"Chess Training Pocket Book: 300 Most Important Positions and
Ideas" by GM Lev Alburt, 1997 Chess Information and Research
Center, English Algebraic Notation, Softcover, 188pp., $17.95

Three-time U.S. Champion Lev Alburt has established himself as
one of the premier instructors in the game today. His series
"Comprehensive Chess Course" has become a best-seller, favorite
of both students and teachers. The sixth volume in this series has
just been released. "Chess Training Pocket Book: 300 Most
Important Positions and Ideas" takes a unique route to teaching
chess mastery and it appears that it will be as successful and as
well received as the previous five volumes.

Alburt's theory as presented in this book is that a chessplayer's
game can be significantly improved by focusing on a finite,
manageable number of positions, understanding them and virtually
memorizing them so that when a similar pattern presents itself in
actual play, the chessplayer's memory will be positively stimulated,
allowing the same kind of solution to be applied in the game.

After a brief introduction (part of which is excerpted below), the
meat of the book is served up to the reader. Three hundred
positions, four per page. With the book open, the diagrams appear
on the left side, and the solutions/explanations for these diagrams
are on the right. The solutions usually contain sub-variations and
instructive remarks. The author suggests that the reader should go
through the book more than once until complete mastery is
attained. Although no discernible pattern of presentation of the
positions is evident, the author does state that there is some method
to the apparent randomness.

From the introduction...

Making the Most Out of this Book

Making Your Time Count!

This book is written specifically for the non-master who wants to
become a strong tournament player in the shortest period of time
possible. Of course, it's also a great book for masters to use to
review and retain the knowledge that earned them their rank. 

Finding what's important is most of the battle; remembering it is
the rest! We hold this truth to be self-evident: Not all chess
knowledge is created equal. A chess player must sift the gold
nuggets from the silt. Otherwise, he can waste hundreds or even
thousands of hours of life, acquiring knowledge that is of little
practical value. And because it's impractical, it can't be often used
or even remembered for very long anyway!

The simple truth is this: To become a strong tournament player,
you must indelibly carve into your chess memory a certain limited
number of essential positions and concepts. As similar situations
arise in your own chess games, these memories stir and come to
your conscious mind, alerting you to the best course of action.
Naturally, increasing levels of skill require an increasing number of
essential positions and concepts. Experts have a greater storehouse
than the average club player. 

The purpose of this book is to provide you with the 300 positions
essential to becoming a strong tournament player.

Chess Positions as "Zipped" Files

Those familiar with computers know that, to send information
quickly and to store it in the smallest possible space, electronic
files are "zipped" or compacted dramatically by special programs.
On retrieval, they can be quickly "unzipped" to burst into their full
detail. The 300 positions in this book are very much "zipped files."
Engaged with the "special programs" of your own problem-solving
skills, each position will expand and make connections that
provide volumes of chess-playing knowledge.

Here's a promise: To be a strong player, you do not need to know
hundreds of King and Pawn endgame positions - but only 12 key
positions. Of course they have to be the right positions--and they're
in this book! To be a master you do not need to know thousands of
King and Pawn endings. You need to know 50 key positions.

As an example, let me introduce you to a specific position that will
become an old and trusted friend, one you'll see again as position
#133 on page 92.

White: Kg1; pawn - f3 Black: Kd4; pawn - f5

This position alone contains perhaps a full 50% of the knowledge
needed by a tournament player to play King and Pawn endgames
well! So the right positions, effectively explained, can be more
helpful than volumes and volumes of off-target "instruction.."

[Solution and discussion as given later in the book]:

 #133. Capturing on the Right Square. 

It's tempting to attack the pawn with 1...Ke3, expecting 2 Kg2, the
only way to protect the pawn. And it must be protected (must it
not?) as all our chess experiences have "taught" us. Then 2...f4
wins the f3-pawn and the game. 

*The King on the 6th rank in front of a non-Rook pawn always
wins.* This is one of those dozen or so maxims every 1600 player
must know about pawn endings in order to become an Expert!

Well, the f3-pawn is doomed. The only question is on which rank
it will be taken. Thus, 1...Ke3? leads to only a draw after 2 f4 Kxf4
3 Kf2 (Another key position to remember: Here f2 - the
opposition! - is the only square to which the White King can move
to for a draw). 

Black wins with 1...f4! (fixing the pawn on f3) 2 Kf2 Kd3 3 Kf1
Ke3 4 Kg2 Ke2 0-1. Black won because he always had waiting
moves while White didn't. And now we can see that, with White to
play, the only move to draw is 1 f4! (1...Ke4 2 Kf1 Kxf4 3 Kf2=).

Of course, without subjecting ourselves to a prolonged regimen, it
is difficult if not impossible to determine if this approach will be
effective. But a few observations may be made: You can pick up
this book when you have a few minutes, study a few positions, and
put it down, with good effect. Furthermore, the book is designed
by the author to be used alone, i.e., the benefits may be achieved
without having read the previous five volumes in the series. And
there is no question that this series has been enormously popular.
That is because the system taught by Alburt has been effective. On
that basis alone, this is a worthwhile acquisition. Let Lev help you
improve your game.