Weapons of Chess: An Omnibus of Chess Strategies

by Bruce Pandolfini

From America’s foremost chess coach and game strategist for Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit , Bruce Pandolfini brings us the most accessible and easy-to-use chess strategy book ever.Written for beginning and intermediate players, Weapons of Chess is the first encyclopedia of chess strategies that doesn't rely on the usual baffling chess notation. There are no symbolic chess moves, no charts or sequences in chess every move is explained in words.Arranged alphabetically for easy use and based mainly on pawn formation, the incredibly detailed and thorough entries in this book talk a player through dozens of common strategic dilemmas, such as "doubled pawn," "bishops vs. knights," and "hanging pawn pair." Diagrams illustrate the terms, first showing the basic position and then strategically moving to more complicated versions of it. Players will learn how to formulate plans once they have reached a middlegame, enabling them to make wiser strategic decisions after the first few moves of the game.Designed for use as a ready reference during actual practice games, and usable without a chess board, Weapons of Chess is a unique and invaluable resource for any developing chess player.

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction, Games, Reference

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Bruce Pandolfini (born September 17, 1947) is an American chess author, teacher, and coach. A USCF national master, he is generally considered to be America’s most experienced chess teacher. As a coach and trainer, Pandolfini has possibly conducted more chess sessions than anyone in the world. By the summer of 2015 he had given an estimated 25,000 private and group lessons.

(Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Into the Haven of Chess

I recently took up playing chess again after not having touched a chessman for more than twenty years, and my primary motivation for hovering over the board again was given by one of my Goodreads friends, who challenged me via a chess app. If you asked me why my interest in this game arose again and deepened in a way it had never done before, I could only offer surmises, the most plausible of which is that the chessboard is a place where the same rules and principles have been around for centuries. There is no ambiguity, everything is above-board, and as soon as you sit down in front of your pieces you know what you have let yourself in for. This is a comforting feeling in a world where common good sense cannot be taken for granted anymore because folly and ideology reign supreme, pervading our language and stifling rational debate under thick slices of moralistic baloney. In chess, a serious player will still admire a strong move made by the opponent instead of bewailing it as a micro-aggression.

Bruce Pandolfini’s book Weapons of Chess, which seems to be addressed to the amateur player who has managed his first difficulties and is about to grasp the general principles of the game’s strategies, is a collection of essays that consider questions such as, “Is a double pan always a penalty to be avoided under any circumstances? What does the pawn centre tell us about the prevalent strategy of a particular game? When is it good to exchange a bishop for a knight? How can pawns most effectively be blocked? What are serious weaknesses and what are positional or other strategical advantages?” These essays can be read independently from each other, and Pandolfini even points out how they are interlinked with each other. Another asset of the book is that you can read it without a chessboard next to you because the book abounds with diagrams that show you the position of the pieces. What’s more, Pandolfini succeeds in presenting his thoughts in an easily understandable style, refraining from drowning his readers in a needless plethora of technical mumbo-jumbo.

In short, if you want to dig deeper into the mysteries and mechanics of the finest game in the world, this book is highly recommended.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chess is a game that I still find fascinating, even after computers have soundly defeated our top champions. I am not a good chess player, I tend to play too fast and ignore threats.

Weapons of Chess is a primer on chess strategy by Bruce Pandolfini. The intended audience is a player somewhere between beginner and intermediate levels. There are things to like about the book, but it does have flaws. The book’s central flaw is its age. Now that most chess games and analyses are on the internet, books have fallen by the wayside. Some of the graphics are blurry and hard to see.

On the other hand, Pandolfini’s style is lucid. The book is recent enough to use algebraic notation, and it tells you how to improve your game.

Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably Bruce Pandolfini's best book. It is the format of a mini-encyclopedia and gives concise, lucid explanations for various aspects of strategic elements in chess that can be very helpful. There is plenty of material about pawns, especially the isolated d-pawn. I read it all the way through once and plan to use it as a reference book. It is targeted at beginners and intermediate players, but I would not recommend this as a first chess book. I would read at least one introductory chess book first and gain some playing experience before reading this book. After studying this book, you would be ready for more advanced books on chess strategy, such as Michael Stean's Simple Chess, Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess Strategies, and Jeremy Silman's The Complete Book of Chess Strategy. One negative is that the production quality of the book is not optimal; the diagrams are a little bit grainy. That seems to be true for most of the books in the Fireside Chess Library.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m beginning to develop a real affection for Bruce Pandolfini’s chess writing. He’s straightforward and informative, assuming neither that you’re well familiar with obscure opening patterns nor that you’re a complete idiot. His examples don’t rely on 20-move-long chains of notation. I’ve got a couple more of his books that I’m looking forward to. This particular outing contains a smattering of tips – mostly tactical – for improving your chess game. If nothing else, you won’t walk away without knowing a great deal about isolated D-pawn play. This isn’t an entry point into the game, but for a little tune-up coaching this is great stuff for intermediate players.

[Slow3635 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps a useful book for the intermediate player, but it's a little contrived and shallow. It's a quick encyclopedia of chess ideas, with brief explanations. But still, nothing in it is incorrect. It's an easy read and you could get something out of it.

[Beau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps a useful book for the intermediate player. A little contrived and shallow.

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an okay book. I'm not sure I am much of a better player from reading it. I feel like its glossary type structure, with chapters in an alphabetical order talking about isolated topics that can (and are meant to, according to the foreword) be read in largely any order, lends itself better to teaching endgames, openings, or even tactics, than strategy. I would dip in a book to learn for example about spotting forking opportunities, or to learn about a specific opening. But it is a bit odd to expect the reader to 'dip in a book' for a topic as tentacular and interconnected as pawn structure and positional chess, which many of the chapters are about. Yet reading it front to back as I have also feels strange due to the lack of structure, with the reader coming out with a very large number of nuggets of advice that are not well linked together by an overarching "course". It sometimes feels like the book wants to be a pawn structure/positional book, but doesn't let itself be that, and as a result when read front to back (again, not the intended away), it feels like a positional chess book that's interrupted sometimes by chapters on completely unrelated yet useful topics like knights corralling or bishop pairs.

Some of the chapters are ridiculously short, sometimes just two pages long. Tactics are sort of touched on in places but are clearly not the focus of the book, which is fine, with crucial concepts such as forks and pins being relegated to paragraph-long entries in the end glossary. The usefulness of chapters varies. Some are rather esoteric, or way too short to give more than an extremely surface overview of a topic, or give blindingly obvious advice ("avoid weakening your position" well, yes), but others are genuinely useful.

I love the book's use of diagrams, especially for beginners. Glossary aside, every position is illustrated, and the reader never has to mentally picture more than a couple of moves off the diagram. There is no cryptic chess notation. While it makes the book rather voluminous and not the densest in content, and while it is beneficial to work on mental visualization of moves to progress, I do think easy entry points to get started with are also beneficial. The explanations are generally easy although they can feel fluffy sometimes.

Overall it's not a bad book to read, and it is fairly short, but I don't feel like I would recommend it. It's catered to very beginners, which I am sure will find a wealth of better structured books to learn from. But if you have it, why not, it won't take long and you'll probably learn a few things here and there. 3/5

[Wes F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great chess book--with tactics & strategies, nicely illustrated--by the great Pandolfini of the NY chess scene. I was inspired by The Queen's Gambit (first the Netflix series & then the novel by Tevis) to get back into some chess reading. Pandolfini helped consult with the Netflix series' production to make sure things were real & in line with what chess really looks & plays like.

This book has been around the house for awhile--glad to work my way through it. Learned some new things and was also reminded of other tactics that I'd already learned, but which were reinforced.

[Ricky Pruitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though there were some typos (4-6 I caught), the book did cover some holes in my knowledge that I didn't know I had. Yes, a lot of the material was review, but it helped reinforce my understanding and I will definitely return to this book like an encyclopedia to review (provided) areas of concern. There's not a whole lot in this book, but it truly shines because it does not require you to set up a board to follow along most of the time... depends on your visualization at times. I feel like this book is a solid 4. Depending on the person, I can see valid arguments for rating it 3-5.

[Karl Gruenewald · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection and explanation of basic tactics and concepts in chess, but not the best resource for players at the beginner level looking to improve their play. The addition of tactical puzzles would have made the book a more practical addition to a new learner's repertoire.

[Daniel Tkocz · Rating 4 out of 5]

compact "list" of guidelines
not written as a linear book, more like a encyclopedia
very nice

[Ahmad Mustakim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terbaik mantap dan padu.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting grab bag of chess concepts.

[Dillan Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book to improve one's chess vocabulary.

[Murilo Andrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice reading for anyone intending to dig the chess world. It describes the most common patterns and concepts used in chess with several examples.
Bad Bishop/ Good Bishop, doubled pawns, good knight, passed pawn, and many other concepts are explained in a way very well presented for an amateur.

Concepts are introduced in a alphabetical order, rather than in a hierarchical fashion. However this doesn't make this book less pleasant to read.

[Eric Nielson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An encyclopedia of chess ideas. Clear, simple and straight forward descriptions of the major ideas. You will not need to get your chess board out for this one. A great book for beginners for an introduction to chess concepts.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great topics, not so involved in the openings, more technical application of positions.

[Emilio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read by Bruce Pandolfini, with plenty of succint chapter summaries which, on their own, are enough to teach invaluable chess lessons. I'm gonna whup dad over the board thanks to this one!

[Mike Harmon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book for tactical review, but not much on strategy or openings.

[Emil]

Hi.

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's a pretty good reference for an average chess player to have. It helps clearly explain fundamentals of chess that I found really useful and it's cheap to get on Amazon.

[Jasper Riogeist · Rating 4 out of 5]

A four-star read for those who enjoy the game of chess and want a book that explains chess strategies with straightforward examples that don't entail endless variations requiring a board to follow.

[Nick Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wish I'd kept playing chess :(.

[Nevil]

good