Point Count Chess

I.A. Horowitz & G. Mott-Smith

ISBN 10: 0047940034 / ISBN 13: 9780047940033

Published by George Allen & Unwin, 1973

About this Item

Point Count Chess by I.A. Horowitz and G. Mott-Smith is an essential guide for any serious chess player. Known for their insightful analysis, the authors provide an advanced look into the strategic depth of chess using point count techniques. This book remains a vital resource in comprehending complex strategies and enhancing one?s play. Published by George Allen & Unwin in 1973, this hardcover edition is in very good condition, marked only by minor wear on the dust jacket. The content retains all original insights that made this book a staple in chess libraries. Ideal for players aiming to master chess strategy, this volume stands as a testament to the enduring relevance of Horowitz's teachings. Some wear on dust jacket, otherwise clean and solid. Publisher: George Allen & Unwin. Year: 1973. Actual item shown in the photos. Ships from Montreal, Canada.

Seller Inventory # BK-581cd6b1ec17

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Point Count Chess
• Publisher: George Allen & Unwin
• Publication Date: 1973
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0047940034
• ISBN 13: 9780047940033
• Binding: Hardcover/Hardback
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis

Perhaps more than any other chess book ever, this book was greeted with calumny and ridicule when it first came out. However, there has been a re-appraisal. Chess coaches have found this book to be great for teaching chess to their students. It is now highly recommended by a large number of chess coaches and trainers. Computer chess programs have also adopted the concepts introduced in this book. Chess Review magazine called this book “a completely original concept in chess instruction.” This book, via the Point Count, shows the reader how to evaluate these differences and exploit them. What is more, the reader also acquires a working knowledge of more than a score of plans, their mechanisms and physical contours, and the influence they exert in actual play. This book is based on the following premise: Every move on the chessboard is an exchange, a give and take. The very first move, if it is a pawn move, for example, gives away control of the squares that the pawn had previously commanded and takes control of new squares. Similarly at any stage of the game, there is implicit in every move a plus and minus quality. To be sure, these differences of themselves are usually minute and carry little weight. When combined in series of inter-related moves – plans – their effect is to sway the course of the game. Pawn skeletons, chains, salients and other basic features of this valuable unit are compared structurally as to strengths and weaknesses. Outpost stations, wing demonstrations and a host of strategic ideas are described, appraised via the Point Count and illustrated in numerous examples from actual play. Point Count Chess will augment the reader's understanding of the game, enhance his repertoire and determine his proper course of action in each contest, based upon the innate considerations of the position.

About the Author

Israel Albert Horowitz (often known as Al Horowitz or I. A. Horowitz) was born on November 15, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York. He was one of the strongest players in the world. He won the prize for best score in the World Chess Olympics in Warsaw Poland. He defeated Soviet Grandmaster Salo Flohr in the 1946 USA-USSR match. He was the New York Times chess columnist for ten years. He died on January 18, 1973. Geoffrey Mott-Smith (1902–1960) was the World's Leading Authority on Games. He was conversant with nearly 500 different intellectual games and was generally considered the principal authority on the subject. He knew more intellectual games than anybody else in the world. He wrote books about many of them. He also wrote books on mathematics, puzzles and lexicography. He was a member of the National Lexicographic Board, of which he was vice president until 1956. He previously was executive editor of the New American Webster Dictionaries and the Wonder Book Cyclopedia, editor of synonyms for the Funk and Wagnalls' dictionaries and author of or collaborator on more than twenty books on card, board and mathematical games. During World War II he was the chief instructor for the Office of Strategic Services, which trained cryptographers and cryptanalysts. He authored or co-authored more than 29 books on games and served as games consultant for the Association of American Playing Card Manufacturers. His books include books on mathematics, card games including especially solitaire and hobbies such as his book, “Guide to popular hobbies: Photography, stamp collecting, model-making, and other fascinating pursuits”. He revised and updated several editions of the classic work “According to Hoyle”. Three of his books were compendiums of mathematical games and Puzzles. The Mott-Smith Trophy was donated by friends in memory of Geoffrey Mott-Smith in 1961 and made retroactive to 1958 to include all the winners. It is awarded to the player who wins who wins the most master points at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). Point Count Chess was his last book. He died on August 19, 1960, just after this book had been published. Geoffrey Mott-Smith was born in 1902 in Paris, where his father was United States Consul. His later books include most of the "Hoyle" books that give rules of card and other games. He was chairman of the Problem Committee of the United States Chess Federation. He is famous for the quote, “In the realm of play, chess stands alone in dignity.”