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Grandmaster Secrets: Winning Quickly at Chess
In this tremendously instructive and entertaining work, John Nunn selects 125 of the finest short decisive grandmaster games of the modern era.
For a grandmaster to lose a game in 25 moves or fewer takes something special, and club players can learn a great deal from studying these miniatures. Each of these games is a true battle, with the result often in doubt until near the very end of the struggle.
Nunn identifies the most common causes of the errors that lead to the loser's demise, and how one can seek to take dramatic advantage of the opponent's risky or faulty play. In his thought-provoking extended introduction, he explains that in many cases, the problem was of a psychological often the loser fails to accept that events have not unfolded according to plan, and as a consequence steers into the reefs when there was still time to head for safer waters.
For a grandmaster to lose a game in 25 moves or fewer takes something special, and club players can learn a great deal from studying these miniatures. Each of these games is a true battle, with the result often in doubt until near the very end of the struggle.
Nunn identifies the most common causes of the errors that lead to the loser's demise, and how one can seek to take dramatic advantage of the opponent's risky or faulty play. In his thought-provoking extended introduction, he explains that in many cases, the problem was of a psychological often the loser fails to accept that events have not unfolded according to plan, and as a consequence steers into the reefs when there was still time to head for safer waters.
- GenresChess
255 pages, Paperback
First published February 26, 2008
17 people want to read
About the author
John Nunn
137 books44 followersJohn Denis Martin Nunn is an English chess grandmaster, a three-time world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician. He is one of England's strongest chess players and once was in the world's top ten.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 29, 2017
Many people underestimate the value of quickly finished games, thinking that there is not much to learn from them. But believe me, the skill of winning a game in only 25 moves is an art in itself.
And when one consider that the threshold for entering Nunn's list of miniatures is ELO 2500, one can only conclude that: if such players can lose a game in this way - the same can also happen to me.
As a trainer, for me the games in this book doesn't have just an entertaining value. While going through the games I payed a special attention to the missed defensive weapons (closing the lines, repairing weaknesses, breaking the phalanx, trading pieces/eliminating attackers, and so on).
Since this book is a much-expanded (now it has 125 games) new edition of 101 Brillian Chess Miniatures, I hope that one day Nunn will add additional 25 games.
And when one consider that the threshold for entering Nunn's list of miniatures is ELO 2500, one can only conclude that: if such players can lose a game in this way - the same can also happen to me.
As a trainer, for me the games in this book doesn't have just an entertaining value. While going through the games I payed a special attention to the missed defensive weapons (closing the lines, repairing weaknesses, breaking the phalanx, trading pieces/eliminating attackers, and so on).
Since this book is a much-expanded (now it has 125 games) new edition of 101 Brillian Chess Miniatures, I hope that one day Nunn will add additional 25 games.
December 25, 2017
Entertaining to read through the analyses of these 125 short games, but hard to take anything away from it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews