Attacking Chess: Aggressive Strategies and Inside Moves from the U.S. Junior Chess Champion

by Josh Waitzkin, Fred Waitzkin, Waitzkin

Book Overview

The subject of the book and movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, Josh Waitzkin has long been the top-ranked player for his age in the United States and a role model for chess-playing kids everywhere. Now, for the first time, Waitzkin reveals the aggressive tactics and psychological techniques that have propelled him to the forefront of the chess world. His unique introduction to the game combines solid instruction with stories about his personal experiences...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684802503
• ISBN13: 9780684802503
• Release Date: August 1995
• Publisher: Fireside
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Great book for all levels

This is a great book for all levels of play, will teach beginners basic tactics like forks, pins, skewers and discovered attacks, will teach intermediate players more advanced concepts like sacrificing for mate, zwischenzugs and queen traps, and will refresh advanced players’ knowledge of the game, by showing examples from his games and having the reader try to figure out the best move. Great book!

More than a Book About Chess

I've played chess since I was a kid, but have never studied the game, which means I play what I call jail house chess, the kind of chess guys pick up in the joint without ever studying the game or really learning to play it well. The reason, of course, is that every chess book I picked up was dry as dust and only showed chess diagrams. Josh Waitzkin does more than that. He talks about the game. He manages to convey the joy of combat, the thrill of the attack, the terror of being on the run. He puts the emotions into chess, which of course is why we play it. So the book is a good light read, lots of fun, and inspired me to play more chess again. What more can you ask from a book about chess. If you are an advanced player, you probably won't learn anything you didn't know about the game. I didn't learn all that much, though it was good to learn that I had more or less figured out all the principles on my own over the years. I did learn one opening trap, which I'll never forget now. I did pick up on Josh's principle of destroying the defences even if it takes a sacrifice. Most of all, I enjoyed the book. Ranks as one of the best Christmas presents I've ever had, in terms of hours of entertainment.

A good book for learning and a great book for reading

Josh Waitzkin's book is well written and useful. The beginner parts are easy, but the more advanced parts really helped me. The things that really helped me improve were -The power of kamikaze -The bust( this chapter makes the whole book worthwhile) -Zwichenzug -Pawn Storm All of these things, especially the bust, helped me win the 2005 Supernationals for my section. I give the credit to this book. I recommend a 900-1400 read this book. It's too simple for anyone above that rating. In addition, it is a very entertaining book, and has a lot of nice narrative stories. An overall good buy, and I highly recommend it.

Excellent book for all levels!

This is unlike any other chess book I've read, which is a whole lot. Not only does it provide excellent instruction, but it has narrative selections about Josh Waitzkin's life that kept me interested and gave me a love for chess. I loved his unique chapter about placing the rook on the seventh rank. It is true that it doesn't have that many puzzles, but he elaborates on each one. Because of this, I remember each theme he mentions and I am able to apply these to my games. This should definitely be on the shelf of every chess player whether they're serious players or not. Excellent book!

a modern classic

What a joy this book is to read! Not only does Josh give us the way chess is really played, but the book is full of instructions and tactical methods, including ways of opening lines for effective attack. I am a bit amazed that this book was given average reviews by a few people. They claim this book is only for beginners to intermediate. However, the author clearly states at the beginning of the book that the combination of methods he presents make for the highest forms of chess. No doubt. It is true that he starts with basic tactics but he works up very quickly to advanced concepts. I do not give high praise easily to books, but this one certainly deserves it. Mastery of the information Josh presents can put one very quickly on the road to chess mastery. He gives basic tactics, then works to sacrifices, opening lines and a ton of excellent information on breaking through the oppositions defense. This book is one of the few classics in chess. A truly great book.

Excellent tutorial of the basic strategies of chess.

I had been playing chess for a while and had read some books on chess. I read this book on the recommendation of a friend and, even though i already knew a lot of the concepts, the style and examples drew me into a better understanding of the illustrated strategies. Excellent as a first book on strategy on novices or a refresher course for more experienced players, not only of the strategies, but of the thinking and the emotion behind the decisions players have to make at the chess board.