Pump Up Your Rating

by Axel Smith

Any man in the street knows how to increase his physical strength, but among most chess players confusion reigns when it comes to improving their playing strength. Axel Smith's training methods have guided his friends, teammates and pupils to grandmaster norms and titles. Hard work will be required, but Axel Smith knows how you can Pump Up Your Rating.

Every area of chess is covered - opening preparation, through middlegame play, to endgame technique. Smith delves into both the technical and psychological sides of chess, and shows how best to practise and improve.

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction, Games

376 pages, Paperback

First published December 17, 2013

Reviews

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great chess book with tips that can be easily applied by the aspiring amateur players. I liked the way how the author proves his points and why he thinks that something does or doesn't work.

Many adult chess player will agree that improving is very difficult, no matter how much time you spend, and there is always the nagging feeling that with this one more piece of information you will make the next jump. The author destroys the illusion very harshly. In his opinion you need to learn from your own mistakes and you always have to look at concrete moves.

I will adopt some of the proposed methods and see if there is an improvement from my current ELO 1700. I can't give 5 stars because at times the give games didn't prove anything special and I was wondering why I should go through them.

Also, the author is not a fan of playing through master games. In my opinion, guessing the moves in games from the past masters is almost as good as playing myself so if you have a full-time job and can't participate in tournaments too often, this is an excellence chance to get practice - and to learn from your mistakes.

Despite these objections Pump up your rating is a very fine book that will inspire players who are stuck on their road to chess improvement.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best chess books I have purchased in a long time. Easy to read, written in English, not computer variations. Highly recommended.

[Evan Seghers · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about the habits of serious chess players, and what it takes to ascend to a title. The chapters on uses of technology including chessbase, are great. Axel Smith clearly lays out what it takes to improve in chess, without any 'get rich quick' schemes. Discipline, objectivity, and self analysis (both psychologically, and of your own games) are the keys to success.

[Dunkelheit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very instructional book for players of low-intermediate level (1400-2000 ELO FIDE). It reads like a textbook with many examples and some exercises. You choose the time you want to dedicate to study chess and here you will find a lot of good advice.

Game analysis > Tactics > Openings > Endgames

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too advanced for me, and so not as useful as I'd like.