- Paperback: 254 pages
- Publisher: Gambit Publications (Oct 7 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1906454019
- ISBN-13: 978-1906454012
- Product Dimensions: 24.6 x 17 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #369,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Traditionally, chess games have been divided into three stages - opening, middlegame and endgame - and general principles presented for how to handle each stage. All chess-players will be well aware that these principles all too frequently fail to help in their selection of the best move.
In this important work, Lars Bo Hansen, grandmaster and professional educator, presents chess as a game of five phases, and explains the do's and don'ts in each: * the opening * the transition to the early middlegame * the middlegame * strategic endgames * technical endgames *
With a wealth of examples from both his own practice and that of his colleagues, Hansen discusses the typical mistakes and pitfalls, and shows how to handle the subtleties unique to each stage. He also advises on how to work on your chess in each aspect of the game. Of special value is his explanation of how to study typical middlegames, and that middlegame preparation - a neglected area for most players - is both possible and necessary.
About the Author
Lars Bo Hansen is a well-known grandmaster from Denmark. He has won the Danish Championship on two occasions, and represented his country in four olympiads, winning a bronze medal for his individual performance in 1990. His many tournament victories include first prize in the strong Copenhagen Open in both 1997 and 2000. Away from the board, he teaches and lectures on business studies, with a particular focus on marketing, organization and strategy.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTING, Dec 31 2008
By Nimzo-Karpov - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: How Chess Games are Won and Lost (Paperback)
I waited five months for this book. I had hopes that it would fill a gap in the chess literature concerning the transitions in a chess game between the opening and middlegame and the middlegame and the endgame (or included in what the author calls the five stages of a chess game). Obviously, there is a profusion of material on the opening, the middle game and the endgame. Znosko-Borovsky maintains that most strategic mistakes occur between the Opening and Middlegame. In the chapter on the transition from Opening to Middlegame, Hansens devotes a couple of pages to the standard treatment of pawn structures (cf Kotov & Jesper Hall) and about 30 pages to the Queensgambit. Not much help there. The same can be said for the chapter on the Middlegame to Endgame transition. He recycles material from his Foundations and Endgame Strategy books. Better sources concerning this transition stage are Devoretsky, M.Marin and Mednis. The other three chapters are interesting. But, as I have indicated, there is a lot of material available about the three traditional stages. If I were to rank his "trilogy" of books, I'd rank the Endgame Strategy book #1, The Foundations book #2 and the book disscussed here, last.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Provocative & compelling..., Feb 7 2009
By J. Burrell - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: How Chess Games are Won and Lost (Paperback)
I'm constantly falling in & out of love with chess. Sometimes I lose all patience with it & think that I'm just wasting my time (usually after a bad loss or three). Maybe I am wasting time, but this book helped remind me why I stay fascinated.A few things jumped out at me as I was reading:
(a) relating personality-type to openings choice is hardly unique, but the presentation here was sharp, interesting & relevant for me;
(b) endgames can be boring, despite the fact that basic endgame knowledge is essential in practical settings -- Hansen did a nice job of presenting some pertinent & dynamic examples to remind me why they matter;
(c) finally, there's a personal touch here that emphasizes Hansen's own process of discovery, frustration & triumph. Although the book is hardly a showcase for his successes (the first game example I can remember shows him getting spanked by Judith Polgar, I think), you are constantly reminded that he's sharing the fundamentals that were significant to his own development as a player.
So, to sum up: while there's no Grand Unified Theory of Chess presented here, I found myself inspired and intrigued by this book. If you know more than the basics of the game, you'll find a lot of material to keep you interested here.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book!, Aug 27 2009
By M. Ararat "Pathfinder" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: How Chess Games are Won and Lost (Paperback)
What I like about this book:1.This book is coherent, well-written and filled with recent games.
2.As a self-training book focused on chess preparation it gives you the tools to develop your chess by working systematically in every phase of the game.
3.The book can help you to build an opening repertoire according to your style.
4.It has a good summary and discussion of the Elements of Chess Strategy.
5.The author gives good examples of technical endgames such as rook endgames.
6.The last chapter on practical tips has a section on preparing for specific opponents.
A great book for the intermediate player 1600 up to 2000 (my current USCF rating is 1874).
I just wish the author had included his game against Dorfman (Polanica Zdroj 1993), which is one of my favorite model games(Dorfman discussed a part of this game in his book The Method).
In summary I believe the book has original ideas with practical value for a chess player.
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