The Chess Scalpel - 32 Master Games Dissected: Predict the Moves and Maximize Your Chess Understanding

by Zenón Franco Ocampos

The idea behind this book is for you to ‘play’ as in a real game, and it is my job to ensure you have a pleasant time while training. I suggest you take at least an hour and a half for each game and as your coach I will indicate when to guess the moves. Sometimes there will be suggestions — including tricky ones — to measure your concentration level. The ideas behind the moves are always explained. Points are awarded for the ‘right answers’ as well as for some other moves, and at the end there is a general assessment plus a review of some of the things to be learned from the game. During my coaching period I was able to witness how motivating it is for kids to receive points for the right answers, their ‘lives are at stake’ when they try to find the answers, and it is a challenge much appreciated by them. Later I also noticed a similar effect with adults although, unlike the kids, the older students try to hide it. The final score is not that important; it is not scientifically based. But of course the more points you get the better you ‘would have played’. The effort you put into trying to find the best move every time is what matters most. I firmly believe it really helps to learn a little more about playing chess with every game. The methodology recommended for solving the exercises is the ‘old-school’ one of using a piece of paper to cover the text and scrolling down the page as you advance.

288 pages, Paperback

Published July 12, 2022

About the author

Zenón Franco Ocampos was a chess grandmaster (GM) from Paraguay. In the 1982 Chess Olympiad at Lucerne, he won the gold medal at board one by scoring 11 of 13. In the 1990 Chess Olympiad at Novi Sad, he shared first place at board one with 9 points in 12 games. As of 2007, Franco was the top-ranked player and only GM in Paraguay (now, there are two GMs: Axel Bachmann and José Cubas). He wrote several books on chess for Gambit Publications under the name Zenón Franco.