Rapid Chess Improvement (Everyman Chess)
by Michael de la Maza
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Book Summary Information
Author: Michael de la MazaBrand: Everyman
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-06-01
ISBN: 1857442695
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Everyman Chess
Book Reviews of Rapid Chess Improvement (Everyman Chess)
Book Review: 400 points in 400 days?
Summary: 5 Stars
These are excellent results. This was what the author achieved by a chess improvement program focussing on tactics. The program was quite time intensive: 2-3 hours per day over 20 months; he estimates over 2000 hours of study total. He ultimately increased his rating by 620 points, from about 1400 (which is the average for adult USCF players) to finish as a USCF expert rated 2041.
Unfortunately, no one using his system has had results quite this good. The Knights Errant is a group of chess bloggers trying to reproduce his results using the methods in his book. So far the highest improvement recorded (as of 19 June 2007) is from USCF 760 to 1169; a 409 point increase, but not terribly impressive given the very low starting rating.
Otherwise, of the eighteen bloggers publicly reporting their progress, just three bloggers have reported increases of over 300 points (high of 329), four bloggers report increases of 200-299 points, another four report increases of 100-199 points. Six show less of an increase, although some are not posting regular reports on their progress. So out of 18 chess bloggers, 1 shows an increase in 400 points, 11 show increases of 100-300+ points, 6 report increases 0-100 points. No one reports making the expert level (USCF 2000+) using the methods of this book.
Still, the bloggers are averaging around a 200 point increase. It is worth noting how hard it is to get very good at chess: A 200 point rating differential means that you can beat the lower rated player 75% of the time So to go from 1400 to 2000 involves raising your level by 3 classes, beating the players in the lower class 75% each time you jump a class. This is very hard to do: only 3% of US Chess Federation members have Expert ratings (2000 or above). Out of nearly 70,000 USCF members, only about 1,000 are experts, and only about 500 are rated as masters or higher.
The book gets 5 stars because it's a sensation: a great story, a great motivational read, and good advice about the importance of tactics. A controversial book, and yet an overnight classic of a player who made the jump that all passionate chess players would like to make.
What else could help players trying to improve? The book plays down the value of studying openings. But Bobby Fischer's famous advice to someone who wanted to take lessons with him was: for the first lesson, play through every line of the (encyclopedic!) book Modern Chess Openings!...then for the second lesson, do it again!! Bookup, the chess opening software, claims that your rating will go up over 200 points in 9 months, or they'll refund your money--difficult to do if openings weren't important.
Strategy is also important: the classic here is Nimzovich's book, My System--two Amazon reviewers testify that it added 200-500 points to their ratings (Emanuel London & T.Barenholz). A friend of mine (FIDE rating 2200+) told me that to improve, I needed to a) master the openings; b) understand strategy: he recommended the famous successor book to Nimzovich: John Watson's Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy.
Summary of Rapid Chess Improvement (Everyman Chess)
Rapid Chess Improvement is the ideal book for serious adult players who want to improve. It describes a study plan which came about thanks to a re-evaluation of standard chess teaching and includes several unique components aimed at improving deficiencies in the play of adult players.This is in sharp contrast to most books aimed at this level which are usually written by very strong players who have long forgotten what it feels like to be starting out in the game.
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