Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45545 in Books
• Published on: 1972-06-05
• Format: Abridged
• Original language: Czech
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 314 pages

Synopsis
The Czech grandmaster uses the games of leading chess players to illustrate a variety of chess moves.

Customer Reviews

In my view, better than My System
Do you want to improve your chess. Are you rated under 2000? Then this is a good place to start. This is much easier reading than the often verbose and self-serving My System. Pachman's writing is clear and insightful. Buy this book and play through every few years. You will almost certainly gain new insights into chess with every reading. This book should be on every aspiring chess player's shelf alongside Larry Evan's New Ideas in Chess, Hans Kmoch's Pawn Power in Chess, David Bronstein's Zurich 1953, Bobby Fischer's My Sixty Memorable Games, Mikhail Botvinnik's 100 Selected Games, Mikhail Tal's Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, Alexander Alekhine's Best Games and Richard Reti's Masters of the Chessboard. That is some pretty lofty company, but Modern Chess Strategy is worthy of it. Oh, and you can't beat the price.

Best strategy book since "My System"
This is the best chess strategy book you can find. I read it when I was a beginner and re-read it 2 times since then, and as I grew in chess strength I discovered new meanings to author's comments and new subtleties of the positions examined, things that I didn't understand before seemed logical and clear the next time I read it. The book presents a thorough and comprehensive examination of important positional concepts, such as the value and placement of pieces, exchanges of material, importance of the centre, flank attacks, dynamical strategy, and how tactical ideas are connected to positional elements. The games examined are carefully chosen for appropriateness and comments and explanations are clear and meaningful. Read this book and watch your rating climb up!

A Classic.
Pachman is famous for his three volume work, which has been shortened to this abridged version.

There are many manuals on middlegame strategy, some are a waste of time, some are not. This book is not. Pachman had written his masterpiece after Nimzovich's immortal 'My System' (which I also recommend highly) and thus has the advantage of incorporating many of his ideas into his work. Having said this, I do not consider this to be more useful to me than 'My System'. I found the latter much more thought provoking that Modern Chess Strategy, although Pachman's work is easier to follow. In the end, I feel one would benefit from both.

Another book worth looking at, if you are looking into general chess strategy, is John Watson's 'Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances since Nimzovich'.