indian-Type Pawn Structures, and the Hedgehog-Structure.
McDonald presents the games in full but focusses his annotations on the phase of the game that arises after the first 8-12 opening moves, exactly when the players decide upon their respective plans. (That is exactly what the title of the book is about)
Reading this book is highly entertaining and also highly instructive.
The physical quality of the book is very good, exactly like the book "The Art of Planning in Chess".
Whoever liked his first two books will also love this one.
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Another gem from McDonald
10 April 2008
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have read the review on chesscafe on this book. The reviewer there blasted this book: simply (and kindly put) he must be mad, or be an angry fellow or whatever makes the human mind blindly hate. I have gone through the games of the book, the concepts, the prose. I am no master or anyhting but I loved it all. How can anybody not love clear explanations, extensive commentary, teaching how to -really- move into and through the middlegame? How many books are out there pretending to do this? Thousands. This and other Mc Donald books are incredible: the best I have ever read, the only ones -with Silman endgame manual -that stay on my night-table. Just open the book and if you are trying to understand what the grandmasters are thinking and why, well this is a book for you. I hope the author lives long enough to keep writing like this for many many more decades.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Club Player Book
10 April 2008
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Chess Success: planning after the opening" by Neil McDonald (published by Batsford Chess), is an outstanding book. I think the real target audience for this book is the USCF 1200-1800 player who's working on their middle game planning, and this book is great at lucidly explaining what's happening on the chess board.
This book combines over 40 quality games,including many of the current giants, with very valuable and lucid strategical analysis of the pawn structures.
I've read or looked at many of the new chess books on the market, and the only recommendation I can give to improve this book is to put a W or B (according to who's move it is) next to the diagrams to allow the reader to glance at a position and solve it instead of going up into the text. But just by saying this, I feel a little guilty, because honestly this by no way takes away from my love of this book.
The diagrams and text are clear, the cover design is nice, but not exceptional, the binding and page thickness are very good. It's 267 pages, split into 8 chapters, has both a game and opening index, and most of all, if you're a motivated chess enthusiast, this book won't spend much time on your shelf before its read.
This book combines over 40 quality games,including many of the current giants, with very valuable and lucid strategical analysis of the pawn structures.
I've read or looked at many of the new chess books on the market, and the only recommendation I can give to improve this book is to put a W or B (according to who's move it is) next to the diagrams to allow the reader to glance at a position and solve it instead of going up into the text. But just by saying this, I feel a little guilty, because honestly this by no way takes away from my love of this book.
The diagrams and text are clear, the cover design is nice, but not exceptional, the binding and page thickness are very good. It's 267 pages, split into 8 chapters, has both a game and opening index, and most of all, if you're a motivated chess enthusiast, this book won't spend much time on your shelf before its read.
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