"Choose the Right Move" by GM Daniel King and Chris Duncan,
1998 Cadogan, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Softcover, 199pp.,
$18.95

General instruction books, i.e., books which attempt to raise a
player's overall playing strength, have been offered to the
chessplaying public for well over a hundred years. Some of them
are recognized as worthwhile, even outstanding. Works by
Nimzovich, Kotov and Dvoretsky, to name but a few, immediately
come to mind. Some of them are not good at all. The reader may
be able to generate his or her own list of 'lemons' - those not worth
picking up a second time. And then there are a great number that
fall in between. Fair to middling, offering a lot of hype but perhaps
less hope of accomplishing its objectives. "Choose the Right
Move" by British Grandmaster Daniel King and FM Chris Duncan
falls within this large, amorphous area.

We are told in the back-cover blurb that "This book shows that the
skills employed by the world's top players are not beyond the
reach of the average player. By examining the thought processes of
a grandmaster during play, the authors unravel the techniques by
which a novice or a newcomer to competitive chess could hope to
improve...This book will set you on the right path to choosing the
right move!" Unfortunately, the book does not quite fulfill its
promises.

It is divided into seven chapters: (1) First Steps; (2) Tactics and
Combinations; (3) How to Calculate; (4) Positional Play and
Planning; (5) How to Win Won Positions; (6) Practical Play; and
(7) Endings. Apparently the material was not entirely jointly
written by the two authors (i.e., they did not collaborate on the
entire manuscript) but each wrote specific chapters. Thus, King
penned chapters one, four and seven; Duncan the other four. Each
made some contribution to the Introduction.

There is a marked difference between the two writers. King is
clearly the better of the two, taking time to explore his topic a bit
more patiently and lucidly for the student. Duncan on the other
hand spends more time telling the reader 'what' rather than 'how'.
A good example is Chapter Three, "How to Calculate." 

When one first opens the book to the table of contents, it is
difficult not to be drawn to this chapter. Hmm, a chapter
instructing one about the methods to be employed in calculating.
Surely this might be worth the price of the book alone. It brought
back thoughts of Kotov's well known "tree" and "branching"
approach in his famous "...Like A Grandmaster" series. Ah, 'twas
not to be. Unfortunately for the reader, Duncan treats his subject
matter superficially, not really being faithful to the chapter's title. 

For example, under the sub-heading "Visualisation" on page 73,
Duncan writes: "Visualisation involves being able to see in your
mind's eye the position a number of moves down the line. This is a
key skill and one that can be acquired through experience and
practice." Duncan then asks the reader to calculate the
consequences of 15...Ne4 in the following position, taken from
P.Nunn-Duncan, 1996 (See Diagram):

White: Kb1, Qd2, Rd1, Rh1, Nc3, Nf3, Be3, Bf1; pawns - a2, b2,
c2, e4, g4, h4
Black: Kg8, Qd8, Rb8, Rf8, Bd7, Bg7, Nf6; pawns - a7, d6, e7, f7,
g6, h7

Black has a win here by means of an attractive combination that is
tactically based on the vulnerability of b2 and the White King's
position in the b-file: 15...Nxe4 16 Nxe4 Rxb2+! 17 Kc1 Rb1+!!
18 Kxb1 Qb8+ 19 Kc1 Qb2 mate. Essentially, what Duncan does
after presenting the position is go through the solution with the
reader, beginning with 15...Nxe4, analyzing the options and the
pitfalls of each move.  That is all well and good, but in a chapter
that is entitled "How to Calculate" one might have expected
somewhat more than annotations of a diagrammed position. 

A more instructive discussion of the strengths and weakness of the
position (and a reasonable approach to showing the reader "How to
Calculate") might have pointed out that b2, currently occupied by a
White pawn, is pinned by the Black Rook along the open b-file.
Furthermore, if the Black Bishop on g7 was striking down a long
diagonal unencumbered by any pieces, it would also hit b2. And,
since the pawn on b2 protecting the Knight on c3 is pinned, the
Knight on c3 could be subject to being won under the proper
circumstances. In other words, in this rather basic example, the
intersection of the forces exerted by the Black Rook and Bishop on
b2 should form the basis for some calculations. The student then
"simply" needs to determine if there is a move available to Black
in this position that unmasks the Bishop in an advantageous way.
15...Nx4 is thus discovered...

Well, you get the picture. King does a better job with his
assignments, but not so much so as to warrant your rushing out
hoping to acquire a copy before your local chess book dealer runs
out. Be more selective. Besides, this book should be in stock for a
while...