Russian grandmaster and sought-after private teacher Lev Alburt and former Chess Life editor Larry Parr offer a friendly and accessible series of instructional books, incorporating the inside secrets of the legendary Russian method of chess development.
Russia's dominance in modern chess was founded on a uniquely successful program of chess instruction. Now this program has been streamlined and adapted for American readers in a series of books that will help readers develop, step by step, from beginner status to the expert level.
From the first lesson on, Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters Volume I: Fundamentals of the Game incorporates easy-to-follow strategic concepts. With this system, you're never left in the dark. You learn from the start not just how the pieces move, but where and why to move them. Far more effective than any other system of instruction, this grounding in the principles of intermediate chess strategy will soon take you from total novice to an enjoyable, and competitive, recreational level.
Through instructional chapters and practice sections that feature many more exercises and game situations than other chess instruction books, you'll advance in the game - and have fun doing it - using the techniques that produced a long line of Soviet champions. Whether you want to play chess recreationally with friends, hone your mental skills with the unparalleled challenges of the game, or develop into a tournament player, Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters Volume I: Fundamentals of the Game will start you off right, increasing your understanding and your enjoyment of the world's greatest game.
Grandmaster Lev Alburt is a three-time winner of the U.S. Chess Championship and a two-time winner of both the U.S. Open Chess Championship and the European Cup. He is a regular contributor to Chess Life magazine and the author of several books on learning chess. Larry Parr is former editor of Chess Life and the author of many articles on all aspects of chess play and chess instruction.
"Quite simply, the quickest way to learn chess the right way. Chock full of chessercizes - a real timesaver!" - Grandmaster Larry Evans, five-time U.S. champion and syndicated chess columnist
"Lev Alburt is a brilliant teacher, and his new series written with Larry Parr is his best yet. In fact, it is the best chess instruction I have ever seen, period. Read Lev Alburt, and you will understand the game as never before." - Charles Murray, author of What It Means to Be a Libertarian
"There are no better chess teachers anywhere than Lev Alburt and Larry Parr. Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters is a gem: lucid, scholarly, highly instructive. If you play chess, you need this book." - Charles Krauthammer
"Lev Alburt is a truly great teacher, and Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters offers the perfect balance of exposition and challenge for beginning students of the game. It is also a colorful and entertaining read, which adds to the instructional value of the material." - Martin Katahn, Ph.D., author of The Tri-Color Diet, How to Quit Smoking Without Gaining Weight, One Meal at a Time, and The Low-Fat Good Food Cookbook
"Grandmaster Lev Alburt, a three-time U.S. champion, is the most brilliant and effective chess teacher alive today. He is the only top-echelon player who specializes in teaching chess to beginners and other nonmasters. Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters reveals secrets that will save you years of hit-and-miss reading. You'll be winning in no time!" -Al Lawrence, former executive director, U.S. Chess Federation
Russian grandmaster and sought-after private teacher Lev Alburt and former Chess Life editor Larry Parr offer a friendly and accessible series of instructional books, incorporating the inside secrets of the legendary Russian method of chess development.
Russia's dominance in modern chess was founded on a uniquely successful program of chess instruction. Now this program has been streamlined and adapted for American readers in a series of books that will help readers develop, step by step, from beginner status to the expert level.
From the first lesson on, Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters Volume I: Fundamentals of the Game incorporates easy-to-follow strategic concepts. With this system, you're never left in the dark. You learn from the start not just how the pieces move, but where and why to move them. Far more effective than any other system of instruction, this grounding in the principles of intermediate chess strategy will soon take you from total novice to an enjoyable, and competitive, recreational level.
Through instructional chapters and practice sections that feature many more exercises and game situations than other chess instruction books, you'll advance in the game - and have fun doing it - using the techniques that produced a long line of Soviet champions. Whether you want to play chess recreationally with friends, hone your mental skills with the unparalleled challenges of the game, or develop into a tournament player, Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters Volume I: Fundamentals of the Game will start you off right, increasing your understanding and your enjoyment of the world's greatest game.
Grandmaster Lev Alburt is a three-time winner of the U.S. Chess Championship and a two-time winner of both the U.S. Open Chess Championship and the European Cup. He is a regular contributor to Chess Life magazine and the author of several books on learning chess. Larry Parr is former editor of Chess Life and the author of many articles on all aspects of chess play and chess instruction.
"Quite simply, the quickest way to learn chess the right way. Chock full of chessercizes - a real timesaver!" - Grandmaster Larry Evans, five-time U.S. champion and syndicated chess columnist
"Lev Alburt is a brilliant teacher, and his new series written with Larry Parr is his best yet. In fact, it is the best chess instruction I have ever seen, period. Read Lev Alburt, and you will understand the game as never before." - Charles Murray, author of What It Means to Be a Libertarian
"There are no better chess teachers anywhere than Lev Alburt and Larry Parr. Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters is a gem: lucid, scholarly, highly instructive. If you play chess, you need this book." - Charles Krauthammer
"Lev Alburt is a truly great teacher, and Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters offers the perfect balance of exposition and challenge for beginning students of the game. It is also a colorful and entertaining read, which adds to the instructional value of the material." - Martin Katahn, Ph.D., author of The Tri-Color Diet, How to Quit Smoking Without Gaining Weight, One Meal at a Time, and The Low-Fat Good Food Cookbook
"Grandmaster Lev Alburt, a three-time U.S. champion, is the most brilliant and effective chess teacher alive today. He is the only top-echelon player who specializes in teaching chess to beginners and other nonmasters. Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters reveals secrets that will save you years of hit-and-miss reading. You'll be winning in no time!" -Al Lawrence, former executive director, U.S. Chess Federation
Contents
011 Chapter 1. Play Chess in One Hour
041 Chapter 2. Chessercizes: All the Right Moves
071 Chapter 3. How to Write Down Chess Games
087 Chapter 4. Chess Movie: The "Write" Moves
103 Chapter 5. How to Open a Chess Game
125 Chapter 6. Chessercizes for Healthy Openings
139 Chapter 7. Middle game Strategy & Tactics
173 Chapter 8. Chessercizes for Taut Middlegames
209 Chapter 9. Endgame Strategy and Checkmates
241 Chapter 10. Chessercizes for Energetic Endings
265 Chapter 11. Using a Computer as a Chess Tutor
273 Chapter 12. Plugging in to U.S. Chess
279 Index
Amerikanische Verlage sind für kundenheischende Titel berühmt (und bisweilen berüchtigt). "Geheimnisse der russischen Meister" weckt Erwartungen, zumal der Buchrücken vollmundig verkündet: "Die russische Dominanz im modernen Schach basierte auf einem einzigartig erfolgreichen Programm der Schacherziehung. Dieses Programm ist nun in gestraffter Form für den amerikanischen Leser in einer Reihe von Bänden angepasst worden. Dies ermöglicht dem Leser eine schrittweise Entwicklung vom Anfänger- zum Expertenniveau." Der dreifache US-Meister Lev Alburt, der sich 1976 während einer Europacup-Mannschaftsveranstaltung in Solingen von seinem sowjeischen Team absetzte und in die USA emigierte, und Larry Parr, der Herausgeber des Anfang des Jahres eingestellten "Chess Life" Magazins des US-Verbandes, wollen dieses imbitionierte Anliegen einlösen. Gelungen ist es ihnen nicht!
Zwei Bände mit zusammen 515 Seiten in einspaltigem, "luftigen" Layout hätten - entsprechend deutschen oder englischen Vorbildern - auf gut die Hälfte des Umfangs gepasst. Angesprochen werden im ersten Teil Anfänger, im zweiten Spieler bis einem Level von 1400. Alles konventionell: Kombinaionen (lerntechnisch ungeschickt mit Lösungen auf der gleichen oder gegenüberliegenlen Seite), einige Partien, wichtige Eröffnungen in Kurzabrissen und ein paar Endspieltellungen. Über die russische Schachschule und ihre Erfolgsfaktoren erfährt man schlichtweg nichts. Bisweilen lesen sich Definitionen über Taktik und Strategie ganz gerfällig, vereinzelte Checklisten helfen dem Neuling sicher. Aber was sich in Amerika -
wo Schach häufiger im "Community work", der sozialen Stadtteilarbeit, eingesetzt wird -für die Zielgruppe der Einsteiger eignet, ist in Europa längst vorhanden. Mit einem Klassiker wie Rudolf Teschners "Eine Schule des Schachs in 40 Stunden" (demnächst in 5. aktualisierter Ausgabe Edition Olms) ist man für das halbe Geld mindestens genau so systematisch bedient.
Harald Fietz, Schachmagazin 64 11/2004
Lev Alburt, 
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