I found this book a lot of fun to read. lasker makes his point precisely. The book is very easy to read and instructive too. It talks abt genreal statergies in chess and the way ametuers and preofessional view it. A must read for all chess lovers...

As the title says this is for fun and blood. The fun is very good. There is the touch of a Master - of chess and writing. In the chess for blood there is the game vs. Torre which the author desribes so well we feel we are actually at his side as he plays. The opening of this game is a line that is still of interest to this day. A fine book.

I actually had the pleasure of playing in a chess game which Edward Lasker watched. My opponent and I played very poorly, but Mr. Lasker was very gentle and encouraging, clearly enjoying our humble efforts.

That humane, urbane flavor is what shines forth in reading this book. The first half presents a view of chess for fun, as most amateurs enjoy it. An introduction to the moves of the pieces, a short look at various aspects of the game, a simple introduction to the possibilities ways to enjoy chess. It's a friend introducing you to chess, not an instructor beating it into your head.

The second half reveals the inner secrets of chess for blood, as the professionals play it. It's presented in the same humorous, gentle tone which permeates the rest of the book, but the sense of fierce competition at this level comes though.

The highlight of this section is Lasker's analysis of his famous game agiainst his namesake, former world champion Emanuel Lasker, at New York in 1924. The game was an epic one, going 103 moves, and was generally considered the most exiciting game of the tournament. Lasker's analysis runs a full thirty pages, but is not just the signs and symbols style so popular today. Instead, Lasker gives an insight into the thought processes, explaining everything in elegant language. This analysis alone is worth the price of the book!

This book may not make you a better chessplayer, but it will afford many hours of enjoyment and give you an insight into why people love this game so. Highly recommended. (Small warning: Descriptive notation.)

As a high school chess coach, this is the greatest book on chess that I have ever found. It unfolds like a "choose your own adventure" book, with the reader analyzing a scenario, and making a "move" by turning to a certain page. That page explains why the move was correct, or why it wasn't, in detail so that the reader can understand the strategy behind the reasoning. I picked this book up ...on sale... and immediately bought 5 more for my team! Buy this if you can find it!

I own 300+ chess books, and this one is my absolute favorite. To give you an idea of others in my top 10: The Amateur's Mind by Silman, Middlegame Planning by Romanvosky, My System, 300 Chess Games by Tarrasch, Grandmaster of Chess by Keres, Alekhine's Best Games. My version of "The Game of Chess," by Lasker (which has been re-named The Complete Chess Self-Tutor in this new edition) is from 1972 (I am not famililar with the edition that is currently in print but I understand it to be superb). This book is an utterly brilliant (and very demanding) chess course. It uses a unique method of instruction. The reader is given some textual introduction to a problem, and then is presented with three options for moves to pick. Depending on which option you pick, you are referred to a different section of the book. That new section will tell you if you picked the best move. If you picked the wrong move, it referes you back to try another choice. But even on the wrong choices, Lasker goes to great lengths explaining to exactly why it is not the best move. He presents variations of likely scenarios to make his point. He does this in a style that instructs, enlightens, and informs, always referring you to general principles to follow. Then, when you finally pick the right answer, you are presented with the next problem, which logically follows from the prior one. As a result, you gradually work your way through the book. There are large sections on the opening, the middlegame, and the end game. This is the greatest chess instruction book I have ever seen. Unlike so many chess masters, Lasker is a brilliant writer as well. His style is articulate, patient, and comprehensive. He does not "dumb-down" to you, but presents things more clearly than I have ever seen in the whole history of chess literature. He published this book when he was 84 years old! It has the feel that he wanted to sum up his life's work in chess in a manner that would leave a legacy to the aspiring player. Well, he did an amazing thing for chess players: he poured himself into this work with a sincerity and devotion that is unparallelled in chess history. His career was so long that he played against Em. Lasker, Capablanca, Nimzowitsch, and Alkehine, and here he is analyzing Bobby Fischer's famous 5. 0-0! in the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez. Lasker is the Bertrand Russell of chess: a man who lived for 95 years, who saw the richest epoch in the development of chess, and who knew how to assimilate it and summarize it in an instructional format that would be of maximum value to the student. This is that rare work that demands hard work of the student, but constantly inspires you to continue tackling it. You will emerge from its hallowed pages a far stronger player. This is a stupendous work, that for some reason is almost unknown. If I had one book to take to a desert island, it would be this one. I could go on and on, but you get the point. Get the book!

I have started to learn chess recently.It is therefore,not my size, to comment on the technical aspects of this superb classical masterpiece.I, however wish, such books are available on CD's with which may include,but not limited to algebric notations, reader controlled analysis, side analysis (auto) as mentioned in the book, novice to expert level computer opponent, print facility.

Although an older book's claim to being "Modern" can be disputed, Modern Chess Strategy remains current because of its emphasis on ideas and principles. Using lucid prose and numerous diagrams, Lasker - a strong international master-level player in his day - teaches the newcomer the basic principles of opening development, combinations, and endgame principles. What I particularly like is the author's no nonsense approach: he doesn't dumb down nor does he attempt to overwhelm with variations. One shouldn't be put off by the book's age (I think it was written in the 1920s): You're getting first-rate, world-class instruction for a bargain-basement price.

This is a decent general chess book for novice players. The author gives a good account of several openings and explains "opposition" in the end game section. Half the book contains generously annotated games.

There isn't enough on tactics here, and the writing can be dull. Lasker basically just strings long paragraphs one after the other without relief.

The person that says this book is very boring is not so off, but it is obvious that he is not rated very high. You need to have some basic knowledge of strategy. Its actually a very good book if your ready for it, but you definitley have to read it at the right time to learn the most out of it and really enjoy it.

This book on strategy is one of the best and clearest texts ever written. Lasker claims that by following a few principles of strategy which he gives one can play chess very well. A large part of the book is devoted to illustrative games to show how these strategic principles have been applied by masters. These games show that by learning how to clear files, concentrating forces in the center of the board, and keeping pawn movement down to only the most needed ones, you can become a master. I improved by playing greatly by playing three of the illustrative games in back of the book, and learning everything I could from these three games. The book should be read and reread and the illustrative games played over and over again. You will learn something each time. With enough work and rereading and application of the principles in this book, one can become a strategic master.

This pioneering book was written when go was less well-known in the west, and Lasker's access to strong players and to the centuries-old tradition of go teaching was limited. Because present-day authors do not suffer from these disadvantages, recent English-language books tend to be clearer and better organized for beginners. _Go and Go Moku_ also betrays its age by its occasionally nonstandard terminology, which alone is sufficient reason for beginners to avoid this book.

Of the many excellent English-language introductions to go, my favorite is Kaoru Iwamoto's _Go For Beginners_.

As a beginner just learning the game, this is not the way to go (sorry). Lasker was world chess champion for 27 years, losing it in 1921. This book is written from that rarified perspective.He will jump into a complex series of moves for a couple of pages, totally losing the reader on the logic and reasons for the progression, and then after another page say the explanation is probably not appropriate for beginners and/or there are many exceptions to what he just wrote. The diagrams are generally hard to follow, and aren't particularly clarified by the accompanying text. There is one complete game recorded move by move between masters Karigane and Honinbo played in 1926 which is instructive. But if this is the first book on go one is exposed to, it might do more to discourage than to help one experience the enjoyment the game can provide.

As the other reviews say, the bulk of this book is raw lists of moves, with explinations, and complicated variations. You absolutely need a board to follow along. Also, this isn't for the rank beginner.

Some things are hard to follow, and it takes time, and it takes patience, and even some thought, but it's worth it. When you force yourself to think about the examples in this book, and really understand them all, you'll find that you have actually learned quite a bit.