The Process of Decision Making in Chess, Volume 1: Mastering the Theory

by Philip Ochman

This guidebook will teach you how to make correct decisions in chess at every phase of the game, whether you are a total beginner or an expert.

Designed for self study, it includes all the material being taught at the first part of the way to improve in chess- creating a solid foundation in the process of decision making in chess, upon which all future knowledge is based.

Understanding how to make correct decisions in chess, what to take into account, how to approach different kinds of positions and how to focus on answering the requirements of the position, will then be used to study everything else in chess- from the opening, through the middle game and all the way to the endgame.

Having read this book, you will acquire all the tools needed to break down the complex (and often difficult!) question of "what should I do in a given position?" into a number of much easier and simple questions; Combining the answers to these questions, you will come up with the right plan and find the best moves in every situation.

Genres: Chess

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 13, 2013

About the author

Teaching chess is great! nothing beats helping people think better!

Visit me on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/spochman1

And a huge thank you to all my readers- you are awesome!

Reviews

[Fred Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nimcopimomach!" That is my chess mnemonic that gives me a quick mental checklist against some of the things that get me clobbered in a chess game. Basically translates to "check (k)night moves, watch the corners, look for pins, make sure your move order has not been reversed, look for mates, look for checks". And, actually, it has saved me some grief over the years, simplistic though it is. Moving ahead in complexity brings us to the book. It not only examines the fundamental issues that need to be examined before making a move - space, control, material, tactical and strategic but does so from the perspective and with examples from basic, middle and advanced degrees of complexity. It provides an interesting structure for analysis that a player of any level will benefit from and I can recommend this book to those looking to move up the chess ladder. Do keep an eye on the game clock however and some of the deep stuff does take some time to execute.

[South Force · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author describes in a clear and detailed way a step-by-step process to make correct decisions in chess when analyzing positions. The approach is very systematic and you can follow a sort of guideline to break your decision in a set of easier questions. I have found the book very interesting and useful, it has had the power to stimulate in me a lot of new ideas and suggestions to rethink my personal thought process in chess.
(Antonio Addivinola, Italy)

[Szebasztián Sejer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally liked this book very much.

Philip gives concepts that are very easy to understand. The diagrams make sure you don't get lost in the detailed explenations. The examples are great and very educational.

The only thing that bothered me very little was that some of the ideas were a bit vague, and in conlcusion not so easy to understand for beginner/intermediate players. My example for this is the concept of "Vision". It is clear what it means, but a not so good chess player may not be familiar with what a "dream position" should look like to him. I think this concept of what kind of plans to follow through the game not just objectively justifying each and every move could have been explained a bit better, though of course it is possible that later volumes will do this.

This is my one and only critisism I can come up with, and despite this I recommend this book to anyone who wants to be better at chess. It's really worth it to purchase it. 4.5/5 for me.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dan Heisman-derived material.

[Alberto · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author is rated 1886. The book is exactly as good as you'd expect based on that rating.

[Flavio Braga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grande trabalho de análise. O autor desenvolve todo um trabalho de análise de posição, com passo a passo. Muito bom!

[Alex Vasai · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the most helpful chess book I have ever read. Being a medium chess player I needed a thinking system for my decisions, I searched it in the books of the grandmasters but I could not find one. Now the main challenge is to create the habit of applying the teachings without rushing.

[Faith Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very helpful and informative book.
It helped me play accurately with a good plan in mind.