The Art of Attack in Chess (Paperback)

The situations explained are comprehensive, which ranged from the attack on the uncastled king, the king which had lost its right to castle, the queenside/kingside castled position and the fianchetto position.

It explains in great detail the nature of the castled position, thoroughly analyzing all three squares in front of the castled king. Using many illustrative examples to show how weakness on each of those squares should be exploited, where the attacker should focus on and how mate can be delivered in the most effective manner, placing emphasis on the 'focal points' of mating. (i.e. h7,g7, and f7 as secondary focal point. corresponding squares for white)

There are also chapters dealing with the specific methods of conducting an attack, one chapter is devoted to explaining how each minor and major piece should be used in order to conduct a successful attack. And how to conduct an attack using files ranks and diagonals.

A whole chapter is devoted to the 'Greek Gift', and 'Anti-fianchetto sacrifice'. The reader will learn various principles and tactics on when to attack with piece or with pawns.

The most important aspect of this book is the 'general preconditions of attack' which the authors gives throughout the whole book. It explains what elements are necessary before certain types of attack can be initiated in terms of general principles, backed up by illustrative examples.

The author gives the reader a 'spatial awareness' in conducting an attack. This gives the player a more lateral awareness of the whole 'geography' of the board, and will greatly improve the efficiency of calculation, tactics will be found a lot easier as the player will know what elements to look at. No matter how good your calculation and tactical skills are, they are fundamentally based on 'ideas' and clues from the board, this book greatly enhances that awareness of weaknesses.

I personally think without understanding the underlying 'elements', i.e. the strength and weaknesses, of the object of attack, many attacks will lose momentum after two to three moves. I'm sure many players have experienced this situation before. This book can help players in realizing a strategically good position into a concrete win.

The language used in the book is clear and concise. The selections of games are all of the highest quality. Good analysis (the editor have also provided many extra analysis and comments). There is a sufficient amount of diagrams and the layout is easy to read. One can see the serious amount of effort that goes into this book. A very good read for a novice to intermediate player who would like to sharpen up their attacking skills.

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!