Everymanchess books and ebooks forum

Seirawan does several things in his books that make them readable and popular in my opinion.

First, his books are laid out in logical topics. Trouble with openings, buy the openings book. Same with Tactics or Strategies. His books are filled with diagrams along with the Algebraic notation. He admits he loved certain things in his career, until he got at to a high level and therefore started to lose. He then states what he did to change and move forward and is not above saying he lost during his transition.

His books (apart from the man) have been criticized for not being deep enough or theoretical enough. I think this is a somewhat valid criticism. His books series is in most serious chess players libraries -- because he comes down to basics and that is a spring board to more advanced books. My first chess book was "Art of Attack in Chess" by Vladimir Vukovic (also by Everyman Chess). Without Seirawan's books, that book was like reading physics when you have not had any physics background.

Seirawan first book "Play Winning Chess" probably is not titled correctly. It is thin on substance. In might be better titled "Basic Knowledge Necessary to Play Winning Chess". That leads to a lot of criticism. If you are new to serious Chess, his books give a wonderful foundation and some knowledge and theoretical support.

This is much better than books like "Chess for Dummies" or "Chess for Idiots" which are how to play. I think they both do not say much about things like "en passant" which is such a unique rule, but can beat you in a heartbeat. The fact you can get eBooks you can listen when driving if you like. You will still need a copy of the book to reference and see the diagrams.

I do not understand why some people criticize his books so much (a small minority). They serve as a good foundational set for just that, foundational knowledge while diving into some deeper theory and tactics. If you have not been playing competitive chess for 10 years, without Seirawan's books you would never understand Kasparov or any deeper book at all. Seirawan helps you understand chess enough to move on down the road.

Dr. Jim Fox, USCF Member
Returning to Chess after not playing since college

I have several of Yasser's books in the series, which I use as a training aid for teaching my son. I am not sure how much it is helping (he has many interests, chess being just one of them), but he loved the part where we went over some of Yasser's early games as a kid. His eyes got real big when Yasser would drop pieces and I would explain this was future Grandmaster playing this game -- everyone starts somewhere.

OBTW, I do miss the old "Inside Chess" Mag. I was a long time subscriber and nothing ever filled the void when it was discontinued.

Bob

Personally, Yasser Seirawan is my favorite chess author.

Yasser Seirawan

Seirawan's books are solid in quality and cover the topics someone new to chess needs. His writing is generally entertaining and interesting. His content covers essential learning topics. If you follow his guidance you will gain a solid foundation.
I'm always astounded that you get critiques of his methods and contents based on someone rated 2000+. I have plenty of chessbooks that are over my head.
You have to start off with basics and it is a vastly different game from the upper reaches.
The collection of books does a great job of preparing a begginer for more advanced study as does Lev Alburt's series.

CJ