Technical Decision Making in Chess

Reviews / Votes

"A great book." -- GM Vladimir Kramnik "Boris Gelfand gave me two wonderful books yesterday. This will not be a detailed review - I shall put it concisely: both 'Technical Decision Making in Chess' and 'Decision Making in Major Piece Endings' are not aimed at the general public. They are quite unsuitable for casual reading, for leafing through. There are no spoon-fed recipes, and wisdom is not scattered in handfuls to pick up at will.


Instead Gelfand invites the reader to plunge into the intricacies of the game. He tells of his perceptions and shares his approach. He thoroughly examines defensive methods and demonstrates what resources are inherent in seemingly simple positions, which solutions are practical and which difficulties should be avoided. The analysis is extremely honest, and given from the standpoint of a great master, though without any narcissism.


These books are meant for work. These are books that must be worked through slowly, a few pages a day, setting up the pieces and always thinking deeply. I don't promise that reading these books will give you pleasure, but I guarantee that you will benefit greatly from studying them." -- GM Emil Sutovsky "To summarise this is a very good technical book with many instructive games with deep analysis and didactic commentary. The book is clearly aimed at aspiring FIDE2000+ (ECF175+) players and above." -- Richard Webb, British Chess News