Excelling at Chess by Jacob Aagaard
Contents
The name of the chapters give an indication of the wide range of issues Aagaard takes on in this highly interesting book:
1. Think like a Human - and excel at Chess
2. Real Chess Players
3. No Rules?
4. Unforcing Play
5. Why Study the Endgame?
6. Attitude at the Board and other Tips
7. Be Practical
8. Openings, Calculation and other Devils
9. Exercises
10. Solutions to Exercises
Aagaard's main point throughout the book is that chess players are not computers and that we shall study chess by increasing our "understanding" for the rules and concepts of the game, rather than by considering chess as pure calculation. The human beings ability to understand, extract and recognise patterns and strategic concepts from studying a position is our strong point compared to computers. Of course, humans also have to calculate variations and to train their calculating ability.
Aagaard sums that up into the practical advice that when training and working on ones game:
"...Before you spend a thousand hours on calculating exercises you should sort out your personal style, your endgame and your openings. I believe that calculation will take you the last step up the ladder, but it will not help your first step. In other words it is easier to improve on positional style with calculation than it is to improve on calculation with positional style."(p. 169)
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The back cover claims that this book will teach the reader how to evaluate positions, how and when to calculate, how to study theory, and other practical tips for chess improvement. However the actual product is quite a mixed bag, and on the whole it falls well short of the advertising. Let us have a look within the chapters.
Chapter 1 is introductory and personal in nature. Those looking for the human interest angle should be pleased. The author shares some of his own experiences with reaching a plateau in playing strength, and gives a foretaste of what it took to break through. He brings in ideas touching on training, professional competition, brain science, and one's state of mind both at the board and toward the game in general. Already the storm clouds are gathering, as there is also a hint of the wholesale philosophizing to come.
Chapter 2 is concerned with what he calls "real chess players," i.e., those who know where the pieces belong. He identifies Kasparov as the archetype, and provides illustrative examples (positions and game fragments) of "real chess." The chess content itself (including the author's annotations) is interesting, but when Aagaard starts to ponder about what separates the real chess player from the "ordinary" world-class super-grandmaster, he gets into some difficulty. For one thing, the author himself belongs to neither category and will probably never reach the latter; he has evidently taken on a topic beyond his own reach. Secondly, whether or not his gratuitous speculations turn out to be true, it is not clear how anyone is suppose to benefit from all this. Aagaard apparently realizes this, and promises answers in Chapter 3.
Titled "No Rules?" the third chapter contains a direct assault against IM John Watson's justly lauded book "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy," which has at its core the notion that "rule independence" characterizes modern chess. By "rules" here we don't mean the rules of the game, but rather the crude rules of thumb by which we sometimes implement the rudiments of strategy (e.g., "knights on the rim are dim"). It is clear to me that Aaagaard has completely misconstrued Watson's thesis. Watson never said "no rules." He said something quite a bit deeper, which is one of the reasons that Watson's book will still be read two hundred years from now (the other reason is that it is a joy to read). What Aagaard offers instead (via 20+ pages of tortuous argument, red herrings, and strawmen) is something like "the rules are valid, all else being equal." He never gets around to nailing down what he means by "all else being equal," and that points to the main problem with Aagaard's writing. Once you try to take chess theory two or three or four levels into abstraction (i.e., away from looking at actual positions and moves), it becomes pretty worthless. For example, Aagaaard goes on to try to distinguish an "element [of chess theory]" from a "concept" to a "primary concept", and explain how categorizing chess ideas in this way is supposed to help the reader improve. Seriously, do you think Kasparov or Fischer could explain the difference between a "chess concept" and a "chess element"?
The next two chapters concern "unforcing" play and the importance of studying endgames. Both chapters are worthwhile, especially the former, which subject is hardly given attention elsewhere in the literature (Kotov and Tisdall are the only other authors I can think of). The endgame chapter contains plenty of useful advice for training, as well as instructive and inspiring examples.
In the final three chapters, unfortunately, we return to the streams of speculations, New Age clap trap and gratuitous psychobabble. Already in Chapter 2 we were advised to (ahem!) talk to our pieces in order to determine their best squares. Now along with the good advice (e.g., analyze your games, don't believe in luck, don't make excuses), we get some hoary platitudes (e.g., the power of positive thinking, the importance of sleep and physical conditioning) - I am surprised he doesn't remind us about the virtues of dietary fiber! - and then there is some truly weird stuff. To improve my attitude at the board, I should try to draw a picture of myself winning the world championship? Truly, there are some real eye-rolling moments.
Fortunately for the aspiring player, there are several other resources on chess improvement, each worthwhile, recommendable and planted on firmer ground. They include "Chess Player's Battle Manual" by Nigel Davies; "Practical Chess Analysis" by Mark Buckley; "Secrets of Practical Chess" by John Nunn, and "Improve Your Chess Now!" by Jonathan Tisdall. Intermediate players should start with Davies, and go down the list as they advance.
