Soviet Chess Primer (Chess Classics)

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It has inspired generations of Russians to take up the game, including arguably the two greatest players of all time, the 12th and 13th World Champions. Yes, Black is in zugzwang, but surely there are much clearer and Elo-appropriate ways to illustrate the point than this?

For example, simple tactics like pins and forks are easy enough for even absolute beginners to understand.There are certainly better primers in print today, but few books are more interesting than is The Soviet Chess Primer.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Well illustrated and explained games to showcase the essential principles (tactics, strategy, combinations, positional play) to apply to every chess game. Closer scrutiny of The Soviet Chess Primer, however, leads me to question the title chosen by Quality Chess for this new translation. Maizelis includes outrageously difficult mate problems in the ‘fun’ section of chapter one, and his account of the theory of corresponding squares (152) belongs in an endgame tome and not here.Another neat feature is that new concepts are in many cases are introduced and the author then cites the diagram numbers from previous sections to point out that the new concepts exists in *those* positions as well. This new edition of a timeless classic includes the original foreword from the 2nd World Champion, Emanuel Lasker, as well as an introduction from the most celebrated chess trainer of modern times, Mark Dvoretsky. Each chapter concludes with a whimsical set of “Entertainment Pages,” where miniatures and ‘fun exercises’ appear, and some of the original drawings are brought over from the Russian. Logical Chess' writing seems a bit puerile, and I can flip through pages pretty easily, whereas I like the density of the Soviet Primer. The breakneck pace of the book and the complex examples preclude me from thinking it appropriate for the beginner.

If you are absolutely new to chess or under 1300 rating this may be a little advanced for you in which case I would recommend one of these three classic primers first: Siegbert Tarrasch's 'Game of Chess', Capablanca's 'Chess Fundamentals' or Lasker's 'Manual of Chess'. After Chapter One, “The Game Explained,” readers are taught the “Aim of the Game” (ch 2) and “Tactics and Strategy” (ch 3). Far be it from me to want anything to do with the Soviet Union, but even I have to admit, this is one of the finest tools to quickly advance your chess game if you're an advanced beginner or intermediate player.You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Ultimately, I'd recommend this for the serious beginner or early-intermediate chess player looking to deepen his or her knowledge of the game. Following some of the sidelines might be a bit much if you’re really just starting out, but apart from that it’s very approachable and covers a lot of fundamental ideas. The Soviet Chess Primer is a modern English translation of Maizelis's witty introduction to the royal game. All about the game of chess, including discussions on professional tournaments, game analysis and theory.

Though this book does begin with the basic rules of chess--and even teaches the reader how to read the book because it takes the time to explain algebraic chess notation right at the start--it quickly moves on to more advanced tactical and strategic ideas.Chess is largely a matter of pattern recognition, and this book will help you start to recognize the patterns. However, where this book shines is that it provides enough examples (of increasing complexity) that reading the book will help the reader begin to recognize when those tactics might become relevant. I purchased it in 2015 while participating on a fide tournament and since then , I have been reading through (playing and solving should I say) this book and it is pure gold for anyone wishing to learn and master the game.