Winning Chess Strategies is the third book in Seirawan’s Winning Chess series coming after the first, Play Winning Chess and the second, Winning Chess Tactics.
Here Seirawan defines chess strategies as ways in which players can gain static advantages during matches. He then enumerates the many ways a player can create and maintain these strategic advantages in a game through techniques like pawn structure, stopping counterplay, using the pieces and faulty plans to mention a few.
Aside from teaching you what to do, the book also shows plenty of examples of mistakes you should avoid. There’s also a dedicated chapter about the many great chess strategists of previous decades.
The book offers plenty of example games paired with in-depth discussions of each strategy that advanced players would find useful in their study of positional play. However, beginners and intermediate players may find it more beneficial to take on the book more than once in order to fully reap its benefits.
By the time you close the book, Seirawan hopes that a player has learned how to knock opponents through bold opening moves, create a game strategy before midgame, learn to read an opponent’s intentions in each move and, of course, how to position a winning endgame.
Although not as well-liked as his other Winning Chess books, readers who went through Seirawan’s book on chess strategies commented how it helped them improve their defensive posture on the chess board even leading some to be able to beat people whom they initially thought to be better players at the game.
It also helps that Seirawan is a gifted writer himself and can make complicated chess concepts more accessible to all types of readers. This book could surely make the subtlety of positional play more attractive to players who prefer tactical play.
About the Author
Yasser Seirawan is a Syrian-born American chess grandmaster and prolific chess writer. His most noteworthy accomplishments are his four-time win as the United States chess champion and his win at the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979 when he was 19. He only started playing at the age of 12 and quickly rose in the ranks to play against more experienced players. .
Seirawan has also authored several chess books. Most popular of these is his seven-volume ‘Winning Chess’ series of books co-authored with Jeremy Silman. The book, Winning Chess Strategies, is third in the series. He also served as the chief editor of Inside Chess magazine for twelve years.
