Point Count Chess (Paperback)

This book is based on the following premise: Every move on the chessboard is an exchange, a give and take. The very first move, if it is a pawn move, for example, gives away control of the squares that the Pawn had previously commanded and takes control of new squares. Similarly at any stage of the game, there is implicit in every move a plus and minus quality. To be sure, these differences of themselves are usually minute and carry little weight. When combined in series of inter-related moves - plans - their effect is to sway the course of the game. This book, via the Point Count, shows the reader how to evaluate these differences and exploit them. What is more, the reader also acquires a working knowledge of more than a score of plans, their mechanisms and physical contours, and the influence they exert in actual play. Pawn skeletons, chains, salients and other basic features of this valuable unit are compared structurally as to strengths and weaknesses. Outpost stations, wing demonstrations and a host of strategic ideas are described, appraised via the Point Count and illustrated in numerous examples from actual play. Point Count Chess will augment the reader's understanding of the game, enhance his repertoire and determine his proper course of action in each contest, based upon the innate considerations of the position.