Purchases from our

chess shop help keep

ChessCafe.com freely
accessible:

From the Archives...

Since it came online in 1996, ChessCafe.com has published thousands of
articles, reviews, and columns. This high quality material remains available in
the
ChessCafe.com Archives. However, we decided that the occasional
From the selection from the archives might be a welcome addition to the regular fare.
We hope you enjoy
From the Archives...
Archives
Study Chess with

For Young and Old Alike

Matthew Sadler
by Matthew Sadler

by Glenn Budzinski
Translate this page
Tips for Young Players, by Matthew Sadler, 1999 Everyman Publishers,
English Algebraic Notation, Softcover, 160pp., $12.95

According to the back cover of Tips for Young Players

by British Grandmaster Matthew Sadler, the book is
"written by one of the world's leading players, aimed
at young players looking to improve their play and
practical results" and "packed with advice on every

aspect of the game." The question, of course, is

Chess Tips for the
whether the book will hold up to such lofty billing.

Improving Player
by Amatzia Avni
The 160 pages are segregated into eleven chapters:

Chapters 1 and 2 discuss general principles of the
opening and middlegame, respectively; Chapter 3 is
entitled "Middlegame Tactics"; "Endgame Principles"
is Chapter 4; "Building an Opening Repertoire" offers some ideas about
selecting openings; "Let's Go!," "The Middlegame: Attacking Play" and "The
Middlegame: Positional Play" take a look at some plans and strategies to
employ in the middlegame; Chapter 9 is "Endgame Play"; additional ideas and
training to improve one's play are offered in Chapter 10 and Chapter 11
contains solutions to the exercises included in the first nine chapters. Each
chapter also includes an overview of the material covered within. There is
neither an introduction nor an index included in the book.

By definition, most self-improvement books are usually little more than a

Practical Endgame Play:

Beyond the Basics
regurgitation of the same old themes, generally repackaged for a new
by Glenn Flear
audience. Although Sadler still covers the prerequisite principles of the game,
it is clear from the beginning that there is more here than just a pretty cover.

We were impressed with Sadler's fresh, new spin on old ideas. For instance,
the concept of the initiative is often described by authors in vague, nebulous
terms, usually leaving the reader with more questions than answers. Sadler's
explanation, however, is clear and on the mark:

"...To take a simple analogy, the aim of both sides in a football

[American soccer] match is to score a goal. But only one side can score
at one time – the side that has the ball! However much the other side
wants to score, they can't do anything until they win the ball back. In
chess terms, you would say that the side with the ball has the initiative –
 it has the power to make things happen" (page 13).

Also commendable is the following explanation included under the chapter

covering general principles of the middlegame:

"The basic aim of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. We all
know this: it's in every book ...and it's true! But it can give you the
wrong impression of what you should be trying to do during a game.
The crucial point is that our aim is to checkmate the opponent's king

eventually...There is more than one way of defeating your opponent: the

launch of a direct, violent attack, sacrificing a handful of pieces along
the way, is the most spectacular, and usually the quickest method, but it
is the exception to the rule. The normal path to victory is to win some of
the opponent's pieces and thus to have more pieces than your opponent.
Eventually you may aim to have a position where the opponent only has
his king while you have several pieces: then you checkmate him" (page
20).

The importance of the center is discussed in several chapters, including

Chapter 6, where he analyzes part of a game he played. Here he provides a
clearly-stated, general rule about play against the center:

"In order to force weaknesses which you can exploit later, you have to be
connected with your opponent's position. Putting pressure on the
opponent's centre is the first, easy and obvious way to do it. Secondly,
by putting pressure on the opponent's centre, you restrict your
opponent's choices" (page 81).

Sprinkled throughout the book and highlighted in bold typeface are various
"Tips"and "Warnings." Most are worth noting. Examples of Tips include:
"Long-range pieces [rooks, bishops and queens] should be placed where
nothing blocks them: on open files and diagonals. Also, long-range pieces will
come into their own once fewer pawns and the position opens up" (page 31);
"The queen is the 'finishing-off' piece. The piece that, once you've sacrificed
plenty of 'little guys' to break open the position, mops up the mess and applies
the finishing touches" (page 100). A warning to be heeded, not likely to be
found in other books, is to "Keep your sense of danger by observing which
pieces are protecting or covering other pieces. Be aware when those

relationships are changed" (page 42).

There's an old Polish maxim that states that the more one strays from the well-
trodden paths, the greater the chance of producing material that may be viewed
as controversial. To Sadler's credit, he has tried to inject his own ideas as
much as possible into the game's immutable themes. Unfortunately, the down
side to creativity is that it occasionally raises a few eyebrows.

For example, when comparing and contrasting the middlegame and endgame
phases, Sadler writes, "In the endgame your position is slow and cumbersome
– if you place all your pieces on one side, you will not be able to get back
quickly to deal with the problems on the other side", which is quite true (page
52). We aren't quite sure how this contrasts with the middlegame, since if one
places all his pieces on one side of the board at that stage, he will also most
likely suffer the same consequences only quicker, as Sadler himself indicates

in Chapter Two, when discussing where to attack.

While most exercises are appropriate based on the material presented in the
foregoing chapter, in certain cases, however, it is questionable whether the
student has been properly equipped to handle the positions. There are a few
exercises which appear to fall into the category that could be referred to as
"tests of missing knowledge". Two examples are Exercises 1 and 2 in Chapter
8, "The Middlegame: Positional Play." In the first position,

[FEN "rnbq1rk1/1p2bppp/p2p1n2/4p3/

2B1P3/2N1BN2/PPP2PPP/R2Q1RK1"]

the reader is asked to "Assess the weaknesses in Black's structure and suggest
a way they might [be] 'repaired'." The weaknesses in the Black position are
relatively obvious: the backward d-pawn and weak d5-square. Repairing them
with 1...Be6 and the obliging 2 Bxe6 fxe6 may not be too obvious to the
reader, though, considering that this method was not discussed.

Exercise 2 is a similar position:

[FEN "r1bq1rk1/2p1bppp/p1np1n2/1p2p3/

4P3/1BP2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQR1K1"]

Again, the reader is asked to assess Black's structural weakness and repair it.
Experienced players will probably immediately recognize this position to be a
variation of the Ruy Lopez and realize that the proper continuation for Black
is 1...Na5 2 Bc2 c5, since Black's weak point is the b5-pawn, as Sadler points
out. He also mentions that the weakness is not as obvious as in the previous
example – a mild understatement, to say the least. Although we aren't

questioning Sadler's use of this particular position as an example of a

structural weakness, we can't help but wonder whether the typical reader of
this book will be able to offer a meaningful response to this exercise, given
that examples such as this were not previously addressed.

Somewhat more serious is Sadler's advocacy that the reader play openings
based on "tricks or traps" (page 67). This is not an opinion shared by the
majority of chess self-improvement book authors. Sadler also seems to be in
conflict with himself on this point, given that, on one hand, he stresses the
need to understand an opening rather than memorizing moves and, on the
other hand, he recommends playing openings based on traps, which are
usually no more than specific sequences of moves that are probably best
learned through memorization.

However, the objections raised in this review are rather insignificant when
placed in context with the rest of the book. Tips for Young Players is a clean
breath of fresh air in the world of self-improvement books. In his own
inimitable style, Sadler has prepared an excellent account of the basic
concepts of the game that every beginner (regardless of age) needs to know to
become a competent player. As long as the student understands how the
pieces move and is familiar with algebraic notation, this is certainly as good a
book as any with which to begin one's journey on the road to chess mastery
or, at least, to a better understanding of the game.
 © ChessCafe.com. All Rights Reserved.

This article first appeared at ChessCafe.com in February 2000.

 
 
[ChessCafe Home Page] [ChessCafe Shop] [ChessCafe Blog]

[Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room]

[ChessCafe Links] [ChessCafe Archives]

[About ChessCafe.com] [Contact ChessCafe.com] [Advertising]

© 2013 BrainGamz, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

"ChessCafe.com®" is a registered trademark of BrainGamz, Inc.