--- product_id: 5462790 title: "What It Takes to Become a Chess Master (Batsford Chess)" price: "132.29 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/5462790-what-it-takes-to-become-a-chess-master-batsford-chess store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # What It Takes to Become a Chess Master (Batsford Chess) **Price:** 132.29 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** What It Takes to Become a Chess Master (Batsford Chess) - **How much does it cost?** 132.29 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/5462790-what-it-takes-to-become-a-chess-master-batsford-chess) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Chess players sometimes wonder if they have what it takes to become a chess master. International Grandmaster Andrew Soltis answers their questions: How much talent does it take, what do you need to know, how much do you have to practice, which tournaments do you enter, and who do you have to beat? He offers detailed advice, practical exercises, and test games to make any player more competitive and help rising stars join the elite ranks of chess. Review: REAL, MEANINGFUL CHESS IMPROVEMENT!! - GM Andy Soltis states, in the introduction to his wonderful book, an astonishing fact: less than 2% of chess players who take chess seriously ever reach master strength. (For US chess players, using the Elo rating system, a master rating is 2200 or higher.) Read the statistic again, it's not less than 2% of people who play chess, it's less than 2% of people who play chess seriously! Our chess experience is common--we engage in an endless cycle of study and tournament play. Yet, year after year we see no real improvement in our rating nor our chess skill. Soltis' book sets out to discover what seperates chess masters from the rest of us. What is missing from our chess experience that keeps us from improving to master strength? Based on my reading of the chess literature, I believed the answer to be chess masters are better in four areas: 1) tactical vision, 2) positional judgment, 3) calculating variations, and 4) endgame technique. (The first three are covered in detail, including training methods, in Kotov's book, Play Like a Grandmaster.) Add a few psychological factors such as will-to-win, concentration, and awareness, and you have a complete chess player. Apparently I was wrong. Soltis addresses these skills and states that while they are needed, they aren't enough. Soltis lists 9 skills, one per chapter, he believes seperates chess masters from other players. Some of the skills I had heard of, some I had heard of but didn't believe, and some of the skills were new to me. Based on my years of teaching experience and study of how expertise in a discipline is achieved, I believe Soltis' list is groundbreaking in chess literature. (I'm a complete skeptic on most everything, but I have to wonder if there has been some sort of chess conspiracy to keep this knowledge from the us ordinary players!) An example of a skill that Soltis examines is: What Matters Most. In any chess position there can be a confusing variety of tactical and positional elements to consider. In addition, general chess principles are often contradictory. This makes selecting the right move/plan difficult. Chess masters have the ability to focus on the one or two relevant elements of any position and exploit those elements. They see through the "noise" of a position to get at what is most important, what the position is calling them to do. (For the other 8 skills, you'll have to buy the book.) You may think that masters and GMs are born with these skills. Soltis disagrees. He claims that each skill can be taught and learned. To illustrate, each chapter is filled with study and training techniques. Specific GMs, e.g., Kramnik or Anand, are mentioned in connection with specific skills. Study their games because they show a particular skill particularly well. Numerous quizzes (test positions) at the end of the each chapter allow you to test your ability at mastering the skill being described. Soltis' book has had a profound effect on my chess. I have personally changed my study routine. I "see" chess differently. In examining GM games, I keep a list of the 9 skills to see what the GM was doing at a certain time. Many times when I play through GM games, certain moves were unclear to me. After reading Soltis' book, the number of confusing moves I see in GM games has been reduced greatly. I believe GM Andy Soltis is best chess author in the history of chess. He doesn't have a "bad" book, and if he did, the book would still be better than 90% of what is out there now. I also believe this is his best book ever. If I had read this book 20 years ago, I would have been a chess master by now. There is simply no better book on real, meaningful chess improvement. I fully expect my chess skill to better a year from now. Buy the book, and your's will be too. Review: Improving Your Vision - I have read every word in this book, set up every position on a board and studied it, written answers to 52 questions about the positions in the quizzes, and created a ChessBase file containing the games of those 52 positions. I shall soon go through the book again, digging more deeply. I don't yet know what improvement will come from this study, but I do know that Soltis's approach seems spot on, and I do know that I thoroughly enjoyed every moment, despite its difficulties and despite my many blind spots and incorrect or incomplete evaluations of quiz positions. Never before have I so eagerly anticipated studying a chess book for the second time. We who are not chess masters must change something (or many somethings) if we are ever to become masters. But what do we change and how? Soltis gives us plenty of guidance along that path. My only negative comment on this book is the frequent advice along the lines of "It's easy to find well-annotated games with examples of what I just explained [targets, pawn structures, priyomes, etc.]." Maybe it's possible, but it ain't easy. One serendipitous moment came, though, right after I finished two Spassky games in the final chapter and found an eerily similar priyome in the latest ChessBase coverage of the Russia-China match. Thanks, GM Soltis, for another great book. Once I judge that my ChessBase file of the quizzes is ready for primetime, I'll ask your permission to make it public. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #1,304,617 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,143 in Board Games (Books) #1,414 in Chess (Books) #48,074 in Crafts & Hobbies (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 55 Reviews | ## Images ![What It Takes to Become a Chess Master (Batsford Chess) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61TW97kVp1L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ REAL, MEANINGFUL CHESS IMPROVEMENT!! *by D***E on June 30, 2012* GM Andy Soltis states, in the introduction to his wonderful book, an astonishing fact: less than 2% of chess players who take chess seriously ever reach master strength. (For US chess players, using the Elo rating system, a master rating is 2200 or higher.) Read the statistic again, it's not less than 2% of people who play chess, it's less than 2% of people who play chess seriously! Our chess experience is common--we engage in an endless cycle of study and tournament play. Yet, year after year we see no real improvement in our rating nor our chess skill. Soltis' book sets out to discover what seperates chess masters from the rest of us. What is missing from our chess experience that keeps us from improving to master strength? Based on my reading of the chess literature, I believed the answer to be chess masters are better in four areas: 1) tactical vision, 2) positional judgment, 3) calculating variations, and 4) endgame technique. (The first three are covered in detail, including training methods, in Kotov's book, Play Like a Grandmaster.) Add a few psychological factors such as will-to-win, concentration, and awareness, and you have a complete chess player. Apparently I was wrong. Soltis addresses these skills and states that while they are needed, they aren't enough. Soltis lists 9 skills, one per chapter, he believes seperates chess masters from other players. Some of the skills I had heard of, some I had heard of but didn't believe, and some of the skills were new to me. Based on my years of teaching experience and study of how expertise in a discipline is achieved, I believe Soltis' list is groundbreaking in chess literature. (I'm a complete skeptic on most everything, but I have to wonder if there has been some sort of chess conspiracy to keep this knowledge from the us ordinary players!) An example of a skill that Soltis examines is: What Matters Most. In any chess position there can be a confusing variety of tactical and positional elements to consider. In addition, general chess principles are often contradictory. This makes selecting the right move/plan difficult. Chess masters have the ability to focus on the one or two relevant elements of any position and exploit those elements. They see through the "noise" of a position to get at what is most important, what the position is calling them to do. (For the other 8 skills, you'll have to buy the book.) You may think that masters and GMs are born with these skills. Soltis disagrees. He claims that each skill can be taught and learned. To illustrate, each chapter is filled with study and training techniques. Specific GMs, e.g., Kramnik or Anand, are mentioned in connection with specific skills. Study their games because they show a particular skill particularly well. Numerous quizzes (test positions) at the end of the each chapter allow you to test your ability at mastering the skill being described. Soltis' book has had a profound effect on my chess. I have personally changed my study routine. I "see" chess differently. In examining GM games, I keep a list of the 9 skills to see what the GM was doing at a certain time. Many times when I play through GM games, certain moves were unclear to me. After reading Soltis' book, the number of confusing moves I see in GM games has been reduced greatly. I believe GM Andy Soltis is best chess author in the history of chess. He doesn't have a "bad" book, and if he did, the book would still be better than 90% of what is out there now. I also believe this is his best book ever. If I had read this book 20 years ago, I would have been a chess master by now. There is simply no better book on real, meaningful chess improvement. I fully expect my chess skill to better a year from now. Buy the book, and your's will be too. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Improving Your Vision *by M***H on July 4, 2012* I have read every word in this book, set up every position on a board and studied it, written answers to 52 questions about the positions in the quizzes, and created a ChessBase file containing the games of those 52 positions. I shall soon go through the book again, digging more deeply. I don't yet know what improvement will come from this study, but I do know that Soltis's approach seems spot on, and I do know that I thoroughly enjoyed every moment, despite its difficulties and despite my many blind spots and incorrect or incomplete evaluations of quiz positions. Never before have I so eagerly anticipated studying a chess book for the second time. We who are not chess masters must change something (or many somethings) if we are ever to become masters. But what do we change and how? Soltis gives us plenty of guidance along that path. My only negative comment on this book is the frequent advice along the lines of "It's easy to find well-annotated games with examples of what I just explained [targets, pawn structures, priyomes, etc.]." Maybe it's possible, but it ain't easy. One serendipitous moment came, though, right after I finished two Spassky games in the final chapter and found an eerily similar priyome in the latest ChessBase coverage of the Russia-China match. Thanks, GM Soltis, for another great book. Once I judge that my ChessBase file of the quizzes is ready for primetime, I'll ask your permission to make it public. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Solid, but not Invaluable Soltis *by R***S on May 7, 2013* American GM Andy Soltis is a long time very popular chess author. He is not so fortunately known for pumping out some, to put it kindly, rather hastily pasted together opening manuals of dubious value, but is even more well known for putting out some gems of the chess literature that are of lasting value. 'Pawn Structure Chess' and 'The Art of Defense in Chess' are just a couple of numerous gems he has written. The volume under review is closer in tone to the latter kind of work, but I do not think it is destined for classic status. The advice is often valuable, but sometimes borders on being worthless. Telling me that a chess master is not just better than me because of his deeper knowledge of openings, middlegames, and endgames, but because of his better chess 'sense' (a better sense of chess danger, eg) gives me virtually nothing of actionable value. What he is saying to me is that you have to play and study a whole lot more to develop this sense, but I already knew that, so he is filling pages in places with what is essentially just that: page filler. But there are many gems given as well, so the work certainly has its value. His chapter on playing for easier positions, for example is rather unique in my experience, and gives real food for thought, as I have been trapped in the past by playing for positions that were considered good by theory, but turned out to be beyond my ability to comprehend and thus come up with an effective plan for. So this is a good book, but I think that there are better works available for the non-master who is looking to improve. Yermolinsky's 'The Road to Chess Improvement', for one example, does a better job, in my opinion of offering practical and insightful advice. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/5462790-what-it-takes-to-become-a-chess-master-batsford-chess](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/5462790-what-it-takes-to-become-a-chess-master-batsford-chess) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-06-02*