The Reassess Your Chess Workbook

by Jeremy Silman

International chess master Jeremy Silman provides 131 problems designed to test a player's strengths and weaknesses, cover openings, middlegames, and endgames. This workbook may be utilizes with or without Silman's earlier book "How to Reassess Your Chess". Illustrations.

Genres: Chess, Games, Nonfiction

422 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

Reviews

[Bruce Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have several of Jeremy Silman's books and have found each of the to be well organized and clearly written.

In my prior experience, chess books fell into one of two categories; those designed for beginners (sub 1000s), focusing on the bare basics and those designed for experts/masters (2000+). For the rest of us, Silman's books come as a breath of fresh air. Unlike the snobby and terse efforts (by grand masters for experts and masters) that preface complex variations with "Clearly" (when it is not clear at all), This book includes a detailed narrative in clear human-speak, before following the various lines on the board. Silman transitions from theory to practical examples seamlessly with a fresh and engaging style. This book has proven to be a substantial factor in elevating my rating one hundred points.

[Zardoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good guide for the chess player who knows the basics and is trying to improve their game.

[Buffalonickel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a pretty awesome book. One of the best out there.

The author is great at looking at typical amateur mistakes and helping those people address the reasons why they are making those mistakes.

That seems be an awesome formula for helping players improve. Why aren't more books like that?!?!

This is definitely a book all amateur chess players should have.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second book by Jeremy Silman (first one was How to Reassess your Chess) and this book was just as amazing! More problems in each area of the game and just filled with great games and amazing annotations of games! It absolutely has increased my chess rating but also increased my confidence and enjoyment of the game too! Love this author and ready to start "The Amateur's Mind" tomorrow!

[Harshal Patil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is a good book for more advanced chess players (1800 ELO or better). It wasn't as great for me.

[Bhakta Kishor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the problem-solution format since I absorbed the material better having thought about it myself before looking at the answer, than I would have just reading through the solutions. Making mistakes and comparing my ideas to Silman’s answers helped me see where I was going wrong in my thought process. Even though I solved many problems correctly, the detailed solutions often touched on points that I hadn’t considered. I feel like I’ve made tangible progress – a couple of years ago I had a quick look at the book and struggled with the first problem. Today, looking back at it, the correct solution is quite obvious to me. This book is also really easy to read – I’ve taken it out with me to doctors’ waiting rooms for example. You can work on the problems from the diagrams (at least, those in the first three sections), and later when a chess board is available you can review the answers. The four sections cover many different types of positions and positional motifs – I especially enjoyed the endgames section which feels a bit like a first book of endgame strategy. It is very satisfying to solve the puzzles, and the fear of making a mistake helps replicate the conditions of a real game.

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[Murilo Andrade · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this excellent sequel of the series (alongside with How to Reassess your Chess and The Amateur's mind), Silman keeps the bar at a very high level.

The book consists basically of problems (part 2) and solutions (part 3 ). The first part serves as a reminder for the imbalances-based system introduced in the previous books, in the format of a crash-course. The other books are by no means pre-requisites for this one.

Overall the problems have a really good level of difficulty and sometimes are quite challenging. They cover a wide range of situations, from openings to endgames, from amateur games to GMs'.

The bottom line of the book, in my opinion, is: "Don't go deep into calculations before sufficiently assessing the position". And how do you learn how to assess a position? Do the exercises of this book!

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silman's books all have a fabulous layout which makes what can be a tedious and boring subject more bearable. I especially like this book as a crash course into the various imbalances within a game of chess. Silman breaks each imbalance down into very adaptable rule sets any novice player can immediately use.

[Ernest Cadorin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little too advanced for me. I couldn't understand the rationale behind some of the decisions that were too obvious for him to explain.

[Steve Toyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of exercises that follows on from Reassess Your Chess. Highly instructive and informative.