"For Young and Old Alike"

Tips for Young Players, by Matthew Sadler, 1999 Everyman
Publishers, English Algebraic Notation, Softcover, 160pp., $12.95

by Glenn Budzinski

According to the back cover of Tips for Young Players by British
Grandmaster Matthew Sadler, the book is "written by one of the
world's leading players, aimed at young players looking to
improve their play and practical results" and "packed with advice
on every aspect of the game". The question, of course, is whether
the book will hold up to such lofty billing.

The 160 pages are segregated into eleven chapters: Chapters 1 and
2 discuss general principles of the opening and middlegame,
respectively; Chapter 3 is entitled "Middlegame Tactics";
"Endgame Principles" is Chapter 4; "Building an Opening
Repertoire" offers some ideas about selecting openings; "Let's
Go!", "The Middlegame: Attacking Play" and "The Middlegame:
Positional Play" take a look at some plans and strategies to employ
in the middlegame; Chapter 9 is "Endgame Play"; additional ideas
and training to improve one's play are offered in Chapter 10 and
Chapter 11 contains solutions to the exercises included in the first
nine chapters. Each chapter also includes an overview of the
material covered within. There is neither an introduction nor an
index included in the book.

By definition, most self-improvement books are usually little more
than a regurgitation of the same old themes, generally repackaged
for a new audience. Although Sadler still covers the prerequisite
principles of the game, it is clear from the beginning that there is
more here than just a pretty cover. 

We were impressed with Sadler's fresh, new spin on old ideas. For
instance, the concept of the initiative is often described by authors
in vague, nebulous terms, usually leaving the reader with more
questions than answers. Sadler's explanation, however, is clear and
on the mark:"...To take a simple analogy, the aim of both sides in a
football [American soccer] match is to score a goal. But only one
side can score at one time -- the side that has the ball! However
much the other side wants to score, they can't do anything until
they win the ball back. In chess terms, you would say that the side
with the ball has the initiative -- it has the power to make things
happen" (page 13).

Also commendable is the following explanation included under the
chapter covering general principles of the middlegame: "The basic
aim of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. We all know
this: it's in every book ...and it's true! But it can give you the wrong
impression of what you should be trying to do during a game. The
crucial point is that our aim is to checkmate the opponent's king
eventually...There is more than one way of defeating your
opponent: the launch of a direct, violent attack, sacrificing a
handful of pieces along the way, is the most spectacular, and
usually the quickest method, but it is the exception to the rule. The
normal path to victory is to win some of the opponent's pieces and
thus to have more pieces than your opponent. Eventually you may
aim to have a position where the opponent only has his king while
you have several pieces: then you checkmate him" (page 20).
The importance of the center is discussed in several chapters,
including Chapter 6, where he analyzes part of a game he played.
Here he provides a clearly-stated, general rule about play against
the center: "In order to force weaknesses which you can exploit
later, you have to be connected with your opponent's position.
Putting pressure on the opponent's centre is the first, easy and
obvious way to do it. Secondly, by putting pressure on the
opponent's centre, you restrict your opponent's choices" (page 81).

Sprinkled throughout the book and highlighted in bold typeface are
various "Tips"and "Warnings". Most are worth noting. Examples
of Tips include: "Long-range pieces [rooks, bishops and queens]
should be placed where nothing blocks them: on open files and
diagonals. Also, long-range pieces will come into their own
once fewer pawns and the position opens up" (page 31); "The
queen is the 'finishing-off' piece. The piece that, once you've
sacrificed plenty of 'little guys' to break open the position,
mops up the mess and applies the finishing touches" (page 100).
A warning to be heeded, not likely to be found in other books, is to
"Keep your sense of danger by observing which pieces are
protecting or covering other pieces. Be aware when those
relationships are changed" (page 42).

There's an old Polish maxim that states that the more one strays
from the well-trodden paths, the greater the chance of producing
material that may be viewed as controversial. To Sadler's credit, he
has tried to inject his own ideas as much as possible into the
game's immutable themes. Unfortunately, the down side to
creativity is that it occasionally raises a few eyebrows.

For example, when comparing and contrasting the middlegame
and endgame phases, Sadler writes "In the endgame your position
is slow and cumbersome -- if you place all your pieces on one side,
you will not be able to get back quickly to deal with the problems
on the other side", which is quite true (page 52). We aren't quite
sure how this contrasts with the middlegame, since if one places all
his pieces on one side of the board at that stage, he will also most
likely suffer the same consequences   only quicker, as Sadler
himself indicates in Chapter Two, when discussing where to
attack. 

While most exercises are appropriate based on the material
presented in the foregoing chapter, in certain cases, however, it is
questionable whether the student has been properly equipped to
handle the positions. There are a few exercises which appear to fall
into the category that could be referred to as "tests of missing
knowledge". Two examples are Exercises 1 and 2 in Chapter 8,
"The Middlegame: Positional Play". In the first position, 

White: Kg1, Qd1, Ra1, Rf1, Bc4, Be3, Nf3, Nc3; pawns - a2, b2,
c2, e4, f2, g2, h2 
Black: Kg8, Qd8, Ra8, Rf8, Be7, Bc8, Nf6, Nb8; pawns - a6, b7,
d6, e5, f7, g7, h7

the reader is asked to "Assess the weaknesses in Black's structure
and suggest a way they might [be] 'repaired'." The weaknesses in
the Black position are relatively obvious: the backward d-pawn
and weak d5 square. Repairing them with 1...Be6 and the obliging
2 Bxe6 fxe6 may not be too obvious to the reader, though,
considering that this method was not discussed.

Exercise 2 is a similar position: 

White: Kg1, Qd1, Ra1, Re1, Bb3, Bc1, Nf3, Nb1; pawns - a2, b2,
c3, d2, e4, f2, g2, h2
Black: Kg8, Qd8, Ra8, Rf8, Be7, Bc8, Nf6, Nc6; pawns - a6, b5,
c7, d6, e5, f7, g7, h7

Again, the reader is asked to assess Black's structural weakness
and repair it. Experienced players will probably immediately
recognize this position to be a variation of the Ruy Lopez and
realize that the proper continuation for Black is 1...Na5 2 Bc2 c5,
since Black's weak point is the b5 pawn, as Sadler points out. He
also mentions that the weakness is not as obvious as in the
previous example -- a mild understatement, to say the least.
Although we aren't questioning Sadler's use of this particular
position as an example of a structural weakness, we can't help but
wonder whether the typical reader of this book will be able to offer
a meaningful response to this exercise, given that examples such as
this were not previously addressed. 

Somewhat more serious is Sadler's advocacy that the reader play
openings based on "tricks or traps" (page 67). This is not an
opinion shared by the majority of chess self-improvement book
authors. Sadler also seems to be in conflict with himself on this
point given that, on one hand, he stresses the need to understand an
opening rather than memorizing moves and, on the other hand, he
recommends playing openings based on traps, which are usually
no more than specific sequences of moves that are probably best
learned through memorization. 

However, the objections raised in this review are rather
insignificant when placed in context with the rest of the book. Tips
for Young Players is a clean breath of fresh air in the world of self-
improvement books. In his own inimitable style, Sadler has
prepared an excellent account of the basic concepts of the game
that every beginner (regardless of age) needs to know to become a
competent player. As long as the student understands how the
pieces move and is familiar with algebraic notation, this is
certainly as good a book as any with which to begin one's journey
on the road to chess mastery or, at least, to a better understanding
of the game.