The format of this book is simple: There are 365 lessons so that you can study one each day for a year.
Each lesson consists of a short annotated game and at least one quiz question to test you. At the end of the lesson you will find an additional game that illustrates the opening or strategic themes of the main game.
Try to set aside at least an hour for each lesson. You can get the most out of it by playing the main game over at least twice.
The first time will give you a general sense of why the game was won or lost. The second time will allow you to look more closely at the tactics and strategy. You might look at it once more, this time with colors reversed, seeing the board from Black’s viewpoint rather than White’s. You’d be surprised how often this reversal changes your appreciation of what happened. If you are using a computer program, make sure to look at the illustrative game with it to see any tactical ideas you might have missed.
Feel free to move on to a second lesson each day after you’ve finished the first. But don’t leave a lesson until you can describe what happened in the main game. Describe it in words, not “White won because 17 ♗xc5+ Kg8 18 Rg1+.” I’m hoping that at the end of each lesson you will have that feeling – all too rare in chess – that you’ve learned something today.
Almost all the main games in this book last 20 moves or less. The early lessons have most of the very short games and the more basic tactical ideas. Longer games and more complex positional ideas are tackled later on. Most of the games were played by masters, so some will end when a player loses a piece and resigns. Other games may last until checkmate.
Don’t be surprised if you find some games helpful, others difficult and still others too easy. Each student progresses in their own way. And don’t feel upset if you can’t answer the daily quiz questions. Some are based on simple tactics but others are much more difficult. The answers are at the back of this book.
Of course, there is a lot that this book does not cover. Games of less than 20 moves end much too early to provide meaningful instruction about the endgame. Nor is this the book that will teach you the finer points of openings. Many of the games begin with gambits, some long out of fashion. But they are here because they illustrate important concepts like compensation and initiative and demonstrate the many combinational patterns that you need to know.
And most of these games were chosen because they are entertaining. If you aren’t enjoying chess as you study it, you won’t keep at it. So have a good year!