Review: How to Reassess Your Chess
 How to Reassess Your Chess, by IM Jeremy Silman, has become a classic instructional guide of chess strategy for the class player. The fundamental principle of an imbalance (which is not necessarily an advantage to either side) introduced me to a new way of thinking when I first read Silman's book. He illustrates seven types of imbalances, describing them in detail and offering illustrated examples of how to deal with them.
1) Material
This is the imbalance that most players learn of first. They learn to assign a value to each piece, and then try to gain a material advantage and win the game. But what should you do when you gain a material advantage? What should you do when your opponent gains a material advantage? When is it best to willingly give your opponent a material advantage? These questions and more are answered in the book.
2) Space
The gaining of territory in one or more areas of the board (queenside, kingside, center). You'll learn all about how to proceed when you have more space, and the best strategies for when your position is cramped.
3) Development
A temporary imbalance that can be used to achieve more static imbalances.
4) Initiative
Another temporary imbalance that lets you essentially force the play for a few moves. 5) Key Files or Squares
While everyone knows that rooks like open files and bishop live for open diagonals, fighting for a square is a difficult topic for many chess players to grasp. Silman provides instructive examples on this topic.
6) Superior Minor Piece
The eternal struggle between knight and bishop is covered, with key strategies and plans. 7) Pawn Structure
This is a vast subject, of which entire books have been written. Silman covers isolated, backward, doubled, passed pawns and more.
Silman also covers the tricky topic of how to come up with a plan.
1) Figure out the positive and negative imbalances for both sides.
2) Figure out the side of the board you want to play on (queenside, center, kingside), realizing there must be a favorable imbalance (or possibility of creating one) there.
3) Dream up fantasy positions you'd like to achieve (based on the imbalances).
4) Verify that you can reach your fantasy position.
5) Select candidate moves that lead to your fantasy position and calculate.
Strategy is only one element in chess, but it is an important one. If you don't have a basic foundation in tactics, all the study of openings, strategy, and endgames won't get you very far. Many times tactics is simply a tool you use to achieve a position that is desirable strategically! Up until I encountered Silman's book, chess strategy for me had been a collection of independent rules and heuristics, such as the classic My System by Nimzowitsch. But Silman gave me a way to interelate all the various rules of thumb. It's not always easy to figure out which imbalances are more relevant than others, but this guide can point you in the right direction. And Silman summarizes the key elements of strategy in a clear, modern way that is easy to grasp, and numerous examples of how to deal with all types of imbalances. This book is a must-have for every aspiring chess player.
Rating: 10 out of 10
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