He also throws in humor every so often to keep the interest of the reader, because chess can quickly turn into a boring game if treated dryly. My instruction has been: this book, the ChessMaster game academy tutorial by Joshua Waitzkin, a lot of youtube videos from Ben Finegold and commentary on games by other players. I checked to see how an engine felt about h3 in that particular position and the engine is like "yeah h3 is best.

When I believe that I have identified the critical turning points, the main positional ideas, and the key tactical alternatives, I read through Chernev's annotations. While this is a great book, there are some areas where it is showing its age (having first been issued nearly a half century ago). Chernev thoughtfully explains the decision-making process and contextual meaning behind each move as it’s made. My goal in reading books like this is to incorporate into my subconscious as many master game patterns as possible: moves humans make, explanations humans give.I guess Euwe's books have a better quality in the analysis, as Euwe was a very strong player (World Champion). There are 33 great games from the past, and Chernev (as the title says) steps the reader through each move of each game, explaining the reasons for the move, and alternative moves. The book is clearly for Beginners and suffers a little bit from using old example games (and I really mean old! Cooking apples will make your stomach ache if you eat them like dessert apples, but they look the same. It is notable, for example, that by far the most popular opening represented is the Queen's Gambit Declined; by contrast, today's favorite Sicilian Defense is found in just one game.

The open games in the first half are very entertaining, but the second half contains too many Queen Gambits. A better name for the book might be "Logical DEVELOPMENT" since the outcomes are so clear by the middle game. When I used to follow the games from this book, I used to feel the same adrenaline rush that I would feel like a kid general with his toy army.

Irving Chernev, Logical Chess: Move by Move (1957) has earned its place as a classical text that is often recommended to players who seek to improve their chess skills.