---
product_id: 5462790
title: "What It Takes to Become a Chess Master (Batsford Chess)"
brand: "andrew soltis"
price: "$83.13"
currency: USD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.ec/products/5462790-what-it-takes-to-become-a-chess-master-batsford-chess
store_origin: EC
region: Ecuador
---

# What It Takes to Become a Chess Master (Batsford Chess)

**Brand:** andrew soltis
**Price:** $83.13
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- **What is this?** What It Takes to Become a Chess Master (Batsford Chess) by andrew soltis
- **How much does it cost?** $83.13 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
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## Description

What It Takes to Become a Chess Master (Batsford Chess)

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    REAL, MEANINGFUL CHESS IMPROVEMENT!!
  

*by D***E on Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2012*

GM Andy Soltis states, in the introduction to his wonderful book, an astonishing fact: less than 2% of chess players who take chess seriously ever reach master strength. (For US chess players, using the Elo rating system, a master rating is 2200 or higher.) Read the statistic again, it's not less than 2% of people who play chess, it's less than 2% of people who play chess seriously! Our chess experience is common--we engage in an endless cycle of study and tournament play. Yet, year after year we see no real improvement in our rating nor our chess skill. Soltis' book sets out to discover what seperates chess masters from the rest of us. What is missing from our chess experience that keeps us from improving to master strength?Based on my reading of the chess literature, I believed the answer to be chess masters are better in four areas: 1) tactical vision, 2) positional judgment, 3) calculating variations, and 4) endgame technique. (The first three are covered in detail, including training methods, in Kotov's book, Play Like a Grandmaster.) Add a few psychological factors such as will-to-win, concentration, and awareness, and you have a complete chess player. Apparently I was wrong. Soltis addresses these skills and states that while they are needed, they aren't enough.Soltis lists 9 skills, one per chapter, he believes seperates chess masters from other players. Some of the skills I had heard of, some I had heard of but didn't believe, and some of the skills were new to me. Based on my years of teaching experience and study of how expertise in a discipline is achieved, I believe Soltis' list is groundbreaking in chess literature. (I'm a complete skeptic on most everything, but I have to wonder if there has been some sort of chess conspiracy to keep this knowledge from the us ordinary players!)An example of a skill that Soltis examines is: What Matters Most. In any chess position there can be a confusing variety of tactical and positional elements to consider. In addition, general chess principles are often contradictory. This makes selecting the right move/plan difficult. Chess masters have the ability to focus on the one or two relevant elements of any position and exploit those elements. They see through the "noise" of a position to get at what is most important, what the position is calling them to do. (For the other 8 skills, you'll have to buy the book.)You may think that masters and GMs are born with these skills. Soltis disagrees. He claims that each skill can be taught and learned. To illustrate, each chapter is filled with study and training techniques. Specific GMs, e.g., Kramnik or Anand, are mentioned in connection with specific skills. Study their games because they show a particular skill particularly well. Numerous quizzes (test positions) at the end of the each chapter allow you to test your ability at mastering the skill being described.Soltis' book has had a profound effect on my chess. I have personally changed my study routine. I "see" chess differently. In examining GM games, I keep a list of the 9 skills to see what the GM was doing at a certain time. Many times when I play through GM games, certain moves were unclear to me. After reading Soltis' book, the number of confusing moves I see in GM games has been reduced greatly.I believe GM Andy Soltis is best chess author in the history of chess. He doesn't have a "bad" book, and if he did, the book would still be better than 90% of what is out there now. I also believe this is his best book ever. If I had read this book 20 years ago, I would have been a chess master by now. There is simply no better book on real, meaningful chess improvement. I fully expect my chess skill to better a year from now. Buy the book, and your's will be too.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Another Soltis Book that Sounds Good, But in Practice Falls Somewhat Short
  

*by D***D on Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2014*

BACKGROUND: In the past few years, I've gone from being nothing more than a very casual online correspondence chess player to one who is now starting to play in USCF rated tournaments. My current (albeit still provisional) USCF rating is in the 2000s. My "actual" playing strength for 'slow' chess is probably in the 1800-2000 USCF range. I've now played my share of speed games (1|0 bullet and 5|0 blitz) against players ranging from Class E to Expert (and even one master). To date I've completely read through at least 16 chess books, as well as half-finished at least a dozen others (probably the same as most other 'serious' chess players). Done loads of tactics problems. Read and still read dozens of annotated master games. Etc. Suffice it to say that while there are still far better chess players on this Earth than me, compared to the average club player, I'm not a complete slouch either. In other words, I have some idea of what passes for good chess literature and what doesn't.REVIEW: Anyone familiar with author Andrew Soltis' previous books will recognize the format of this one as well. Basically this is a collection of game fragments, organized thematically into a chapter which (here) is about the prime differences between an amateur chess player and a master. Soltis will repeatedly tag-team between explanatory prose and a game example, using the one to support the other (at least in theory). After finishing one game example, he'll move on to another. Until the next chapter of the book. Ad nauseam until the book is complete.Chapters include: 1.)'What Matters Most' - Soltis argues that a master doesn't necessarily calculate better or farther than an amateur. Rather, the master has a better idea of what matters most in a position and hence, what's even WORTH calculating to begin with. Although I disagree with some of Soltis' claims here, this is one of the best parts of this book I admit. 2.) 'Targets' - How a master will always look for targets to attack, and if he doesn't have any, he'll try to create some 3.) 'Little Tactics' - How masters won't immediately give up on a promising line just because of a small tactical flaw. Rather, the master will try to use 'little tactics' to make his idea work, if possible. 4.) 'Sensing,' - Discusses a master's superior ability to sense things over an amateur, like when zugzwang is approaching, when a position is becoming critical, etc. Soltis' main suggestion for developing better sense is going over more annotated master games.There's also a chapter (the name of which I forget) that discusses how experienced masters will often forgo objectively better, but more complicated, calculation-intense lines in preference to simpler, more practical moves, so long as the more practical choice still does whatever the master is looking for in the position (win or draw).All of this is well-and-good-sounding and indeed, much of Soltis' prose is rather engaging, instructive, and practical. Unfortunately, Soltis has the rather annoying habit of trying to support his good prose with bad, or at least considerably-less-than-ideal, examples. In one part of his book where he's discussing prophylactic moves, for instance, he wants you to guess a move that Carlsen played in a Sicilian Defense game. Did you guess Ka1? If not, then you obviously didn't see all the far-fetched (for me, at any rate) plans that Soltis discussed for black that would make such a move worthwhile for white. A frustrating experience when the same thing happens time and again throughout the book. So much for the prose explanations, I guess.What's worse is that the majority of Soltis' 'quiz' positions have the same not-very obvious solutions to them, ones that will likely take you minutes (more than 20 quite conceivably) to even come close to solving. Maybe it's because I'm still not quite where Soltis' target audience is (presumably 2000-2200 level players); maybe it's because Soltis' examples overwhelmingly draw from the absolute best players in the world, who themselves are/were many cuts above plain ol' masters. I'm not sure.CONCLUSION: Like most of Soltis' books, the topics sound good, the prose sounds good...but the specific examples that are meant to support the prose fall short. Instead of giving examples where the solution move is challenging, yet logical and illustrative, Soltis consistently goes for examples where the solutions are just baffling, if not outright over-the heads of most strong club players. Maybe I'm still not quite strong enough of a player to fully "appreciate" his examples or something.At any rate, this book, like the other Soltis books I've read, isn't total trash and does have its good points. Unfortunately, it also has more than its share of bad ones.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Solid, but not Invaluable Soltis
  

*by R***S on Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2013*

American GM Andy Soltis is a long time very popular chess author.  He is not so fortunately known for pumping out some, to put it kindly, rather hastily pasted together opening manuals of dubious value, but is even more well known for putting out some gems of the chess literature that are of lasting value.  'Pawn Structure Chess' and 'The Art of Defense in Chess' are just a couple of numerous gems he has written.  The volume under review is closer in tone to the latter kind of work, but I do not think it is destined for classic status.  The advice is often valuable, but sometimes borders on being worthless.  Telling me that a chess master is not just better than me because of his deeper knowledge of openings, middlegames, and endgames, but because of his better chess 'sense' (a better sense of chess danger, eg) gives me virtually nothing of actionable value.  What he is saying to me is that you have to play and study a whole lot more to develop this sense, but I already knew that, so he is filling pages in places with what is essentially just that: page filler.  But there are many gems given as well, so the work certainly has its value.  His chapter on playing for easier positions, for example is rather unique in my experience, and gives real food for thought, as I have been trapped in the past by playing for positions that were considered good by theory, but turned out to be beyond my ability to comprehend and thus come up with an effective plan for.  So this is a good book, but I think that there are better works available for the non-master who is looking to improve.  Yermolinsky's 'The Road to Chess Improvement', for one example, does a better job, in my opinion of offering practical and insightful advice.

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*Last updated: 2026-03-15*