THE SURVIVAL GUIDE TO COMPETITIVE CHESS
Author: John Emms
Everyman Chess
160 pages
$24.95 (our price: $22.95)

Reviewed by Jeremy Silman

Grandmaster John Emms is one of a small but elite group of English writers that is not only prolific, but also writes with wit, energy, and authority. His DANGEROUS WEAPONS books, and his critically acclaimed SURVIVAL GUIDE TO ROOK ENDINGS, demonstrate his theoretical acumen and his ability to make rather complex information fun and easy to digest.

However, when I received THE SURVIVAL GUIDE TO COMPETITIVE CHESS I was rather horrified. Surely this was going to be total garbage? As a result of this instant judgment, I put off looking at the thing for as long as possible and then finally began taking it out during my daily "walk my cat on a leash" marathons. I expected to judge and condemn it after one walk. But, the next day saw me holding Emms' book again, and the next, and ... well, imagine the neighborhood insane person strolling around in his pajamas, being led by an enormous cat, smiling madly as he devours every word of a SURVIVAL GUIDE chess tome.

Now, having read the thing from cover to cover, I can assure you that this is a fantastic piece of work! Why? Let's take a look.

There's nothing advanced here, yet THE SURVIVAL GUIDE TO COMPETITIVE CHESS will prove useful (or at least entertaining!) to players from every rating category. The reason it has such a large spread of interest is that it offers really useful advice on a myriad of topics, it's extremely personal (Emms more often than not uses his own games and experiences as examples, even if they show him in an imbecilic light), and it's enormous fun to read.

The book has four chapters, with various topics inside of each individual chapter:

Chapter One: In the Heat of Battle
This chapter is rich with useful advice. Calculation, Check Every Move, Avoiding High Risk/Low Reward Tactics, Bluffing, The Poker Face, and Know the Rules are just a few of the things you'll enjoy here.

Chapter Two: Winning, Drawing and Losing
Here Emms takes us into over the board dilemmas such as Last Round Nerves, Converting Winning Positions, Grinding out Endgame Wins, Draw by Reputation, Etiquette, Dealing with Bad Positions, and Never Resign are the highlights, but there’s lots more too.

Chapter Three: Clock Control
Who hasn't had problems with the clock? Emms explores The Perils of Time Trouble, Exploiting Your Opponent's Time Trouble, Blitzing, etc.

Chapter Four: Opening Play
No, this isn't the usual "memorize a bunch of moves" rubbish. Instead he hits upon topics that all of us have to deal with like Building a Repertoire, Guarding against Complacency, Beware of a Little Knowledge, Facing a Surprise in the Opening, Using Computers, and the list continues.

One of the best pieces of advice sounds, at first, completely ridiculous. It's called CEM (for Check Every Move) and though one might guess that it's just for beginners, I think every player of every class has successfully employed it at one time or another. Emms tells us why you should use it and when you should use it. Of course, CEM is just one drop in the bucket in a book that's literally filled with advice that's deftly presented and extremely useful.

THE SURVIVAL GUIDE TO COMPETITIVE CHESS is perhaps best for players in the 1400 to 2200 range, but weaker and stronger players will also find a lot of useful tidbits, or at the very least a lot of "reading for pure pleasure" moments.

Very highly recommended!

Click to buy (or get more information about) THE SURVIVAL GUIDE TO COMPETITIVE CHESS

Other fine books by John Emms:

SURVIVAL GUIDE TO ROOK ENDINGS

DANGEROUS WEAPONS: THE NIMZO-INDIAN

DANGEROUS WEAPONS: THE SICILIAN

STARTING OUT: MINOR PIECE ENDGAMES

STARTING OUT: THE QUEEN'S INDIAN

STARTING OUT: THE SCOTCH GAME

STARTING OUT: THE SICILIAN

THE SCANDINAVIAN (2ND EDITION)

PLAY THE OPEN GAMES AS BLACK

ATTACKING WITH 1.e4

CHESS SOFTWARE: A USER'S GUIDE

DISCOVERING CHESS OPENINGS

RUY LOPEZ (Foxy Openings DVD)

SICILIAN KAN

NIMZO-INDIAN (Foxy Openings DVD)

MOST AMAZING CHESS MOVES OF ALL TIME