Evaluate Like a Grandmaster

by Eugene Perelshteyn, Nate Solon

Chess can be broken down into calculation and evaluation. Calculation involves looking at moves, but at some point you have to stop and evaluate. Whose position is better and why? Most chess books focus on calculation and select positions where the evaluation is obvious. But do you only get obvious positions in your games? We don't, so we decided to write a book that teaches you how to evaluate complex positions so you know what to aim for and what to avoid.

Genres: Chess

127 pages, Paperback

Published October 7, 2022

Reviews

[Héctor Otero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super interesting concept for a book with a great collection of positions! Very fitting level for a 1900 Rapid (Lichess) / 1600 Rapid (Chess.com).

[Michael Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was intimidating despite it's only 121 pages. This book is in the format of a workbook. As an intermediate chess player I feel that this book would be best to work through with a coach or trainer. I would try and complete a page a day or so when I worked on it and this book should be done with a board making the moves in the explanation section.
For what this book does, I think having supplemental materials at hand like a database to see the games that the example came from would be helpful too.
This book is for people looking to work on their chess game in a serious way.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chess has so many elements to understand and study, it can be hard to know where to start. Perelshteyn and Solon do an admirable job here of helping students take a step back and look at the big picture. In a sense, this book provided very instructive guidance on chess triage. Rather than identifying the one perfect move or focusing on gimmicky elements, the authors provide a board, most of them from real games, and then guide the reader towards the most important elements of the position. Designed essentially in a workbook format, this book is meant to be studied, not read. The notation and descriptions are very user-friendly, and each chapter provides a slight twist on the theme, allowing you to assess your own evaluation strengths and weaknesses in a variety of circumstances.

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