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After the Bibliography (always a good thing in a chess book, and in this case with some fascinating entries) and Introduction, The Rules is divided into five sections: The Player, Preparation, The Opening, The Middlegame and The Endgame. Each section is divided into ten chapters. Players wishing to give Davies’ ideas serious consideration could tackle a chapter a week, devoting about a year toward improvement. The format of each chapter is similar: an introductory quote to set the mood, some explanatory text expanding the discussion from Davies, and an annotated game (occasionally two or three) to illustrate his point. Those quoted range from Bruce Lee to Mikhail Botvinnik, from Gary Kasparov to Sun Tzu. Rules range from the generic “Know yourself” and “Healthy body, healthy mind” to the deeper-than-they-appear “Do not hurry” and “Flatten your heart”.
Davies presents over a dozen of his own games, into which he has unique insight, but the greats - from LaBordonnais to Fischer and beyond - also star (I think Larsen has the second most games). There is a nice range of openings, both orthodox and not-so (e.g. Bird’s, Nimzovich-Larsen, Pseudo-Trompowsky). Players returning to chess after a break (school, job, family, etc.) might find The Rules of Winning Chess a good way to get some guidance and focus as they ease back into the Royal Game (or start removing the “rust”). Beginning club players might find The Rules’ direction (and inspiration) much less intimidating than, say, tackling Dvoretsky’s manuals. Me? I’m working these days on Davies’ Chapter 19, “Empty the
mind”… From the Publisher's website:
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Chessville
The
Advertise to Single insert:
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Grandmaster
Nigel Davies is a successful chess player and chess teacher. In his The
Rules of Winning Chess he sets down a lot of what he has learned about
playing chess well.
