118
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #234,347 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★☆☆☆
Annotation errors, typos, and just bad writing.
On page 7 and 8 I found annotation errors (I circled them in blue). This makes it confusing and no beginner should have to decipher what's an error and what's the actual moves.
On top of that, it's poorly written. The book was originally written in 1921 apparently, and it shows. Capabanca (author) often doesn't explain why the moves are played or what the point is. For example, in the Pawn Promotion lesson, it's all about how to defend against your opponent promoting a pawn and force a draw, but he never explains that. He even says at one point (paraphrased) "the student should work this out. If he can't, ask your chess teacher. If you don't have a chess teacher, then put in grueling hours figuring it out yourself."
The actual chess moves and lessons are good, I'm just disappointed that you have to weed through annotation errors and the words of a bitter man from the 20's to learn it.
These chess lessons are common nowadays. I would recommend learning from the internet or a different book. I don't recommend this book even for the $10 I paid.
