THE GRANDMASTER'S MIND (Amatzia Avni)
176 pages (210 mm
by 145 mm).
£13.99/$23.95/€21,90
This book investigates how chess-players find good ideas.
Amatzia Avni, a psychologist by profession, pursues this goal by interviewing
top players and analysts. The discussion focuses on their most interesting and
instructive games and compositions.
Avni has been careful to allow his interviewees to convey
their own thoughts, rather than direct their answers to comply with any
pre-existing theories. We experience the events on the board through the vivid
recollections of the player. This gives us a realistic view of each struggle
and how the critical decisions were really made.
Avni also presents the players with some unfamiliar
positions, and records their reactions upon encountering these new situations.
Once we have heard from the grandmasters, Avni discusses the essence of what
was said, and provides some insights and recommendations.
The interviewees include famous grandmasters such as Boris
Gelfand, Ilia Smirin and Lev Psakhis.
Amatzia Avni is an Israeli psychologist. He is a FIDE
Master in both game and composition, an international judge of studies, a
former editor of the Israeli magazine Schahmat, and a regular
contributor to Chess Monthly and Kingpin.
"Avni is very good at getting the grandmasters to explain
their decisions… [his] conclusions are always clever, definitely worth
reading." - GM Jacob Aagaard, Chesscafe
"His interviews are at the opposite extreme from dry
statistics and jargon… there is colour and light on every interview
page… You don’t have to hunt for insights and enjoyment - you will be
unable to avoid them!" - John Roycroft, EG 156
"The players and topics covered are generally fascinating,
and this is an enjoyable way to learn a bit more about what makes great players
tick" - Randy Bauer, Silman's
website
"Even though it is naturally impossible to deal with all
relevant points in this very interesting study on the thought-processes of
chess grandmasters, the (English-speaking) amateur player will gain many
profound insights from the reading of this work - but above all this:
grandmasters are the same as everyone else!" - Dr W. Schweizer,
Rochade
"...this is by no account a work solely on chess psychology.
The reader also gets as illustrative material well-annotated games, game
fragments and chess studies. He can satisfy himself that strong players also
blunder." - Jerzy Konikowski, Fernschach International
[Gambit's] "latest example of doing something because it
deserves to be done is the original and extremely interesting THE GRANDMASTER'S
MIND. ... lots of fun, but it's also an important and most welcome addition to
chess literature." - Jeremy Silman, Silman's website
"...not just the research, but the product of the research
itself, The Grandmaster's Mind, is a delight." - Rick Kennedy,
Chessville.com
"... in highlighting the differences in approach between
Grandmasters and weaker players, it does give us lesser mortals a sense of the
direction in which we ought to be heading if we want to make progress." -
Alan Sutton, En Passant
"It is a stimulating and readable book which encourages the
reader to think about the game." - John Saunders, BCM |
