Build Up Your Chess 1: The Fundamentals (Yusupov's Chess School)

I ordered this book after playing a few hundred online games and felt that I was hitting a wall in terms of strategy at the ~1000 mark. This book covers a nice range of topics that are each illustrated by diagrams and the line played for half a dozen examples, with the instruction then to turn your attention to a dozen exercises to pull off the chapter's strategy. You will need to sit down, set out the position in the exercise, and then stare at the board trying to find the best sequence. If this sounds intimidating -- this book might not be for you! But if you are at the position where you are playing online or club games where you can evaluate 3, 4 or 5 move lines in your head, this book will be perfect, as most of the exercises require only that many moves for a solution. Yusupov doesn't add much in evaluation or explanation of the tactical themes -- this book is presented plainly as a "Get on with it!" style of instruction after a quick summary of the topic. However, the example games and exercises are all taken from high-level games from chess throughout the 20th century -- no tired retreading of 19th century classics here. Even better, the exercises often have multiple solutions, some better than others. I'd highly recommend this book if you're serious enough about chess to want to invest the time and effort to work through the exercises with a board.

Arthur Yusupov took his knowledge from the Moscow school of chess. Wrote it down and created the best chess education materal I have ever seen. 9 books in total + test&excem. Each book has 12 chapters. Focusing on one thing at the time. Build as course material shall be. Examples, excercises and test. Like any University course 3 hours minimum per chapter => 72 hours. 75-100 hours per book is what I estimate as "normal" effort. If you manage one book. You will improve. If you do all 9. Wow !!!

okay

The hardest thing about this book is deciding which one to read next. There are 10 in the series including a final exam. Clearly, the final exam should be done last and this one, Build Up Your Chess Vol. 1 should be read first. The ones in between can be treated more fluidly. The publisher, in an attempt to quell controversy, has stated that you should read all the orange ones first (The Fundamentals, 1, 2 & 3), then the blue ones (Beyond the Basics 1, 2 & 3), then the green ones (Mastery 1, 2 &3). That may be the intention but there are some very basic tactics covered in the blue books and some very difficult positional ideas in the orange ones. The green ones cover some important endings. Some suggested opening repertoires for white and black are scattered throughout the series. There are many things this series does right. The layout is superb. This is how all instructional chess books should be laid out. There are 24 chapters in each book and each chapter consists of some explanatory examples followed by 12 exercises. In both cases there is a very clear diagram showing whose turn it is to move. In the examples the diagrams are on the left and right and the text is in the middle so it is very easy to cover the text and work out what you would play before reading the explanation. With the exercises there are solutions on separate pages immediately following the positions. You are encouraged to play over the positions on a chessboard and write down your analysis. You score points for the variations you find as well as for the most accurate solutions. This is the best way to do any kind of chess training and by far the best way to improve. It is only by engaging with the material as you would in a game that you can really absorb the instruction. If you score badly you are encouraged to re-read the chapter and repeat the exercises. I like to re-read and repeat anyway because I forget things fast. The layout makes it really easy to do this. But in any case I have put all the positions and explanations into Chessbase. It is not a waste of time. The material is really good. The positions are very well-chosen and always satisfying to solve. There is nothing in here that is ambiguous or wrong. Even the grammar and punctuation is perfect. (Actually I found one or two typing errors across the series but I find the annotations and text very aesthetically pleasing.) I would say the main weakness with this book and perhaps with the series is that it doesn't explain endings very well. I have turned to other books to find better material on endings. The opening repertoires are also very sketchy and, in general, not very ambitious for either colour. Yusupov recommends safe and quiet openings such as The Spanish Four Knights for White and the Petroff for Black. But clearly no book can cover everything. This series tries very hard to do that and it does a very good job of filling in any gaps in your knowledge but its main strength is in its ability to get you to engage with the material and really learn it. You don't leave this behind when you close the book. It stays with you. That is very difficult for any teacher to accomplish so in my view this is the best instructional chess series currently in print.

A systematic way to progress in chess knowledge. I most certainly have benefited from having this book. It is the first of nine books in the series. The book is not easygoing by any stretch of the imagination. This is a very challenging read at times, because it asks you to think. I know, it sounds like a very stupid sentence, but this book is only beneficial if you put your chess computer away, roll up your sleeves and stare at some chess pieces on a board. If you bring that attitude with you, Mr Yusupov will bring the opportunity to advance your game to another level.

After following two chapters with the familiar checkmating patterns (all useful stuff to learn) I take the chapter 2 test - three of the puzzles give me considerable trouble, but I figure I will lose the points and try to learn. But no, I was right, the mating patterns are there BUT only if your opponent plays directly into them. (The examples in the text are mostly like that too). Chess is an easy game if you are allowed to choose bad moves for your opposition. I put the diagrams that troubled me into Stockfish, and it confirmed - in one of the puzzles the response from the opponent was not even in the top 5 moves Stockfish suggested - how I am supposed to not only guess such a bad move, but EXPECT my opponent to play it and submit it as my answer?

Livro caiu como uma luva para o meu nível. Devo comprar o restante da série

Build Up Your Chess、Boost Your Chess、Chess Evolutionと続く最初のコースの第１巻。IntroductionでElo 1500以下、Elo 1800以下、Elo 2100以下のコースを開講したことからこのシリーズが出来上がったとあるから、上記のコースはこのレイティングに対応しているのだと思う。 ２４のレッスンがあり、各レッスンの最後に試験がある。合格点に達しないともう一度勉強しなさいということになる。全体の最後にまた試験がある。試験の部分は手番が示されるだけでノーヒント。 レッスンはページの外側（綴じていない方）に盤面があり、綴じ目の方に説明がある。本を小さく開いて、まず考えることができるように工夫されている。 私の棋力では、難しすぎず、易しすぎず、ちょうど良いレベルだと思う。楽しみながら力がつきそうである。

Me habían hablado bien de ésta serie y las reseñas en internet eran buenas, pero tenía mis dudas. Sin embargo el material es muy bueno; me siento muy satisfecho con el libro y creo, aunque solo estoy comenzando, que será para trabajar la serie!!!

Ok

BUILD UP YOUR CHESS THE FUNDAMENTALS is one volume of a NINE volume comprehensive "training program" or "chess course" which aims to bring you from the level of the club player to the level of the master in three levels and to identify the knowledge needed for each level revealing any gaps you may have in the process. It is basically a guide for self-assessment that allows you to know where you are in your chess knowledge and is best used supplementing other more detailed instructional sources. This training program is based on the original online lessons from the CHESS TIGERS UNIVERSITY. For me, this is an EXTREMELY valuable thing to know: what knowledge exactly should I have for the level I am aiming for and what is missing in my knowledge base that is essential for this level. I feel very lucky to have discovered this. The other reviews seem to assume three volumes at most; it has expanded and is now nine volumes which are divided into three series. The three series are BUILD UP YOUR CHESS (which was the first of the three series), BOOST YOUR CHESS and CHESS EVOLUTION and each of these has its own Volume 1 THE FUNDAMENTALS (the level of the club player - orange cover in all 3 series), Volume 2 BEYOND THE BASICS (a transitional level - blue cover in all 3 series) and Volume 3 MASTERY (the level of the master - green cover in all 3 series). That's right, the levels are color-coded. When the BUILD UP YOUR CHESS series came out in 2008, it was greeted with very high regard: in 2009, Artur Jussupow (or Yusupov, as is easier for most of us to pronounce) was announced the winner of the "Boleslavsky Medal" for best chess book of 2008 by FIDE. The medal, named for Ukrainian Grandmaster Isaac Boleslavsky, is FIDE's way of recognizing this series as a chess-related "best book with remarkable, instructional values." It is possible that the resultant close scrutiny led to its expansion into a second and third series ... that is my guess but I have not yet come across the answer to the question "What did Yusupov know and when??". Not all nine volumes have already been published as of December, 2010. What this book is not?? This book is not primarily explanatory text and is not a primer; it does not present sufficient detail to be an introduction to, or the only source for, the information included and is not intended to be used in this way. If you are reading this review because you are a beginner looking for a comprehensive primer, try any of the following: there are large books like THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO CHESS by Patrick Wolff or ALPHA TEACH YOURSELF CHESS by Zsuzsa Polgar et al or COMPREHENSIVE CHESS COURSE VOLUMES 1 & 2 by Roman Pelts and Lev Alburt and smaller books like PORTABLE CHESS COACH by Judee Shipman or CONCISE CHESS by John Emms; each has some wonderful aspect and so it depends on what you are looking for; read their reviews and judge for yourself; also, do not overlook amazon's "Listmania" as a great source of information. What this book is?? This book is an OUTLINE of what you should know as a club player. Its primary purpose seems to be to serve as an excellent guide for self-assessment. It has 24 chapters structured as follows: each chapter starts with a VERY BRIEFLY defined concept such as "Centralizing the pieces" followed by several (mostly short) game excerpts each with diagram which demonstrates the concept and is color coded so you can see at a glance the color of the player of the next move, exercises to test the reader with solutions at the end of each chapter and a suggested method of scoring. It is one of the three volumes each subtitled the same: Volume 1 THE FUNDAMENTALS. Together, these three volumes represent the first level and starting point, the knowledge base that every club player should begin with before going to the next level of this comprehensive chess course which is the three Volumes 2 BEYOND THE BASICS. This was the part about which, initially, I was unclear: there are really only three levels; this first level consists of Volume 1 of EACH of the three series; all Volumes 1 THE FUNDAMENTALS represent this same first level. This can be confusing as Yusupov seems to have written them by series not by level but they are meant to be read by level so that the order in which they are intended to be read is to begin with all the Volumes 1, then all the Volumes 2 and end with all the Volumes 3. I have confirmed this order with the publisher. I want to start with just one level, THE FUNDAMENTALS (all orange covers). I have purchased Volume 1 THE FUNDAMENTALS of both the BUILD UP YOUR CHESS series and the BOOST YOUR CHESS series but Volume 1 THE FUNDAMENTALS is not yet available for the CHESS EVOLUTION series and, as of Sept. 12, 2011, is not expected to come out until later in 2011; nine is expected to be the final total number for this course/program ... but who knows. It took me a while to figure this all out as it is spelled out some places but not everywhere and I had to do some homework and did not immediately notice that the levels are color-coded. Perhaps, the total concept evolved as the author went along. In any case, being clear on this may help your purchase decisions if, like me, you did not immediately understand. By the way, those interested in this book might, also, like CHESS EXAM AND TRAINING GUIDE by Igor Khmelnitsky which targets all levels from beginner to master; it is, also, highly regarded having won, for best book of 2005, the Cramer Award given by CJA (Chess Journalists of America).