Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking: From the First Move to the Last

by Neil McDonald

Chess is the art that expresses the science of logic . Mikhail Botvinnik

Grandmaster Neil McDonald explains every single move made by White and Black in 30 striking tactical or strategical games played over the last quarter century.

These games have been carefully chosen for their consistent logical thread, thereby providing the reader with prime instruction in the art of conceiving appropriate plans and attacks and carrying them out to their natural conclusion. Watching games unfold in this way will be both an education and inspiration to readers who can then try to play in the same purposeful way in their own games – with a corresponding increase in their playing strength.

Genres: Chess, Games, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Joey Comeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best chess book I've ever read. I hate chess books that "annotate" games, and right from the beginning you are confronted with:

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bd3 e6 5. b3 Bd6 6. Bb2 O-O 7. O-O Re8 8. Ne5 Ne4 9. Nd2 f5 10. f3 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Bc5 13. Bd4 Bb6 14. f4 c5 15. Bb2 c4 16. Be2 Qc7 17. Rac1 Rd8 18. Bd4 Bxd4 19. Qxd4 c3 20. Rcd1 Bd7 21. a4

and the comment that follows is: "A4?!?! Haha what a fool, the game is lost! OBVIOUSLY."

But THIS book has a comment after EVERY move for both white and black, explaining what they are thinking, what their plan is, what they are reacting to. It was so helpful and such a pleasure to read. I'd recommend it for anyone learning more about chess strategy.

[Prof. Nagesh Havanur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books explaining chess, move by move have been popular ever since Irving Chernev and Max Euwe did the pioneering work. This book by Neil McDonald follows the trend set by these earlier works and begins with a beautiful preamble:
When you sit down to play a game of chess you are in command of exactly the same eight pieces and eight pawns that Capablanca, Fischer and Kasparov have used to create masterpieces of grand strategy and tactical precision. Their pieces didn’t have heightened powers nor more fertile soil on which to work their stratagems: just the same 64 squares, 32 white and 32 black. The conclusion is obvious: there is a dynamic potential concealed in your pieces that could be released if only you had the right skill and insight.
In this book he shows how to develop that skill and insight through 30 games played during the period 1978-2003. The players include Karpov, Kasparov and Anand among others.
While there is some sweeping generalization and a slightly condescending attitude to older schools of thought, the book does justice to its avowed theme. However, one cannot help feeling that the winner’s point of view prevails in this book. The loser is systematically outplayed, the logic of the position turning against him. In real life this seldom happens. More often, games are complex, following an uncertain course, and it’s the player who makes the last but one mistake who wins.
Over the years this book has been superseded by others in the genre. The most notable of them are Understanding Chess Move by move (Gambit. 2001) by John Nunn and Modern Chess Move by move by Colin Crouch (EverymanChess.2009). The commentary in these other books is deep and subtle, doing greater justice to complexities of modern chess than McDonald’s work. You may still prefer to read this book first for its ease and simplicity.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far in the category of move-by-move type chess books this is the most instructive. Of course I enjoyed "Logical Chess" but the comments GM McDonald wrote are more interesting, and more aligned with modern thinking about chess. His progression from the Classical 1. e4 e5 ideas all the way to the flank openings (mostly the English), is very well thought out. The selection of games is good as well - it was fun to look up what Kasparov, Karpov, Tal and others wrote about their own games in other books and comparing that to what McDonald wrote.

I have often thought that one of the best ways to teach science would be to go through the process of discovery starting from the ancients and how each problem with their ideas was addressed over time. I think I read this in Tegmark's "Our Mathematical Universe", and I believe it applies to chess too. In that respect, this is a good book with 30 well annotated (with mostly words, and some variations which you are occasionally asked to work out in your head), games that start in the classical era and shows how different ways of playing developed over time.

This is a great 2nd game collection after "Logical Chess" - especially for anyone under 1600.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be a fantastic read.
The matches were well chosen and the chapters were neatly organised into different opening ideas.

What I liked best about the book was that each move was quickly explained and avoided masses of chess notation. The main themes of the explanations were what the player was planning, why they made that move and at times, suggested alternative options.

Overall an excellent chess book that has helped my game.

[Christian Drechsler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great follow-up to Chernev's classic - 'Logical chess'. It has the same idea and structure, but is rather more modern and up-to-date (especially as far as opening theory goes).

I would recommend this to be the second book for a beginning chess enthusiast. Right after 'LC'.

[TjeerdFokkens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice book with useful strategic explanations of all the moves. The format is the same as the well-known book by Irving Chernev. A drawback of this format is that, especially in the opening, the same moves are commented again and again. McDonald though gave some historical anecdotes here and there, making it a much better read. What's good about this book is the varied openings of the games so that a lot of different strategic approaches are illustrated. Moreover, all games are modern games, so a lot of Kasparov, Karpov, Kramnik etc. which is very nice because it gives a good taste of what modern chess theory is about. This also illustrates well that modern chess isn't as principled as it used to be. A drawback is that sometimes the analysis isn't very deep and it sometimes feels there is little connection between the successive moves of a game. But all in all it's a very nice book for slightly advanced players who already have some familiarity with older games. (as this is in my opinion the best way to learn chess: chronologically)

[Quinn Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have an entire shelf of chess books and this is one of the very best chess books I've ever read, because it's comprehensible to those of us who aren't grandmasters. McDonald has a real knack for writing about complex concepts in clear prose and for making the study of chess interesting and even exciting.

I have another book of his that is also excellent, "Chess Secrets: The Giants of Strategy." In fact, it was so good that it prompted me to pick up this one. I recommend reading "Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking" first, as he really does explain every single move in grandmaster-level games, which would give you the foundation for understanding the slightly more advanced concepts in "Chess Secrets: The Giants of Strategy." If you finish both of these books, certainly your understanding of the game will have grown exponentially and I'm confident you'll be a much more dangerous opponent with a rating that reflects that.

[chf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Looking forward to a newer collection in near future. The book is so readable that one doesn't need a chess set at all.

[Chetan Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

first i want to read it

[Antonios · Rating 4 out of 5]

Transition from chess plebeian to chess middle class

[Alberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each game contains pages and pages of text that seems to be designed to hide the fact that the analysis is completely superficial. Lots of errors in the notation and analysis, particularly considering how little there is.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book if you find Logical Chess Move By Move: Every Move Explained New Algebraic Edition too simple or to "Chernev-y." Highly recommended for anyone taking up the game, or rated under 1600 or so.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains excellent explanations of moves throughout the game. My only problem is that the games are at such high level (master+) that they barely resemble the games I actually play. But maybe someday...