Judgment and Planning in Chess ebook

Depending on who you talk to Max Euwe was either a worthy successor (if shortlived) to Alekhine as World Chess Champion in the mid-nineteen thirties, or the weakest of all the world champions who just got lucky against arguably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, chess player of his era. Euwe, following his reign, became an author and I have consistently found his books helpful, easy, clear and precise. This is one of my favorite's.

The 5th World Champion, Dr. Max Euwe, is an underrated chessplayer; I think this is because he knocked off Alekhine during the latter's uncontrollable alcoholism. The chess legacy of this man lies, however, more in his textbooks than in his playing career. His prose is very clear, and to the point. I would even say that at many points he is refreshingly terse!

JUDGMENT AND PLANNING IN CHESS is not difficult to comprehend (I didn't say "easy" because it WILL require some work, but not an inordinate amount), and because Euwe explains things that are missing in other, even great, middlegame texts. I have read many of the classics (Niemzowitsch, Pachman, Silman, Stean, etc.), but none of them, to my recollection, explicitly detail the power of a queenside majority (Ch. II), or "The Queen's side Attack" (Ch. III. Euwe's prose on Bogoljubow-Capablanca from New York, 1924 which begins the chapter is brilliant, in my opinion). Another topic that he devotes much (needed!) time to is "Knight vs. Bad Bishop" (Ch. IV). All experienced players have heard of this and have a concept of what a bad bishop is, but Dr. Euwe actually makes exploiting such an advantage understandable. In this chapter, the variations given are particularly valuable.

Now, the book is invaluable simply for coverage of the above. The author does cover many of the "standard" topics of middlegame texts, including "Weakening the King's Side" (Ch. V) and of course "The Attack on the King's Field" (Ch. VI), but even here he has something worthwhile to add, especially in that he does not discuss the maneuvers of the attacking side in a vacuum (as many authors do) and thoroughly analyzes the example games as a BATTLE, and not as a one-sided MASSACRE.

Implicit throughout "Weak Pawns" (Ch. VII) is the difficult motif of ALTERNATION (Euwe even calls it by name at a couple of turns). Provided herein are good examples of play against isolated and hanging pawns, the latter not receiving enough attention in the chess literature, in my opinion.

"Strong Squares" (Ch. VIII) is also, it seems to me, unique. If you have surveyed Kmoch's PAWN POWER, this chapter will no doubt reinforce the power of sealer/sweeper maneuvers when available. In fact, Euwe talks about "sealing," both as a detriment to the defender, and how the attacker should avoid the sealing off of weaknesses! Very interesting!

"Open Files" (Ch. IX) is much akin to Stean's "The Minority Attack" in SIMPLE CHESS, but is well-done for those who will encounter this for the first time, even if the title of this chapter should be "Half-open Files."

Some general comments. There are plenty of diagrams, and Euwe certainly utilizes them in all the right places, making it possiible to gain much from this work on-the-go, because his "expository power," as the blurb calls it, is tremendous. Euwe also does not overburden us with variations: he includes them if they are important to understanding the main play, or if they help illustrate the subject of the current chapter. Also (fair warning!), this book is written in Descriptive Notation (even using Kt for Knight), so you will have to know how to read this. But if you have been reading other classics, this should be no problem.

HIGHLY Recommended.

If you are intermediate or "advanced-beginner" and have been stuck where you are for too long, you really need this book. The content is excellent. The notation and editing are less than ideal, so if you can you should have multiple chessboards (real or virtual) available simultaneously to follow the examples. The point of the book is "why?" Some people spend a couple years memorizing an openings book 15 deep only to end up in a situation they totally do not understand, and still lose to a weaker player who understands the "why". Books like this are designed to avoid that misery.

Max Euwe is justly famed for his series of superb instructional books on the middle game and end game. This book, despite what the blurb says, is firmly a middle game book. What Euwe does is show typical middle game situations, explain the positional dynamics behind them, and advise the reader on how to handle these positions in their own games. This is really useful, practical stuff, clearly explained.
The book does not advocate any sort of 'thinking method' aside from the old fashioned one of examining the position for salient strategic features (such as those shown in the book) and playing accordingly.
For example, the second chapter deals with a strategic feature termed 'pawn majority on the queen side'. Euwe shows how the possessor of the majority should station their pieces so as to support an eventual passed pawn and then, when the time is right, create one. Further Euwe points out the real value of a such a pawn is that the opponent must commit his forces to blockade it, creating weaknesses elsewhere. He comments that many average players will rush a passed pawn through but then find it becomes isolated and is quickly lost. (I find this sort of advice very valuable when playing chess as this is exactly the sort of error one is likely to come across. After all, the vast majority of us only ever play other average players!) Further, we see the sort of openings that lead to this situation - enabling a player to aim for this in their own games.
Euwe cautions that while following this policy the player must remember to keep an eye out for tactical threats and opportunites - he takes pains to reinforce this throughout the book.
Each chapter covers a different theme. Note that chapter one - which you can read in Amazon's 'Look Inside This Book' feature - is actually the least useful chapter, and very different from the rest of the book. I think Euwe's intention in that chapter is simply to reinforce his dictum regarding tactical awareness.
Of course this book does not set out to cover all possible middlegame situations but rather a careful selection of situations which occur with reasonable frequency. Thus it serves as a useful introduction to more advanced middlegame works.
I would say the sort of player who would gain most from study of the book someone who doesn't make silly tactical errors, knows enough opening theory to reach an ok middlegame position, but then finds themselves unsure as to how to proceed.
A well written quality product.