Chess Basics
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Description
Book Introduction
“The Fundamentals of Chess is the greatest book on chess ever written.”
-Mikhail Botvinnik (6th World Chess Champion)
Jose Raúl Capablanca is a legendary chess player whose name is known to anyone who knows even a little about chess.
He was considered a chess prodigy from a young age and made a name for himself by defeating the Cuban chess champion at the age of 12. In 1921, he defeated another outstanding player in history, mathematician Emmanuel Lasker, to become the third world chess champion.
He remained the world chess champion for seven years until 1927, and from 1916 to 1924, he set a record of 40 wins, 23 draws, and 0 losses in 63 matches over eight years, becoming synonymous with a genius chess player in his time and exerting enormous influence on all aspects of society.
The book he wrote for chess beginners(?) is 『Chess Fundamentals』.
-Mikhail Botvinnik (6th World Chess Champion)
Jose Raúl Capablanca is a legendary chess player whose name is known to anyone who knows even a little about chess.
He was considered a chess prodigy from a young age and made a name for himself by defeating the Cuban chess champion at the age of 12. In 1921, he defeated another outstanding player in history, mathematician Emmanuel Lasker, to become the third world chess champion.
He remained the world chess champion for seven years until 1927, and from 1916 to 1924, he set a record of 40 wins, 23 draws, and 0 losses in 63 matches over eight years, becoming synonymous with a genius chess player in his time and exerting enormous influence on all aspects of society.
The book he wrote for chess beginners(?) is 『Chess Fundamentals』.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
introduction
PART 01
Chapter 1
First Principle: Ending, Middlegame, and Opening
1.
Simple mates
2.
phone that gets promoted
3.
Endings through phone
4.
Winning position in the middle game
5.
Relative value of objects
6.
General opening strategy
7.
Central control
8.
pitfall
Chapter 2
Additional principles in the endgame
9.
Basic principles
10.
classic ending
11.
Obtain the passed phone
12.
How to find out which phone will be promoted first
13.
opposition
14.
The relative value of knights and bishops
15.
Mate with a knight and a bishop
16.
Queen against Rook
Chapter 3
A winning plan in the middle game
17.
Attack without Knight's support
18.
Attack with knights as the main force
19.
Win with an indirect attack
Chapter 4
General theory
20.
initiative
21.
Direct attack through material superiority
22.
The power of the threatening attack
23.
Giving up the initiative
24.
Blocking objects
25.
Performance evaluation in demonstration games
Chapter 5
Endgame Strategy
26.
A surprise attack from the other side
27.
The dangers of a safe position
28.
One look and phone ending
29.
Hard Ending: Two Rooks and a Pawn
30.
Rook, bishop and pawn vs. rook, knight and pawn
Chapter 6
Additional opening and middle game
31.
A few important things about the phone
32.
Any potential developments at Ruy Lopez
33.
The influence of 'holes'
PART 02
Theory in practice
1.
Queen's Gambit Rejection
2.
Queen's Gambit Rejection
3.
Irregular Defense
4.
French Defense
5.
Louis Lopez
6.
French Defense
7.
Louis Lopez
8.
Center game
9.
Queen's Gambit Rejection
10.
Petrov Defense
11.
Louis Lopez
12.
French Defense
13.
Louis Lopez
14.
Queen's Gambit Rejection
clear
Records left by a peerless chess genius,
Encounter with Capablanca Chess
Sponsors of "Chess Fundamentals"
PART 01
Chapter 1
First Principle: Ending, Middlegame, and Opening
1.
Simple mates
2.
phone that gets promoted
3.
Endings through phone
4.
Winning position in the middle game
5.
Relative value of objects
6.
General opening strategy
7.
Central control
8.
pitfall
Chapter 2
Additional principles in the endgame
9.
Basic principles
10.
classic ending
11.
Obtain the passed phone
12.
How to find out which phone will be promoted first
13.
opposition
14.
The relative value of knights and bishops
15.
Mate with a knight and a bishop
16.
Queen against Rook
Chapter 3
A winning plan in the middle game
17.
Attack without Knight's support
18.
Attack with knights as the main force
19.
Win with an indirect attack
Chapter 4
General theory
20.
initiative
21.
Direct attack through material superiority
22.
The power of the threatening attack
23.
Giving up the initiative
24.
Blocking objects
25.
Performance evaluation in demonstration games
Chapter 5
Endgame Strategy
26.
A surprise attack from the other side
27.
The dangers of a safe position
28.
One look and phone ending
29.
Hard Ending: Two Rooks and a Pawn
30.
Rook, bishop and pawn vs. rook, knight and pawn
Chapter 6
Additional opening and middle game
31.
A few important things about the phone
32.
Any potential developments at Ruy Lopez
33.
The influence of 'holes'
PART 02
Theory in practice
1.
Queen's Gambit Rejection
2.
Queen's Gambit Rejection
3.
Irregular Defense
4.
French Defense
5.
Louis Lopez
6.
French Defense
7.
Louis Lopez
8.
Center game
9.
Queen's Gambit Rejection
10.
Petrov Defense
11.
Louis Lopez
12.
French Defense
13.
Louis Lopez
14.
Queen's Gambit Rejection
clear
Records left by a peerless chess genius,
Encounter with Capablanca Chess
Sponsors of "Chess Fundamentals"
Into the book
In chess, tactics may change, but the fundamental strategic principles remain the same, so "Chess Fundamentals" is as relevant today as it was 13 years ago.
In fact, as long as the rules and principles of the game remain the same, they will still be valid 100 years from now.
Therefore, I hope that the reader will review the contents of this book with the confidence that it contains everything he or she needs, with nothing to add or change.
"Fundamentals of Chess" was the only standard of its kind 13 years ago, and I firmly believe it remains the only standard of its kind today.
--- p.
9
The first goal for a student is to become familiar with the capabilities of the instrument.
This is best learned by learning how to complete simple mates quickly.
--- p.
13
The phone has the least physical ability to control in the game.
However, even if the pawn is the only piece remaining, excluding the king, it is often enough to win.
As a general rule, the king must be at least one square away from his pawn.
--- p.
20
Now, let me give you some simple endings for how two pawns can win against one pawn, or how three pawns can win against two pawns.
I will not explain much since it is up to the students to figure it out on their own.
Moreover, no one can learn to do something well just by studying books.
Books can only serve as guides, and if a student has a teacher, the teacher must complete the rest.
Without a teacher, the student must learn through long and bitter experience that much of what is described in books is not actually applicable.
--- p.
26
This ending, so simple and obvious, demonstrates the immense difficulty you have to overcome when playing against an enemy who knows how to use their resources at will, even when you have few pieces left.
I will also remind students of the need to pay strict attention to these fundamentals, which form the foundation of true chess mastery.
In fact, as long as the rules and principles of the game remain the same, they will still be valid 100 years from now.
Therefore, I hope that the reader will review the contents of this book with the confidence that it contains everything he or she needs, with nothing to add or change.
"Fundamentals of Chess" was the only standard of its kind 13 years ago, and I firmly believe it remains the only standard of its kind today.
--- p.
9
The first goal for a student is to become familiar with the capabilities of the instrument.
This is best learned by learning how to complete simple mates quickly.
--- p.
13
The phone has the least physical ability to control in the game.
However, even if the pawn is the only piece remaining, excluding the king, it is often enough to win.
As a general rule, the king must be at least one square away from his pawn.
--- p.
20
Now, let me give you some simple endings for how two pawns can win against one pawn, or how three pawns can win against two pawns.
I will not explain much since it is up to the students to figure it out on their own.
Moreover, no one can learn to do something well just by studying books.
Books can only serve as guides, and if a student has a teacher, the teacher must complete the rest.
Without a teacher, the student must learn through long and bitter experience that much of what is described in books is not actually applicable.
--- p.
26
This ending, so simple and obvious, demonstrates the immense difficulty you have to overcome when playing against an enemy who knows how to use their resources at will, even when you have few pieces left.
I will also remind students of the need to pay strict attention to these fundamentals, which form the foundation of true chess mastery.
--- p.
30
30
Publisher's Review
Written by the chess legend Capablanca himself
A book for beginners, "Basics of Chess"
As the title suggests, 『The Fundamentals of Chess』 is a book that covers the principles of tactics and strategies that Capablanca believes are essential to know in chess.
However, the level of thinking that Capablanca has is a bit high, so it cannot be said to be a book for complete beginners who do not know anything about chess.
Even these days, when I look at English-language reviews of this book, I often see comments like, “I thought it was a book for complete beginners just by looking at the title, but it’s surprisingly difficult.”
Therefore, this book is suitable for readers who have already understood the basics of chess, such as its structure and principles, as the next step.
So, when deciding on the title, I thought a lot about whether to use "Basics of Chess" or "Fundamentals," but since there are already many books that claim to be "Basics of Chess" for complete beginners, I decided on "Basics of Chess" to keep it different in nature.
However, Capablanca was famous for his very intuitive play, and 『The Fundamentals of Chess』 was written in an easy-to-understand, intuitive, and concise style that reflects his temperament.
If you know chess notation and have a chessboard and pieces handy to help you check the diagrams in the book, you will find it easy to follow the flow of this book.
Similar to the chess of Capablanca
A book with a structure that leads from the endgame to the opening
In PART 01, 『Chess Fundamentals』 emphasizes the importance of the endgame skills that students must possess in a chess match through endgame examples and explanations, while at the same time explaining the principles of chess within the structure of simplified examples.
After covering the middle game operations and studying general theories, we return to understanding end game strategy and tactics.
And finally, it deals with the middle game and the opening, which is in a way the reverse structure of a chess game.
This can be said to reflect Capablanca's philosophy that chess should be learned from the endgame.
In PART 02, Capablanca himself presents 14 of his own matches from start to finish, providing commentary and pointing out key points to analyze.
Through this, readers can naturally understand the mindset, technical strategies, and tactics that Capablanca used when playing chess.
Capablanca's thoughts on chess
Test your chess skills
In the preface to this book, Capablanca also criticizes the hypermodern theory advocated by Aaron Nimzovich and others.
It is also true that there are some who say that Capablanca's image as a genius chess player is arrogant.
However, Capablanca also presents cases in the text where the solution suggested by Nimzovich, whom he criticized in the introduction, was helpful, and he also analyzes the games in which he lost very intensively.
He even reflects on his own lack of knowledge about openings and says that he gains knowledge through defeat.
When we look at this, the image of the arrogant and lazy genius chess player that people often think of is far from the image of Capablanca shown in 『The Fundamentals of Chess』.
Rather, he is a self-reflective player who does not rest on his laurels and continues to reflect on his painful problems. I wonder if the impression of arrogance is not due to his cool-headed advice based on the knowledge he has gained as a player.
What Capablanca Chess Shows
Another pleasure of chess
The reason Capablanca's method continues to be discussed throughout the long history of chess, and his books are still read and inspired today, is probably because the intense color he displayed still persists.
Even today, Capablanca is synonymous with the greatest chess player and a huge mountain that chess players must overcome.
The moment I learned that he had written a book himself (and that it was for 'relatively' beginners!) and that it had never been introduced in Korea, I wanted to translate it and introduce it to you.
However, there was a dilemma that many chess books published in our country were aimed primarily at beginners, and thus likely lacked commercial viability.
Nevertheless, it was something that could not be put off, and it was created to commemorate the World Chess Championships being held in 2021 for the first time in three years and the adoption of chess as an official event at the 2022 Asian Games.
A book for beginners, "Basics of Chess"
As the title suggests, 『The Fundamentals of Chess』 is a book that covers the principles of tactics and strategies that Capablanca believes are essential to know in chess.
However, the level of thinking that Capablanca has is a bit high, so it cannot be said to be a book for complete beginners who do not know anything about chess.
Even these days, when I look at English-language reviews of this book, I often see comments like, “I thought it was a book for complete beginners just by looking at the title, but it’s surprisingly difficult.”
Therefore, this book is suitable for readers who have already understood the basics of chess, such as its structure and principles, as the next step.
So, when deciding on the title, I thought a lot about whether to use "Basics of Chess" or "Fundamentals," but since there are already many books that claim to be "Basics of Chess" for complete beginners, I decided on "Basics of Chess" to keep it different in nature.
However, Capablanca was famous for his very intuitive play, and 『The Fundamentals of Chess』 was written in an easy-to-understand, intuitive, and concise style that reflects his temperament.
If you know chess notation and have a chessboard and pieces handy to help you check the diagrams in the book, you will find it easy to follow the flow of this book.
Similar to the chess of Capablanca
A book with a structure that leads from the endgame to the opening
In PART 01, 『Chess Fundamentals』 emphasizes the importance of the endgame skills that students must possess in a chess match through endgame examples and explanations, while at the same time explaining the principles of chess within the structure of simplified examples.
After covering the middle game operations and studying general theories, we return to understanding end game strategy and tactics.
And finally, it deals with the middle game and the opening, which is in a way the reverse structure of a chess game.
This can be said to reflect Capablanca's philosophy that chess should be learned from the endgame.
In PART 02, Capablanca himself presents 14 of his own matches from start to finish, providing commentary and pointing out key points to analyze.
Through this, readers can naturally understand the mindset, technical strategies, and tactics that Capablanca used when playing chess.
Capablanca's thoughts on chess
Test your chess skills
In the preface to this book, Capablanca also criticizes the hypermodern theory advocated by Aaron Nimzovich and others.
It is also true that there are some who say that Capablanca's image as a genius chess player is arrogant.
However, Capablanca also presents cases in the text where the solution suggested by Nimzovich, whom he criticized in the introduction, was helpful, and he also analyzes the games in which he lost very intensively.
He even reflects on his own lack of knowledge about openings and says that he gains knowledge through defeat.
When we look at this, the image of the arrogant and lazy genius chess player that people often think of is far from the image of Capablanca shown in 『The Fundamentals of Chess』.
Rather, he is a self-reflective player who does not rest on his laurels and continues to reflect on his painful problems. I wonder if the impression of arrogance is not due to his cool-headed advice based on the knowledge he has gained as a player.
What Capablanca Chess Shows
Another pleasure of chess
The reason Capablanca's method continues to be discussed throughout the long history of chess, and his books are still read and inspired today, is probably because the intense color he displayed still persists.
Even today, Capablanca is synonymous with the greatest chess player and a huge mountain that chess players must overcome.
The moment I learned that he had written a book himself (and that it was for 'relatively' beginners!) and that it had never been introduced in Korea, I wanted to translate it and introduce it to you.
However, there was a dilemma that many chess books published in our country were aimed primarily at beginners, and thus likely lacked commercial viability.
Nevertheless, it was something that could not be put off, and it was created to commemorate the World Chess Championships being held in 2021 for the first time in three years and the adoption of chess as an official event at the 2022 Asian Games.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Publication date: February 14, 2022
- Page count, weight, size: 328 pages | 380g | 130*210*21mm
- ISBN13: 9791190406130
- ISBN10: 1190406136
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