The most instructive games of chess ever played : 62 masterpieces of modern chess strategy

I play chess on-line, and generally put up a pretty good fight but lose in the end. I have been on the lookout for books that would help me improve my game. I am seldom able to learn much from replaying famous games -- the strategy is too subtle for me, all the sacrificing of pieces to gain a small edge against another superior player. But this book looked too good to pass up. 62 games, selected for their instructional value. And the price was right, so I bought it. To my disappointment, it was really no different from the other books of grand-master chess games I had. For my money, a much better book is Ray Cheng's Practical Chess Exercises: 600 Lessons From Tactics to Strategy. It's chess problems, but they're well-designed, and reasonably advanced and not tricky. I learn something from every problem. That's more like it. 62 Masterpieces Of Chess Strategy. Rook On The Seventh Rank -- The King Is A Strong Piece -- Knight Outpost At Q5 -- Aggressive Rook In The Ending -- The Passed Pawn -- Weak Pawns, Weak Squares And Mighty, Mighty Knights -- Finesse In The Ending -- Phalanx Of Pawns -- Passed Pawn's Lust To Expand -- Rook And Pawn Ending -- King In The Center -- The Shifting Attack -- Every Move A Threat! -- A Touch Of Jujitsu -- The King-side Attack -- Magnificent Outpost -- The Art Of Exchanging Pieces -- The Isolated Pawn -- The See-saw Check, Zugzwang, And Other Tactical Tricks -- The Two Bishops -- Variety Of Themes -- Systematic Strangulation -- Good Bishop And Bad Bishop -- Coup De Grâce -- The Powerful Passed Pawns -- Bishop And A Half -- Prophetic Strategy -- Problem-like Finale -- A Pawn Is A Pawn Is A Pawn -- Board With Excitement -- Elegant Simplification -- Four Endings In One -- Bishop And Pawn Ending Deluxe -- Brilliant Career Of A Pawn -- Dispatching The King's Musketeers -- The Sheltering Pawn -- The Power Of Position Play -- That Old Black Magic -- The Singular Strategy Of Steinitz -- The Odyssey Of An Isolated Pawn -- Zugzwang, The Invincible Weapon -- Symphony Of Combinations -- Escorting The Potential Queen -- The Pillsbury Bind -- The Galloping Knight -- The Roving Rook -- Web Of Black Squares -- Endgame Arithmetic -- In The Grand Manner -- March Of The Little Pawns -- Irresistible Pawn-roller -- Quiet, Like A Tiger -- Cornucopia Of Ideas -- Endgame Duel: Knight Against Rook -- Perennial Favorite -- Command Of The Board -- The King Takes A Walk -- Surprise! Surprise! -- Bolt From The Blue -- Lured Into Zugzwang -- The Flash Of A Mighty Surprise -- Symphony Of Heavenly Length. Irving Chernev. Originally Published: New York : Simon And Schuster, 1965. Includes Indexes. Includes Indexes. Here are 62 masterly demonstrations of the basic strategies of winning at chess, compiled and annotated by one of the game's most admired and respected writers. Each game offers a classic example of a fundamental problem and its best resolution, described and diagrammed in the clearest possible manner for players of every level of skill.As Irving Chernev observes in the Introduction,'Who will doubt the tremendous power exerted by a Rook posted on the seventh rank after seeing Capablanca's delightfully clear-cut demonstration in Game No. 1 against Tartakower? And who will not learn a great deal about the art of handling Rook and Pawn endings (the most important endings in chess) after playing through Tarrasch's game against Thorold?'Chernev's lively and illuminating notes on each game reveal precisely how Capablanca, Tarrasch, and other masters — Fischer, Alekhine, Lasker, and Petrosian among them — turn theory into practice as they attack and maneuver to control the board. Readers will find their techniques improving with each lesson as Irving Chernev dissects winning strategies, comments on alternate tactics, and marvels at the finesse of winning play, noting at the end of his Introduction:'I might just as well have called this collection The Most Beautiful Games of Chess Ever Played.' Here are 62 masterly demonstrations of the basic strategies of winning at chess, compiled and annotated by one of the game's most admired and respected writers. Each game offers a classic example of a fundamental problem and its best resolution, described and diagrammed in the clearest possible manner for players of every level of skill. As Irving Chernev observes in the Introduction, "Who will doubt the tremendous power exerted by a Rook posted on the seventh rank after seeing Capablanca's delightfully clear-cut demonstration in Game No. 1 against Tartakower? And who will not learn a great deal about the art of handling Rook and Pawn endings (the most important endings in chess) after playing through Tarrasch's game against Thorold?" Chernev's lively and illuminating notes on each game reveal precisely how Capablanca, Tarrasch, and other masters Fischer, Alekhine, Lasker, and Petrosian among them turn theory into practice as they attack and maneuver to control the board. Readers will find their techniques improving with each lesson as Irving Chernev dissects winning strategies, comments on alternate tactics, and marvels at the finesse of winning play, noting at the end of his "I might just as well have called this collection The Most Beautiful Games of Chess Ever Played ." 62 masterly demonstrations of the basic strategies of winning, featuring games by the greatest chess masters — Capablanca, Tarrasch, Fischer, Alekhine, Lasker, others. Each game offers a classic example of a fundamental problem and its best resolution, described and diagramed in the clearest possible manner for players of every level of skill. 146 illustrations.