Product Description

This book takes the student on a journey through his own mind and returns him to the chess board with a wealth of new-found knowledge and the promise of a significant gain in strength. Most amateurs possess erroneous thinking processes that remain with them throughout their chess lives. These flaws in their mental armour result in stinging defeats and painful reversals. Books can be bought and studied, lessons can be taken -- but in the end, these elusive problems always prove to be extremely difficult to eradicate. Seeking a solution to this dilemma, the author wrote down the thoughts of his students while they played actual games, analysed them, and catalogued the most common misconceptions that arose. This second edition greatly expands on the information contained in the popular first edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50573 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 443 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781890085025
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Jeremy Silman

Customer Reviews

Definitely helped to improve my play
I had read wonderful reviews about Silman's other book, "How to Reassess Your Chess" ("HTRYC"), so I purchased it. Within a week after that I was told that I should read "Inside the Amateur's Mind" ("ITAM") first. So I put HTRYC down and picked up ITAM. I was skeptical at first. After all, who cares what goes through a patzer's head in a game -- I want to learn from masters and grandmasters. However, it was scary to see how similarly I incorrectly analyzed a given position or manner of executing a plan with the amateurs. These mistakes are vividly pointed out and practical advice for analysis and planning is presented.

Silman's method is based on understanding the imbalances inherent in every position. He gives 7 elements to analyze: (1) material; (2) minor pieces; (3) pawn structure; (4) files and weak squares; (5) space; (6) development; and (7) initiative. I have started forcing myself to break down the elements of a position and develop a plan dictated by those elements. Silman demonstrates how even seemingly minor differences like the battle between a bishop and a knight can consume the entirety of a middlegame plan.

I have already seen the benfits of this thinking method. For instance, I recently annotated one of the test positions at the end of ITAM (an excellent feature of the book BTW) and compared it with Silman's notes and found that I was 70-80% accurate in making my assessments -- a big improvement for me. He also emphasizes an attacking mentality (seize the initiative! Make you opponent react to your threats!) which has helped my game already.

It is also very instructive to see the way Silman defeats amateurs who are given superior or winning positions. I don't play against GM's so it is instructive to see how to take apart a C through Expert player who misahandles a good position.

After completing the test positions, I am going to spend a month or two sharpening my tactics so they can catch up with my new-found positional understanding. After that, I will read ITAM again to see what jewels of wisdom I missed (or need re-emphasized). This book definitely deserves being re-read.

Two notes of criticism. It is one thing to get a strong positional advantage and develop the correct plan, it is another cash it in to a victory. There are several times throughout the book where Silman shows how an Amateur chose the incorrect plan but does not show the technique of carrying out the correct plan. In fairness, he usually does demonstrate the technique of the correct plan, but not always. It is frustrating to look at a position and say, "okay, I see what the incorrect plan is, but how do I impliment the correct one?" and then get no explanation. Also, there are a number of typographical errors. Although I understand the third edition is a vast improvement over earlier editions, they still creep up with regularity.

Despite these criticisms, I highly recommend this book. Much more accessible to the under-expert player than a number of other books. Once I feel I have truly mastered the lessens in ITAM, I will tackle HTRYC. However, there are a lot of lessens to tackle, so it might be a while.

Excellent Book Excellent Explanations
Per other readers' recommendations I read this book before reading How to Reassess Your Chess, which is also a great book. In the beginning of this book Mr. Silman, describes how chess players grow in strength as they gain experience. His characterization is correct as far as my development has gone. I am not a really strong player, I play most of my games against ChessMaster 8000 and 9000. When I got Amateur Mind my Chessmaster rating was around 1100 and I wasn't getting any better. Now a couple of months later, it is between 1500 and 1600 and I can randomly beat the 1800+ personalities. I think that is a tremendous advance in a very sort time. I attribute that advance to Mr. Silman's books. Thanks to this book I know what I have to work on so I can continue to grow.

Why do I think this book has helped me so greatly? This book covers several imbalances (situations) that arise in chess, for example, common pawn groupings, open files and diagonals, piece positioning, initiative, development, and more. Mr. Silman explains, using excellent prose, how to recognize these themes over the board, then recommends ways or rules you can use to take advantage of your advantages and your opponents weaknesses. Amateur's Mind uses Mr. Silman's past students to explain chess positions with respect to his imbalances theory. Their explanations reinforce the concepts. Then they play through the positions and explain their thought processes as they play. Their mistakes are so similar to those I make and the ones explained in other books (like digressing or not following a plan). For example; suppose I need to do two things to win, post a night on b6 and lock in an enemy knight. Then I notice an enemy pawn hanging. A common mistake exemplified in The Amateur's Mind, is to win the pawn and delay winning the game.

Now, I use these people's experience to guide me in my games. There is one more good part of this book. Mr. Silman claims that all strong masters make mistakes. Based on that fact he theorizes that it is possible for a good player to win against a stronger player. One of the last examples in his book demonstrates this fact. It was a game between a master and a candidate master. The game and its analysis is very motivational. Once again, I see this example played out in my games. I make a mistake, realize it, I know I'll loose because of it, and the better (human) player makes a mistake or overlooks mine.

Based on the reasons I've given here and many, many more, I credit Mr. Silman's books, especially "The Amateur's Mind" with the sudden and dramatic 500 - 600 point increase in my playing strength. Even though the rating is not valid I believe the point increase is. I think a player can significantly increase his playing strength by reading this book and concentrating on a topic during games. I even think players much stronger than myself will benefit from this book and Mr. Silman's methods.

A treasurehouse for the amateur but aspiring chess player..
Too often the aspiring amateur encounters serious and theoretically significant books that have a single failing: they are written by Grandmasters for Grandmasters.

This book by Jeremy Silman is a wonderful antidote to this syndrome. Unlike many other chess professionals, Silman seems to be genuinely fascinated with the thought processes of typical amateur tournament players, many of whom have some mixture of talent, knowledge, and experience, but can't put these elements together forcefully.

The format of the book is well described in other reviews here. Suffice it to say that this is the most valuable didactic about the real heart of chess- planning and execution in the middle game- I have encountered over 25 years of playing and teaching.

Although Silman's frequently amusing expressions of derision about the faulty analyses of his students might seem demeaning, there is a genuine love of the game and eagerness to help others gain mastery that consistently shines through.

This is a book that won't sit on your shelf if you have any affection and ambition in your chess playing, and genuinely merits the highest recommendation.