Pump Up Your Rating Paperback – December 17, 2013

This is the best chess book I have ever read. Every game is so interesting and unique. The explanations of what is going on in the positions are always clear. The training positions were a very good idea and were useful. I have played several of them with a partner and felt it was very instructive each time. The puzzles are also very challenging and the solutions are amazing. They are always based on simple tactical principles but there are also nuances that are absent in many problems you will find in online tactics trainers. You have to calculate everything and be vigilant. The best section of the book is the calculation section. It is inspiring to see the incredible attention to detail of top players. There are also tips regarding things like time management and attitude which I have not see in any other book.

Axel Smith clearly sets forth his training program for chess improvement including the Woodpecker Method for improving tactics and combinations vision and play, as well as his ideas for games analysis and mistake corrections. I thought his best analysis covered the calculation of variations. I recently noted that Quality Chess has published Axel Smith's new book on the Woodpecker Method.

Normally, at least in my experience, when you buy a chess book you have to suffer through some long variations and somewhat boring writing. This is not the case with Pump Up Your Rating. Its advice is immediately applicable to your games and its chapter on training is worth the cost of the book alone.If and when Axel Smith writes more books, if they are like this, I believe he will be the next Andrew Soltis or John Nunn.

I've had this book for some time now and must confess to jumping around to read various sections / topics rather than reading it straight through. I have found the book to be well written and the advice very practical and beneficial. For players wanting to improve, I rate this book in the top 25% - not the very best but in the top quartile. There are other books that go deeper on strategy or endgame for example, but this one is a good all around introduction to how to plan a study program to improve your chess.

After reading the book once, then going threw the material to grab a full understanding of the author mind set. I've begun a new thinking process, that has improved ,how I should think about the positions in front of me. My rating had taking a hit in the past month's. I'm looking forward to trying out the material that Mr. Smith was provided ,in my upcoimg matches.

Good chess book to improve by studying your own games

Amazing insights on chess. You can never go wrong with this book.

Great book