The Six Power Moves of Chess, 3rd Edition: The Missing Key to Finding Good Chess Moves From Any Position!

Let's first talk about the elephant in the room. A chess book by a Class A player will raise some eyebrows. For those who don’t know, a Class A rating (determined in formal tournaments) falls just below Expert, which falls just below Master. Now to those of us in the lower classes (C, D, and below), in over-the-board play, a class A player might as well be world champion. But chess publishers typically don’t pay royalties to those less than Master level, with even higher titles like Grandmaster being necessary to support wide acceptance of a work. I can't answer why the author isn’t rated higher than he is. His record (which any USCF member can look up)is much to the plus side against opponents rated up to 1800, at which point he starts to even out. He’s beaten or drawn rated Experts (Elo 2000-2200) at least 23 times, against 33 losses, and we know from his YouTube series that's he beat a FIDE Master once. So he's a relatively strong player when measured against his target audience. Also, playing strength is not directly related to teaching ability. Numerous videos and countless chess books are testimony that a high percentage of Grandmasters make lousy teachers for class players, because they're simply unable to understand the nature of the amateur's unsophisticated struggle. And finally, as far as credentials, no less than Grandmaster Larry Evans says the following on the cover of this book: “A fresh, bold, and lucid approach to improving your game.” So, judge for yourself if he’s qualified to write a chess book. For a strong look at what he offers, look at his YouTubes under the name “ChessEdge.”It wasn't until I read Jeremy Silman's "How to Reassess Your Chess" (which Mr. Karneges recommends) that I realized that there can be teachable methods to help club players organize their thoughts about the dizzying array of factors in any given chess position. Instead of simply staring at the chess board, hoping to see something you recognize from a lesson, Silman teaches that even class players can learn how to systematically think about a chess position.The Six Power Moves breaks down chess thinking into a method that is even a simpler (and, indeed, less sophisticated) than Silman’s. Karneges is surely right that his book is for those lower than Expert level, because there's no way the relatively easy to spot "power moves" (which essentially become candidate moves that still require calculation) alone can take you to Master level. But if I'm in the lower classes, it's premature to aim for Master. I first need to get to Class C, then maybe Class B, with a shot at Class A. This book may indeed, as the author claims, provide a missing link in reaching those goals, a method of thinking that naturally strong players probably use without really being aware that it’s methodical.Since I read this book, as I solve tactical problems on my iPad, I've started noticing that the tactical solution almost always involves one of the six power moves. My conclusion is that the Power Move system does give a valid, relatively shorthand way to find candidate moves.So, about these power moves, how does this method differ from most other chess books? Typically chess books offer up ideas, which can certainly add to one’s chess knowledge, but then in practice one often finds either that he or she does not have the natural talent to convert the lesson into improved play, or does not have enough hours in the day to integrate the concepts into one’s playing style. In other words, our chess knowledge may be increased, but our play doesn’t improve. But the power move method gives very practical descriptions of potential moves that one can learn to spot without the need for quite so much talent or time, ideas that are not mystical or highly conceptual, that you can literally and relatively quickly to learn to spot. Of course that doesn't ease your burden of determining whether any given power move can be converted into a tactical or strategic advantage, but it does give a practical method of identifying candidate moves and an idea of how to decide if they will work or not.Although I like the practical method Karneges gives us, the book has some shortcomings I’ll mention briefly. Although it addresses and demonstrates the connection between power moves and the tactical calculations and strategic themes that can arise out of the power moves, some existing, independent knowledge of basic tactics and strategy is probably necessary to get the most out of that side of the book. But Karneges doesn’t suggest that he has the answer to it all; rather, all he really claims is that most chess instruction omits a basic method to identify and evaluate potential moves. In my opinion, for struggling class players, this book helps fill that gap.

His power moves are not new. I saw this mentioned in a video or sentence on each of two master's youtube channels. One of them wanted a $10 donation to access a more detailed explanation, whereas the international master mentioned it like it is something we should already know and did not explain further. Bruce Pandolfini says something sort of similar, but much less detailed, while making a different point. I think the author learned this from someone and decided to rename it 6 power moves so we have to buy the book to find out what they are.I've been doing lots of tactics problems and started looking for queen sacrifices too much. Wrong pattern. This book told me what the real pattern is, which also happens to find those queen sacrifices. I now solve tactics puzzles twice as fast. I'm 2/3 the way through the book.When you buy it, you'll think it is simple and does not need a whole book. But you'll agree that few books mention anything like this, and even those don't go into this detail.Most tactics begin with certain types of moves that are only 20% of the possible moves on the board. So if you look for those first, you'll save time vs looking at every move or every queen sacrifice.Most of the book is grandmaster vs master games, each move getting its own diagram, and you being asked to guess which power move Bobby Fischer or Gary Kasparov makes next. It is a fast read if your tactics are already near 1600. He also says how many moves ahead you need to look to play "high level chess."I deduct a star because he did not edit the first 40 pages. They are an incoherent rant. Just quickly skim them for the definitions of the 6 power moves and examples, and then skip past page 40, where the book gets good.$17 for this info. Yes, it was worth it, though it should be taught to beginners in most books. And he gives you a pass to some more of his online training.He does not need to be a master to teach what he learned from a master. I just wish he had hired an editor for the first 40 pages. I almost returned the book before reaching page 40. I only continued because it was fast and I had 30 days to return it. Now I'll give it to a friend.

I like this book. There are plenty online resources based from its teachings.

Das Buch erklärt grundlegende Taktische Motive mit Beispielen und Aufgaben. Ich habe zwar etwas mehr erwartet für den Preis aber das Buch richtet sich wohl eher an Anfänger. Ich würde das Buch jedem bis DWZ 1600 empfehlen

La tipología de movimientos que presenta el autor va dirigida a un ajedrecista de nivel medio. Recomendable para todo aquel que quiera tener unos conocimientos básicos sobre combinatoria.

I haven't yet finished the book, but this is the first time I felt so frustrated that I need to write a preliminary review before finishing reading. The method seems solid and simple enough to grasp and the explanations are great.However, when I'm buying a book in print form, I expect some effort to be put into the writing style, as I also want to feel the pleasure one usually gets when reading a well written book no matter what subject it is about. Sadly with this book I feel like I'm reading a post on a web forum or a series of blog articles. I repeat, the content and the method are great and I commend the author for having put all of this together for the struggling chess player, but the delivery and the writing style are lacking and the author needs to take this aspect more seriously for the next edition as it really ruins the reading experience.I will update this review once I have finished reading the book.

If you play chess and after the opening you don’t know what to do with . the six power moves book you won’t have that problem again. An excellent book.