5 Stars ( )

The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev has one major flaw in my eyes: since it was first printed in 1965 it doesn’t use Algebraic Notation. So I have to act as a sort of translator for my mind and convert it into Algebraic Notation. I can’t easily visualize the board since I suck at the game of Chess, but the book provides illustrations for those of us that can’t see everything going on in their mind’s eye.

There are sixty-two games with each game starting out with a bit of commentary on what we are about to see. Each game has a general theme of how it embodies a certain piece of Chess Strategy. As with most books on Chess, it is probably best to play along with the game if you have a board and pieces as I do. Some of the games seem to be misprinted or have the moves in the wrong order, but the little illustrations help out with that.

Another method to enjoy this book is to find a Chess Database, look up the game and use the book as an additional commentary. For me, it is easier to do this than to play out the game using an old notation. ( )