by John Nunn, 240pp. (Gambit 2001)

Read an excerpt here

John Nunn is one of the most highly regarded chess writers in the world. He has carefully selected thirty modern games to help the reader understand the most important aspects of chess and to illustrate modern chess principles in action. Virtually every move is explained using words that everyone can understand. Jargon is avoided as far as possible. Almost all the examples are taken from the 1990s and show how key ideas are handled by the grandmasters of today. The emphasis is on general principles that readers will be able to use in their own games, and detailed analysis is only given where it is necessary. Each game contains many lessons, but to guide the reader through the most important ideas in each phase of the game, the thirty games are grouped thematically into those highlighting opening, middlegame and endgame themes.

"Understanding Chess Move by Move is beautifully put together... anyone who plays over the games in it slowly and carefully is bound to improve his understanding of chess... almost certainly the best book of 2001, and one of the very best of the past decade of so" - Peter Connor, CHESSVILLE

"Plenty of excellent general advice" - Leonard Barden, EVENING STANDARD

"A typical high quality Doc effort! Really excellent annotations to some superb games." - Matthew Sadler, NEW IN CHESS

"First and foremost a teaching book... I am so taken by the clarity, simplicity and pure instructiveness of this book that my first instinct would be to give it to every student I know" - John Watson, TWIC

"Nunn truly is in the top echelons of world players... his notes are virtually like having a tutor by your side as you play through a grandmaster encounter" - Cecil Rosner, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

"The emphasis is on principles behind the moves, using thematic grouping of games, by opening, midle-game types and endings. John Nunn's comments are always worth reading and are instructive" - Alan Borwell, SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENCE CHESS

"This can be recommended to players of any level." - Mark Donlan, CHESS HORIZONS

"In conclusion, John Nunn has written a wonderful book about 30 wonderful games. The analysis is first rate, the commentary cogent, and the production excellent. What is there not to like? In the end, I couldn't find anything to fault, and that is why it earns the highest rating. Buy this book, you will not be sorry" - Randy Bauer, RANDY'S REVIEWS, who awarded the book a maximum 10/10.

"John Nunn's Understanding Chess Move by Move is a great selection of 30 hard fought modern games according to general themes and principles. Nunn does not dwell too much on variations and explains the moves with words - a lot of wonderful words. In his view chess made extreme progress during the past 50 years and the selected games reflect these changes well. He clearly shows that today's positional play is often spiced up with tactical ideas. Any tournament player should enjoy the book and learn a lot from it" - Lubosh Kavalek, WASHINGTON POST

"This is a good book!" - Simen Agdestein, NORGES TOPPIDRETTSGYMNAS

"GM Dr John Nunn's Understanding Chess Move By Move lucidly explains a very well-chosen set of games to beautifully illustrate a wide range of important themes which will be of inestimable value to the reader" - Paul Motwani, THE SCOTSMAN

"Nunn's work is relevant to all strengths of player, with the general introductions to each game, explanations of the openings and post game summaries being easy to understand by even a weak player, whilst stronger players will learn much from the detailed comments and analysis. Nunn's choice of games is also good as not only are they mostly very recent, but none of them are too one-sided and so readers will be fully aware of what both sides are aiming for in each general type of position" Richard Palliser, BCF CHESS MOVES

"This is a great book from one of the best chess writers in the World. He does a fine job explaining the plans "move by move" so everybody can understand what it's all about" - Soren Seagaard, SEAGAARD REVIEWS

"One thing is for sure. No matter how strong you are, come back to this book whenever your rating goes up and you can be certain there will still be plenty to challenge you" - Tim Spanton, WEEKEND CHESS MAGAZINE

"Understanding Chess Move by Move ... is a first rate instructional work... Nunn does a very good job of explaining the key points of the game in such a way that the reader is given a true account of what is happening and not some watered down version. Nunn does a good job of translating the muddy world of modern master chess into something that is understandable to the layman" - John Donaldson, INSIDE CHESS ONLINE