Improve Your Chess Pattern Recognition: Key Moves and Motifs in the Middlegame

The book itself is excellent. Very thoughtfully arranged book that illustrates some otherwise dense strategy/tactics concepts in a way that is easy to understand. I've found it very helpful when going through this book to create PGN's with the moves from each example to play through them step by step. It makes it easy for a slightly above average novice to visualize the examples in a way that makes it easier to learn from.Docked one star not for the book itself (which is excellent) but the bends on the cover/pages as a result of shipping. This isn't the first time I've experienced this issue from books ordered through Amazon, and think they could put a little more care into how they pack their books for shipping.

I'm low expert, about 2100 Elo online in blitz, and found this book of limited value. For example, the first two patterns, #1 and #4, have several solutions and the recommended solution for #4 is not the top choice of the Stockfish chess engine. To the credit of the author, the recommended solution for #4 is marked as "!?" (speculative), warning the reader.I can't believe this book received honors based on these two examples. Due to the low price, discounted from the list price, I am not instantly regretting this purchase but it's of limited value to most players. Far better to get a good puzzle book or just play games online.Two stars. It also highlights in my mind that many chess books are labors of love more than something practical to readers. Not that it stops me from buying many such books, and binning quite a few of them over the years. This one will be quickly consumed and then sent to the digital waste can.

I'm around 1900 USCF and own a whole lot of chess books (200+). I'd say this is one of the best, if not the best middlegame books I own and destined to be a classic soon! Reminds me a lot of Soltis' 100 Master Trade Secrets but I'd say it is a bit more advanced and only has middlegame patterns and priyomes. I like that the chapters are short but yet have enough examples to illustrate the theme/pattern without over-doing it. Each section has exercises too at the end. And although I haven't gone through it yet cover-to-cover, the editing and language etc seems error free and well done. Bravo New In Chess and Arthur Van de Oudeweetering!! A true gem.

Hi,the chapters felt a little "all over the place",it is always easy to criticize, but it just did not work for me.There were a few positions in the beginning with the Knight on the 6th where the opponent did not play the correct move and there was no mention of these moves, it just gave me a bad first impression.also Maybe my kindle format did not work for me, for this book,(My kindle is 7 in and I believe you should have at least a 10 in tablet for this book)It is a lot on material, and you can pick it up at whatever section, which I like.The tests are good.Overall a good value,

Out of all the chess books that I have run across "Improve your Chess Pattern Recognition" not only gives way to tactical and positional understanding but it also makes for an easy to follow dialogue which i find is a key component often missing outside of Pandolfini's and Silman's books.Also a great travel companion to stick in the bag on the way to a tournament or the night before club matches.

I believe I'm motivated to study chess again after reading and going through a couple of chapters. The way he words different motifs is strange, but you will remember them. That's what counts! I recommend this book, and am very surprised on the quality of the content. As others have said, this book will be a classic.I'd recommend you know basic strategy and basic tactics before going through this book. That's just my 2 cents.

This is a one of a kind book. Instead of openings and variations or strategy books about everything, the author researched games and positionsthat occur frequently in games. The book is divided in small chapters with some model games and a sometimes funny title for the theme he isexplaining.For instance, The Octopus means a Knight on d6 (or d3) because we can see the tentacles spreading around a great part of the board.I am still studying the book and I already can see the patterns (and the nicknames) in the games I replay.A great book!

Improve your chess pattern recognition will make clear the motifs and themes played by Masters as a result of their strategical and tactical schemes. These patterns may have been used by you in some point in your chess career but you may have been unaware of their names and why the pattern was used. A great book.

O autor de forma clara, demonstra, varios padroes, que podem ser utlizados pelo enxadrista conseguindo vantagem estrategica da posição, sao na maioria capitulos curtos, com varios exemplos, na maioria, com partidas completas, o que facilita o entendimento. Muito pratico o livro,esse é um dos 3 volumes da serie.

Capítulos cortos y bien explicados. Como me gusta a mí.

Wow, this book is very good. Firstly, it's one of the best formatted chess books I have ever seen, and it is super easy to follow along on the games. The games are terrific, and not the normal X vs. Y in 1929, these are modern games being played recently (like 2012). The author has really done his homework.The best part of the book is that the game notation is very bold and large, so you can set the book to the side and follow along with the moves more easily than a lot of other books.The only downside of the book is that it has to have the ugliest book cover ever. Maybe that adds to its charm, who knows. I would also have liked to have a bit more commentary, but in a sense that's well balanced. It gives you plenty of stuff to analyze on your own.Get this book, if for nothing else than the excellent collection of good games that you might not know about. The other bonus to this book is that the author is teaching you important strategic themes and tricks or patterns of play, which really boosts your ability to make a plan.While Silman's books are great, sometimes he pushes encourages you to make a plan to exploit a weakness, but you are left saying: Okay, I see the weakness, I want to exploit it, but I don't know how, I don't know what kinds of "plans" I could make. This book fills that gap. This book gives you the tools to make a plan, by showing you what a successful plan looks like in very concrete terms.Get this book, it's a valuable addition!

Une excellente introduction à des thèmes classiques qui relient schémas positionnels et opportunités tactiques. La mise en page est soignée et agréable, ce qui n'est pas toujours le cas pour ce type d'ouvrages

El libro tiene buena calidad tanto desde el punto de vista de su diseño como del contenido. Los temas están bien explicados y sus comentarios son claros y precisos.