Understanding Chess Move by Move 
by John Nunn
Gambit Publications Ltd, softcover, 240 pages. $19.95 list

At this point I think it fair to say that English grandmaster John Nunn is the preeminent chess writer of our age. He is prolific, he writes with clarity and authority, and his range is truly astounding - traditional game collections, beginners' textbooks, a series of computer-assisted endgame tomes, a single-volume opening encyclopedia, books on chess problems and endgame studies, and the definitive monographs on a variety of mainstream openings! His new offering, Understanding Chess Move by Move, is another worthy, if slightly schizophrenic, effort.

The book features thirty heavily annotated games selected and organized to comprise a series of lessons on basic strategic themes: opposite-side castling, the defensive sacrifice, weak color complex, isolated d-pawn, rook on the seventh rank, etc. Of course modern grandmaster chess is not really so one-dimensional. Happily, Nunn does not short change the reader in this regard, but readily ventures into whatever digression or ancillary lesson the game indicates.

Each game concludes with a list of "key lessons." These include both technical ("A rook can prove an effective defender along the second rank, while still continuing to operate aggressively along a file.") and psychological ("Avoid laziness. Clarifying the position might be a good idea, but making a pawn exchange too early can reduce one's options later.") points. I suspect most readers will find these summations very useful in helping step back from the messy complications of practical chess to refocus on The Big Picture.

What is not so clear is the intended audience of the book as a whole. In his desire to let almost no move pass unexplained, Nunn elucidates the most basic principles in connection with a move like, eg, 2 Nf3 (after 1 e4 e5). These discussions seem aimed at 'advanced beginners.' Yet later in the same game Nunn will offer detailed analysis of middlegame complexities that would hardly be comprehensible to any reader below expert.

Be that as it may, this is a nice book that will entertain and instruct practically any club or tournament player. Understanding Chess Move by Move is beautifully printed and bound in a large (10"x7") format.