BOOK REVIEW by Carl Portman
REVEAL YOUR CHESS STYLE
by Andrew Soltis
Andrew
Soltis
Pages: 232
Published by: Batsford
2025 Softcover
What is this book about? (The blurb)
Are you a Kasparov, a Carlsen or a Fischer? Use this book to identify
your own unique chess style and discover how it aligns with the tactics of the
game’s greatest players. Then explore tips and tricks that help you avoid
pitfalls, improve your strengths and become the best player you can be.
Every
chess player has a naturally individual style of playing, based on the moves
they like to play. Some people choose the kind of moves world champion Magnus
Carlsen regularly uses, while others prefer a strategy favoured by the
legendary Bobby Fischer. And some even find themselves emulating the way a
chess computer works. But very few players are aware of how these moves fit
together to create a consistent, personal chess style.
Reveal
Your Chess Style contains 100 diagrams, each with a multiple choice of possible
moves for the reader to choose from. Analysing the answers will explain how the
reader’s choices reveal their hidden style, and which famous player they most
identify with on the chessboard.
A
host of advice is also included, on developing the player’s style further to
avoid regular errors, increase skill and win more games – or they may want to
adopt traits from other styles instead! This truly original book, from an
International Grandmaster and venerable chess author, is a must-have for anyone
who wants to improve their game and really get to know themselves as a chess
player.
Contents
·
Chapter
One – What is style?
·
Chapter
Two – What kind of Game?
·
Chapter
Three – Attack
·
Chapter
Four – Defense
·
Chapter
Five – Imbalanced Material
·
Chapter
Six – Pawns
·
Chapter
Seven – Risk
·
Chapter
Eight – Exchanging
·
Chapter
Nine – Positional Play
·
Chapter
Ten - Technique
My thoughts and comments
In
very simple terms, there are 100 diagrams with one question/theme and multiple
choice answers below each diagram on separate pages. The reader should circle
the answer they choose and then check it out at the end of the chapter under
the ‘decoding’ heading. It’s that easy!
You
cannot be ‘wrong’ at all. It isn’t an exam, and there are no points to tally up
at the end of the book to illustrate how good/bad you are at chess. Each of the
options has a comment with a named player (or players) attached to it so you
will definitely be able to put a player’s name by your answer, which for that
diagram reflects your style of play.
It
struck me that as a chess coach I could use many examples for my students. Kids
in particular love multiple choice questions and they would also develop their
knowledge of chess history learning about Masters not only from the present but
the past. It was a joy for me
to work through this book, and several psychological issues came to the fore.
Before long I would look at a position and think ‘is this about what I would play
or am I second guessing what the master actually played?’ In truth, both
occurred so the reader should be disciplined and I would suggest they just opt
for the move that they would play and let the rest follow. After 100
diagrams you will surely have improved your tactical and positional awareness,
so it is much more than a multiple-choice question book.
I
rarely offer bullet points in a review but on this occasion it is worth sharing
some of the brief notes I made as I went through it.
- One
can do the puzzles on an actual board or in your head. This is extremely useful.
- There
are no ‘solutions’ as such, just choices.
- It’s
not about guessing what Tal or Fischer would do – it is about what you would do. At the end of the day it is about you, not them.
- Multiple
choice is great fun – especially with no ‘wrong’ answers.
- Sometimes
you get a choice between as few as three moves or as many as seven.
- Occasionally
I did not want to choose any of the options – which was interesting.
- The
chess examples given are varied and very educational.
Game choice
The 100 selected diagrams originate from
games played over many decades. There is a healthy choice ranging from Carlsbad
1923 to Wijk aan Zee in 2027 and many more. The likes of Carlsen, Fischer, Tal.
Anand, Karpov, Kasparov, Petrosian, Korchnoi, Nakamura and Capablanca feature,
plus so many more greats.
Example
This is a position from the game A.Vooremaa - Paul Keres, Tallin 1971 and it is Black (Keres) to play. It is in the section on positional play. Soltis asks what move you would select from the following choices.
(a) ...Bxd3
(b) ...Rf-c8
(c) ...Nb6
(d) ...b4
(e) ...c5
One might be thinking 'what did Keres play?' but of course the question is all about what you would play. There is a third option here around - what would today's chess engine play because I can tell you from using Fritz 20 for only five minutes the top move did correlate to the one played. Wow!
I won't spoil it by giving the answer, but this is the format for the 100 diagrams and it was fun. Incidentally, Soltis adds supporting questions just before the options to help us think. In this case he says Which piece can Black improve the most by maneuver? Should he change the pawn structure with a push or allow White to change it with Bxf5?
Other points
I
like the cover and layout of the book. The paper quality is not quite what it
used to be at Batsford but the diagrams are better than they were in the past
in my view – much clearer. I would like to have seen an index of games.
I
would say one other thing, and this is meant to be more helpful than harmful.
When it is Black to play, I would like to see the board inverted so that the
black pieces are shown at the bottom of the diagram. Many amateur chess players
read from the bottom ‘up’ the board. I think Andras Adjoran used to do this to
great effect. None of these points are game changers, and one can enjoy the
book just the same – they are merely my thoughts as a reviewer.
There was one other thought. Could there be a (barcode) link to download the positions in .pgn so the reader could try them on their computers?
Does the book achieve its aim?
The idea of the book is to reveal your
chess style. This is still a very subjective topic and I take my hat off to
Andrew Soltis for giving chess players the opportunity to think about what
their style is and which players they might like to study more in order to
develop that style further. If the reader adds up their player answers, at the
end then there should be an emerging figure which was most often reflected. Clearly
you are not that player and one does not have to paint oneself into a corner and say ‘right, that’s me then.’ I don’t think the author intended this at all – it is
a start point to at least try to look inwardly and examine what style we might
lean towards. It does not mean that we cannot change that style.
I see the book as a valuable pointer as to
where we are ‘now’ in our chess journey based on the players’ moves and the thoughts
(examples) that Andrew Soltis has provided from his own vast experience. The reader does not have to
take any of the content or results to heart but just have some fun and enjoy
the book. Keen chess players will enjoy the process. It claims to be a truly
original book – and it is! I have not seen one quite like it in decades, so it
is a groundbreaker for me.
The title asks ‘Are you a Kasparov, a
Carlsen or a Fischer?’ Well in my case, none actually. I am ready for the big reveal. It
transpires that from the answers I selected this time around that I play in the
style of Alexander Alekhine, which is quite a pleasant surprise.
Nimzowitsch was close, as was Tal, so there you go. Would that have been the
case twenty years ago? Will it be the case in ten? Who knows? It says something
about my decision making today and it is genuinely thought-provoking. Now I can interrogate more Alekhine games and see if I can find a bit of me in there. I hope that
is what the author wanted for his readers.
As a kid I always used to read Batsford
Chess books – they were the go-to publisher to get my fix. Much has happened in
publishing since then with any number of competitors producing fine books for
the chess player. For me this book shows that Batsford ‘have still got it’ and
are still very relevant in chess publishing. Immerse yourself in the pages and find out your own chess style.
I unreservedly recommend it to chess
players of all standards.
Who is the author?
Andrew Soltis is an International Grandmaster, a
chess columnist for the New York Post and a highly popular chess writer. He is
the author of many books including 500 Chess Questions Answered, The
Chessmaster Checklist, How to Choose a Chess Move and How to Swindle in Chess.
He lives in New York.
