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Better Chess for Average Players
Designed for the typical amateur player who wants to improve his or her chess skills, this clear, straightforward guide provides the extra knowledge and technique that turns a losing player into a winner.
The author, a well-known chess teacher and author of a dozen books on openings, coaches the reader through all the fundamentals of attacking, sacrifices, defense, positional play and choosing a move, as well as how to approach the endgame. The crucial processes of assessing the position and choosing a move are examined in depth, and there are helpful sections on how to cope with difficult positions and time-trouble. Several illustrative games, from the annals of the imaginary Midlington Chess Club, add a light touch to this expert practical guide to better chess.
Tim Harding is a well-known chess author and captain of the Irish Correspondence Chess Team. He represented Ireland in the 1984 FIDE chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki.
The author, a well-known chess teacher and author of a dozen books on openings, coaches the reader through all the fundamentals of attacking, sacrifices, defense, positional play and choosing a move, as well as how to approach the endgame. The crucial processes of assessing the position and choosing a move are examined in depth, and there are helpful sections on how to cope with difficult positions and time-trouble. Several illustrative games, from the annals of the imaginary Midlington Chess Club, add a light touch to this expert practical guide to better chess.
Tim Harding is a well-known chess author and captain of the Irish Correspondence Chess Team. He represented Ireland in the 1984 FIDE chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki.
- GenresChessNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 12, 1978
41 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Tim Harding
29 books5 followersTimothy David Harding was born in London in 1948, and started playing competitive chess while at school. After reading Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford, he was caught up in the Bobby Fischer boom and started playing chess at a quite high level and writing on the game (mostly under the byline T. D. Harding). He is now writing works of chess history and biography, published by McFarland.
(Please note that there are at least two authors with a similar name to me. Whatever the Goodreads database may say, if a title does not relate to chess, it is not by me!)
Tim's latest book, "Steinitz in London," was due to be published by McFarland in May but has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic; it may now be available in September 2020. This is a biography (including games) of the first World Chess Champion, WIlliam Steinitz, focusing on the twenty years when he lived in England.
His last published work, "British Chess Literature to 1914" (April 2018), is a survey of writings on the game up to the First World War: discussing chiefly books, magazines and chess columns in periodicals. The book also includes good advice and reference sources for the aspiring chess historian.
Tim's first biographical work, "Eminent Victorian Chess Players: Ten Biographies" was published in February 2012, and was followed by a much more detailed work on one of its subjects, J. H. Blackburne (published in 2015). Tim is now researching a biography of the first chess world champion William Steinitz, who also featured in his 2012 work.
In 1976 Tim moved to Dublin, Ireland, where he worked in various literary capacities. He played on the Irish team at the 1984 Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki, Greece, and earned the title of Senior International Master of Correspondence Chess.
From 1996-2005 Tim edited the magazine Chess Mail but became increasingly interested in the history of the game, which has been the subject of his recent books. In 2009 Trinity College Dublin awarded Tim the degree of PhD at for his dissertation on chess history and he works there as a part-time tutor in modern European history. His book “Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824-1987”, which expanded on some aspects of his dissertation, was shortlisted for the English Chess Federation’s Book of the Year award in 2011. Some of his articles can be read online at http://www.chessmail.com.
Four of Tim's earlier books are still in print and he is considering launching e-books of some of them.
Since completing his doctorate, Tim has also been developing an historical project on links between Ireland and Burma/Myanmar, the country where his mother was born, and he expects to publish on this subject eventually.
(Please note that there are at least two authors with a similar name to me. Whatever the Goodreads database may say, if a title does not relate to chess, it is not by me!)
Tim's latest book, "Steinitz in London," was due to be published by McFarland in May but has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic; it may now be available in September 2020. This is a biography (including games) of the first World Chess Champion, WIlliam Steinitz, focusing on the twenty years when he lived in England.
His last published work, "British Chess Literature to 1914" (April 2018), is a survey of writings on the game up to the First World War: discussing chiefly books, magazines and chess columns in periodicals. The book also includes good advice and reference sources for the aspiring chess historian.
Tim's first biographical work, "Eminent Victorian Chess Players: Ten Biographies" was published in February 2012, and was followed by a much more detailed work on one of its subjects, J. H. Blackburne (published in 2015). Tim is now researching a biography of the first chess world champion William Steinitz, who also featured in his 2012 work.
In 1976 Tim moved to Dublin, Ireland, where he worked in various literary capacities. He played on the Irish team at the 1984 Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki, Greece, and earned the title of Senior International Master of Correspondence Chess.
From 1996-2005 Tim edited the magazine Chess Mail but became increasingly interested in the history of the game, which has been the subject of his recent books. In 2009 Trinity College Dublin awarded Tim the degree of PhD at for his dissertation on chess history and he works there as a part-time tutor in modern European history. His book “Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824-1987”, which expanded on some aspects of his dissertation, was shortlisted for the English Chess Federation’s Book of the Year award in 2011. Some of his articles can be read online at http://www.chessmail.com.
Four of Tim's earlier books are still in print and he is considering launching e-books of some of them.
Since completing his doctorate, Tim has also been developing an historical project on links between Ireland and Burma/Myanmar, the country where his mother was born, and he expects to publish on this subject eventually.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 10, 2020
If you are a chess enthusiast, this is the book that you need to read. You can learn about the basics, philosophy, psychology and also the art of the chess game for the beginners. I found this book to be comprehensive, the best one perhaps, among many chess books for beginners. So, if you fit the readers' qualifications, beginner, elementary or just curious about the game, go for it!
October 5, 2021
My rating is related to how much I enjoyed the book. I don't think its a bad book at all.
I was looking for a book to teach me some theoretical chess principles. This book was definitely that, but had much more examples than I expected and was for me quite exhausting to follow all of these examples.
There was a very entertaining narrative about some characters of a chess club to illustrate different types of players. It helped to break up the board analysis and chess master heuristics.
I was looking for a book to teach me some theoretical chess principles. This book was definitely that, but had much more examples than I expected and was for me quite exhausting to follow all of these examples.
There was a very entertaining narrative about some characters of a chess club to illustrate different types of players. It helped to break up the board analysis and chess master heuristics.
January 9, 2018
Very good for covering the basics. I've read this several times.
July 23, 2021
I must be a better than average player as there was nothing in this which i didn't already know
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July 26, 2021fun to read
August 27, 2019
A clear, concise book on chess improvement.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews