Sunday Book Review: Why You Lose at Chess, 2nd Ed.

Why You Lose at Chess 2nd Ed
Tim Harding
Dover (2001)
softcover, 130 pages
figurine algebraic notation




I suppose that you can sense a pattern in the chess books that I have mentioned lately, the last two being Surprise in Chess and Danger in Chess: How to Avoid Making Blunders.

There are a number of links to be made between these books, Why You Lose at Chess,(*) and the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – and I suppose I should get around to reviewing the titularly more inclusive Why We Lose at Chess (emphasis mine) by Colin Crouch and the more distanced Catalog of Chess Mistakes by Andy Soltis – but the real hook for me (besides the fact that I have loved every book by Dr. Harding that I have ever read) with Why You Lose at Chess (emphasis mine), which left me laughing out loud, was Harding's main theme of the book

Before you can play well, you must stop playing badly.

Ain't it the truth??

The table of Contents promisess a killer's row of self-induced pain

Why You Lose Material
Why You Lose In The Opening
Why You Lose In The Endgame
Why You Lose In The Middle Game
Why You Lose In Good Positions
Why You Lose In Difficult Positions
Why You Lose On Time
Why You Lose At Correspondence Chess
Why You Lose To Computers

Each chapter not only has examples of chess players behaving badly, and coming to no good ends, but also contains explanations by the author about what is going on, what should be going on, and how things could be corrected.

Of special interest is the chapter "My Most Instructive Loss" where IM Harding, IM Cenek Kottnaur, IM George Botterill and IM Bob Wade all share their insights.

I found his "Acknowledgements & Bibliography" chapter interesting as well, where Harding recommends Gerald Abrahams' The Chess Mind, Kotov's Play Like A Grandmaster and Think Like A Grandmaster and Krogius' Psychology in Chess. (I touched on all of these a while back in "My Chess Psychology Book Shelf".)

Harding maintains an optimistic, at times humorous, but always encouraging outlook

Three results are possible in a game of chess – win, loss and draw. This book is intended to cut down drastically on your rate of losses, by recognising the danger signals in time, and by analysing what went wrong in the games you do lose.
To let a potential win slip into a draw is a disappointment but, for most players, it cannot compare with the blow to one's confidence that comes from losing in a serious game. The occasional loss to an acknowledged superior is no bad thing, as an insurance against overconfidence and for the lesson in technique it may give you. However, most of your losses are probably of a more painful variety.
Most of the games you play are likely to be against opponents of approximately your own standard; yo win some and you lose some, yet you always feel that you could do better. By a little extra study beforehand, and more effort while at the board, you could turn that 50 per cent success rate into 80 or 90 per cent and so raise yourself into a new class of competition...

I've read the book through once and am working on it again. After all, an 80 or 90 per cent success rate in the Jerome Gambit would be awesome!

(*- here's a relevant list of reasons attributed to Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Bill Wall)