What do you think?
Rate this book
The Zugzwang Method
#1 Bestseller within its first month of launching on Amazon.es, Amazon.mx and Amazon.com (in Spanish)
Do you find that no matter how much you study chess, your progress doesn't meet your aspirations? Would you like to feel the pleasure of victory much more often? Are you tired of losing "won games"? You don't have the settle with your level for the rest of your life!
Visit the Website for more information: www.elmetodozugzwang.com
•200 pgs. of unpublished material . Not available in stores.
•Read it in 7 days and change your habits permanently
•Organize your precious time and optimize it!
•Learn proven techniques in order to win more games.
•Prepare your openings like the GMs do.
•Intended for players from 1500 to 2200 ELO points
•Learn to think like the titled players.
•Position evaluation in just 5 steps
•Unbalanced and balanced positions: how to focus them
•How to avoid analyzing unnecessary variations.
•How to make good decisions in record time.
•How do you not forget everything that you study?
•How do you avoid having to memorize the same thing so many times?
•Design a repertoire of openings true to your style with a very effective plan
•Opening preparation techniques used today by Grand Masters
•How to find good plans in the middle game.
•Typical structures with more effective influence.
•Discover the endgames that you must know first and why.
•And so much more…
Authors:
Daniel Muñoz Sanchez (author)
Born in Madrid (Spain). Received a Master's Degree from Universidad Complutense. Psychology has always interested him. Therefore, he obtained his Masters in Neurolinguistic Programming and Emotional Intelligence.
At age 7, he began to play the chess and it has not stopped since. He had the fortune of competing in the Honor's Division of Madrid League , although before he passed through all the other divisions. He has developed chess teams and individual competitors from scratch and has taught children.
For 2 years, he has been sharing what he knows about chess on his website:www.thezugzwangblog.com with more than 45,000 monthly visits. Also he is a collaborator for one of the most prestigious online chess magazines, Chessbase and has collaborated with Chess24
He himself put into practice the ideas that are shared in this book. Thanks to it, he increased his FIDE ELO from 1976 to 2100.
Grand Master Herminio Herráiz (coauthor)
Born in the Pedroñeras (Spain). He studied Mathematics in the Universidad Complutense of Madrid. He has played at the highest level, representing Spain in Chess at the 2004 Olympic Games and competing in important international tournaments (third place in the Championship of All of Spain, University Champion of Spain, first place in the Magistral de Elgóibar…). At the moment, he has a FIDE ELO of 2456 and is a FIDE Trainer (superior title of the FIDE).
Although he is a professional player, he dedicates a great part of his time developing new talents and grand masters of international prestige. Also he gives seminars and conferences on chess.
Do you find that no matter how much you study chess, your progress doesn't meet your aspirations? Would you like to feel the pleasure of victory much more often? Are you tired of losing "won games"? You don't have the settle with your level for the rest of your life!
Visit the Website for more information: www.elmetodozugzwang.com
•200 pgs. of unpublished material . Not available in stores.
•Read it in 7 days and change your habits permanently
•Organize your precious time and optimize it!
•Learn proven techniques in order to win more games.
•Prepare your openings like the GMs do.
•Intended for players from 1500 to 2200 ELO points
•Learn to think like the titled players.
•Position evaluation in just 5 steps
•Unbalanced and balanced positions: how to focus them
•How to avoid analyzing unnecessary variations.
•How to make good decisions in record time.
•How do you not forget everything that you study?
•How do you avoid having to memorize the same thing so many times?
•Design a repertoire of openings true to your style with a very effective plan
•Opening preparation techniques used today by Grand Masters
•How to find good plans in the middle game.
•Typical structures with more effective influence.
•Discover the endgames that you must know first and why.
•And so much more…
Authors:
Daniel Muñoz Sanchez (author)
Born in Madrid (Spain). Received a Master's Degree from Universidad Complutense. Psychology has always interested him. Therefore, he obtained his Masters in Neurolinguistic Programming and Emotional Intelligence.
At age 7, he began to play the chess and it has not stopped since. He had the fortune of competing in the Honor's Division of Madrid League , although before he passed through all the other divisions. He has developed chess teams and individual competitors from scratch and has taught children.
For 2 years, he has been sharing what he knows about chess on his website:www.thezugzwangblog.com with more than 45,000 monthly visits. Also he is a collaborator for one of the most prestigious online chess magazines, Chessbase and has collaborated with Chess24
He himself put into practice the ideas that are shared in this book. Thanks to it, he increased his FIDE ELO from 1976 to 2100.
Grand Master Herminio Herráiz (coauthor)
Born in the Pedroñeras (Spain). He studied Mathematics in the Universidad Complutense of Madrid. He has played at the highest level, representing Spain in Chess at the 2004 Olympic Games and competing in important international tournaments (third place in the Championship of All of Spain, University Champion of Spain, first place in the Magistral de Elgóibar…). At the moment, he has a FIDE ELO of 2456 and is a FIDE Trainer (superior title of the FIDE).
Although he is a professional player, he dedicates a great part of his time developing new talents and grand masters of international prestige. Also he gives seminars and conferences on chess.
- GenresChess
173 pages, Paperback
Published July 15, 2016
156 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 16, 2016
A mess of a book
Having seen this book heavily advertised on chess websites and noticed its prominent ranking on the bestseller list on Amazon.com, I picked this book up in the kindle version.
The original version of this book is in Spanish, and I sincerely hope it is better than the English one. The translation is horrendous, at times bordering on incomprehensible. The formatting of the material is similarly a hack job, clearly not much effort has put into that part.
The first 40% or so is packed with a lot of pretentious talk about the efficiency of the method, using illustrations that don't seem relevant at all. I have yet to discern the value of any of the material in that part of the book.
The section on opening play, admittedly, is pretty good, but it is also written by the grandmaster co-author. The chapter on positional evaluation has good ideas, but they seem lifted from other books, and that without attribution, and in terms of actual examples on how to apply, the book does not provide many.
Overall, I am yet to figure out why this book is so popular, but I am very underwhelmed.
Having seen this book heavily advertised on chess websites and noticed its prominent ranking on the bestseller list on Amazon.com, I picked this book up in the kindle version.
The original version of this book is in Spanish, and I sincerely hope it is better than the English one. The translation is horrendous, at times bordering on incomprehensible. The formatting of the material is similarly a hack job, clearly not much effort has put into that part.
The first 40% or so is packed with a lot of pretentious talk about the efficiency of the method, using illustrations that don't seem relevant at all. I have yet to discern the value of any of the material in that part of the book.
The section on opening play, admittedly, is pretty good, but it is also written by the grandmaster co-author. The chapter on positional evaluation has good ideas, but they seem lifted from other books, and that without attribution, and in terms of actual examples on how to apply, the book does not provide many.
Overall, I am yet to figure out why this book is so popular, but I am very underwhelmed.
September 21, 2016
This may or may not be a good book. I can't tell because the translation and the proof reading of the English edition leave quite a bit to be desired (OK - they are pitiful - and probably do the author a disservice in the English speaking world. The good parts are: 1) the author suggests you can overdo pure tactics training; 2) he has a GM co-author who gives quite good annotations to example games; 3) He has an actual 10-week training outline which look quite reasonable for a typical busy adult.
There is no spoiler here, the title of the book is totally meaningless. 'Zugzwang' is a common chess term from the German which means 'The undesirable requirement to move' - if you are in zugzwang you are probably going to lose (most likely the whole game). I don't understand how this becomes the name of an improvement method. It has nothing whatever to do with the advice inside the book. After reading "How to read a book" by Adler, I think this one of those books that deserves only the 2nd, "Inspectional" level of reading. Now, on to more important books.
There is no spoiler here, the title of the book is totally meaningless. 'Zugzwang' is a common chess term from the German which means 'The undesirable requirement to move' - if you are in zugzwang you are probably going to lose (most likely the whole game). I don't understand how this becomes the name of an improvement method. It has nothing whatever to do with the advice inside the book. After reading "How to read a book" by Adler, I think this one of those books that deserves only the 2nd, "Inspectional" level of reading. Now, on to more important books.
August 14, 2017
Si quieres dejar de ver el ajedrez como un juego este libro es el mejor. No seras un jugador completo solamente con leerlo pero tendras un plan de entrenamiento de 10 semanas como los grandes deportistas, estoy seguro que llegaran los resultados despues. Buen trabajo, Daniel Munoz!
March 18, 2017
Llegue a este libro casi de casualidad. Un día, a las 16:00 en medio del campeonato gallego de ajedrez me aparece en oferta (las que todos los días me envía Amazon para Kindle). Me tenía buena pinta y lo compré.
Lo cierto es que desde el primer momento me ha dado algo que nunca he tenido de manera formal: un enfoque claro del entrenamiento en ajedrez para jugadores entre 1600 a 2100 de ELO... Casi para mi que tengo 1489...
Bueno, lo cierto es que el libro es muy ameno y directo. David Muñoz nos describe de manera muy directa varias técnicas para mejorar nuestro entrenamiento. También participa el GM Herminio Herraiz con unas interesantes ideas sobre aperturas y cómo estudiarlas.
El libro propone dos planes para iniciación e intermedios. Se ha convertido en un libro que, mas allá de la primera lectura rápida, tengo que releerlo, resumirlo y sobre todo aplicarlo.
Podeis oir algo más de él en el podcast #25 de "Un mar de libros"
Lo cierto es que desde el primer momento me ha dado algo que nunca he tenido de manera formal: un enfoque claro del entrenamiento en ajedrez para jugadores entre 1600 a 2100 de ELO... Casi para mi que tengo 1489...
Bueno, lo cierto es que el libro es muy ameno y directo. David Muñoz nos describe de manera muy directa varias técnicas para mejorar nuestro entrenamiento. También participa el GM Herminio Herraiz con unas interesantes ideas sobre aperturas y cómo estudiarlas.
El libro propone dos planes para iniciación e intermedios. Se ha convertido en un libro que, mas allá de la primera lectura rápida, tengo que releerlo, resumirlo y sobre todo aplicarlo.
Podeis oir algo más de él en el podcast #25 de "Un mar de libros"
December 24, 2020
Es un libro curioso, pero me esperaba mucho más. Tiene cosas interesantes, pero lo que más me importaba que era el plan de entrenamiento está fatal explicado (prácticamente te tienes que buscar la vida con la ayuda de un esquema con conceptos que nunca has leído). Aún así creo que es una buena herramienta para principiantes.
September 17, 2018
Buen libro. Me gusta el lenguaje con el que está escrito, que combina las partidas con textos introductorios y conclusiones que ayudan a comprenderlas. Vale la pena.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews