Think Like a Super-GM

by Michael Adams, Philip Hurtado

Think Like a Super-GM is a unique collaboration combining the chess insights of an elite grandmaster with a scientific investigation into thinking at the chess board. 40 chess puzzles were shown to a panel of players ranging from occasional club players up to Super-GM and co-author Michael Adams. Researcher Philip Hurtado recorded not only the moves chosen, but also the detailed thought processes of every player in order to shed light on the mystery as to what exactly defines superior chess strength. This book offers a unique opportunity for readers to not only solve the puzzles, but also compare their thinking to that of club players, strong amateurs, IMs, GMs and Michael Adams himself. With an additional Bonus Puzzle section and a fascinating Eyetracker experiment showing where different players focused their attention on the board, this is a chess improvement book like no other. GM Michael Adams is a World Championship finalist and long-time British number one, with a peak ranking of 4th in the world. Philip Hurtado is an engineer, physicist, statistician and passionate amateur chess player.

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction

464 pages, Hardcover

First published March 23, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Michael Adams is a British chess Grandmaster (1989).

Reviews

[Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

was an interesting read, i was really amazed at how the strong 2600 GMs like Julio Granda and Adams chose variations, they will find good moves and take time refuting it, most of us weak players find good moves and conclude immediately thats the move, without checking opponent's threats, its an eye opener, i scored 44% in the puzzles which is around 1600-1700 FIDE rating according to the chart they provided, even tho i'm unrated i think thats pretty accurate, the only thing i didnt like is they didnt provide tips on how to improve, but Phillip did say he advised his 1500 rated friend to stop memorizing owen's defence and concentrate on solving puzzles, i will take that advice, also i noticed puzzle 33 had no scoring, they included puzzle 34 twice, they should recify that in future prints

[Michael Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has problems to solve for many chess players. It's probably best for intermediate players but I think that having the explanatory text in the middle of each of the pages of problems is good. The game choices are interesting and I think that it's done a good bit for my thinking on how to improve my chess training.

[Nickolas Saliba · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the book!
The idea of showing the analysis of multiple Elo players is fantastic.

[Bruno Vasconcelos · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best Chess Book I have ever read. Fantastic

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly interesting --and one of the best chess books that I have read-- that provides insights into the way players of various strengths (including Adams, and Julio Granda) think on 48 chess positions. I enjoyed (mostly) solving or (in a few cases) attempting to solve them with a friend of mine and would like to think it has helped me home in my thinking skill, though I still think it is not as systematic as I would like it to be. Look forward to other similar books or recommendations thereof!