This was an interesting publication, as it is Microsoft Press; meaning that it was first put together on Word. Let me first say that there is an error on page 246 (there's a funny joke about publishers who thought they published an error-less book - they got the title wrong). Some manuals do not "give a King's point count as 3 1/2". Some manuals give a Knight's point count as 3 1/2.

This was the first serious chess book I have read through, and let me tell you, I got my analysis board good and broken-in. The other neophytic chess books I've read have been no where near 257 pages.

As a chess and chess literature newbie, I really learned a lot. I learned of pawn structures; I learned to read the position and know whether to prefer knights or bishops for the endgame; I learned of territory, and of targets.

Seirawan, towards the end, becomes a bit more conversational in his writing; and I like that. He even references a "prose-like" chess work, which I have now forgotten. I wish I had taken notes with a voice recorder, or used a highlighter at least, so that I could look up the books he mentioned. It will take a while to go back through. There was just so much good information; and yet, after every couple of paragraphs, you are given theory to work through on your analysis board.

The diagrams given half-way through notations were really helpful. Many times, I found I had erred. Wishing to glean as much knowledge as I could, I would start over from the beginning anyway.

Seirawan and Silman proved to me with this book that I really enjoy the nightly ritual of chess reading. My 5" magnetic sheesham wood set and I look forward to more. ( )

A learning text about the middle game of chess. How to not just move pieces but how to use them in concert toward winning positions. ( )

I haven't spent much time with this, but the front cover (at least of the 2007 revised edition) says that it's by Yasser "with Jeremy Silman" and the contents do seem to have a lot in common with the latter's "How to Reasses Your Chess"; there appears to be quite a bit of overlap (which isn't to say that this book is bad; it's probably not, though I did find quite a few typos).

Too advanced for me as of Aug 2009.
Returned to library.