Common Sense in Chess

by Emanuel Lasker

Dr. Lasker's original text on opening play, attack, defense, and endgame, with analyses of games by Morphy, Steinitz, Tarrasch, and Dr. Lasker himself.

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction, Games

139 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1896

Reviews

[Travis Timmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kasparov's writing convinced me to take Lasker's writing more seriously. So I did. (I also plan to re-read his Chess Manual, which I read, like 18 years ago!) Common Sense is a quick read and great primer for beginners -- even if the the opening advice is stuffy, hey, at least it's systematic and easy to imitate.

Anyhow, I didn't read this book for the chess advice, but rather for its philosophy and definition of chess as a fight, rather than as a science/art/etc. This definition speaks to me more than any other I know, and really is the reason I had to hang it up for competitive chess all those years. That is, staying in the land of fighting became too much for me and my mental health eventually. Now, I've returned to chess, but keep the fight at bay with 15 daily doses and more reading about chess culture.

[Julius · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is from 1917...eight years later half the homes in America would have electricity! Needless to say, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since. I know, you’re just a beginner and these things only matter to GMs. No. There are some really strong opinions in this book that are just off. There are a lot of variations discussed in this book which can be a bit boring, murky, and just plain confusing for one starting out. There are way better options. Wolff’s complete idiot’s guide to chess is a great place. You can find very inexpensive copies. Check out Chernev’s logical chess move by move. Yes it’s got errors and somewhat misplaced strong opinions it I think the book isn’t as bad and is more interesting since it takes you through the whole game…it is dated but came out decades after this one.

[Diegote · Rating 5 out of 5]

Directo, claro y conciso. Definiciones precisas y ejemplos ilustrativos.

Sigue un formato que resume las conferencias de 1895 dadas por el campeón mundial en orden, provocando la impresión haber asistido a ellas. Los comentarios sucintos y el enfoque metódico en cada capítulo reflejan el caracter idiosincrásico del Dr. Lasker, así como su forma de enfocar los fundamentos del juego.

Escrito en notación descriptiva. El contenido es elemental, pero no redundante. Es interesante para quien tenga curiosidad por la vida y obras de los campeones mundiales de ajedrez.