The Power Chess Program -- Is it any good?

I found both volumes at a used book dealer. The price was a bit "high-ish" so I would appreciated some feedback before buying. Is the course good? What would be the book based alternatives?

Originally posted by surgubbe
I found both volumes at a used book dealer. The price was a bit "high-ish" so I would appreciated some feedback before buying. Is the course good? What would be the book based alternatives?

The Chesscafe reviews were a bit "lukewarm". I don't know anyone who has tried the books, though.

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/power.pdf

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/power2.txt

Yes! Indeed "luke warm". I wounder how the books compare to, say, Jusupow's "Build Your Chess"

Originally posted by surgubbe
Yes! Indeed "luke warm". I wounder how the books compare to, say, Jusupow's "Build Your Chess"

Yusupov's books are amazing, truly. That is all.

Originally posted by Mad Rook
The Chesscafe reviews were a bit "lukewarm". I don't know anyone who has tried the books, though.

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/power.pdf

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/power2.txt

You might want to ask FabianFnas. I think he used this programme to improve his play. It was close to one Christmas about 3 years ago he posted a thread which i'm blowed if i know how to dig up. He statd he was going to go through the programme the following year and keep us all posted on his progress. back then he was struggling in the 1700's and since then he's been up towards 2300!!
Maybe send him a PM or he may be good enough to come on this thread and give us a review.

1700->2300?? Wow

Originally posted by surgubbe
1700->2300?? Wow

Yes it's quite some improvement. The original thread is buried somewhere in the chess only forum history i'll try and dig it out.

Originally posted by surgubbe
1700->2300?? Wow

Well i've found the thread but i've no idea how to create a link to it. However here's fabian's opening lines. posted on the 28th of Dec 2007.

For the year of 2008 I have a New Year's resolution: I'm going to be better in chess. Well, this is not so interesting (who doesn't want to be better?) but more of how I will accomplish this.

As in the [threaded]82876[/threaded] I mentioned that I'm going to use a book, but which one was a secret. It's not a secret any more.

I've found a book, "The Power Chess Program, A unique training course to improve your chess" by Nigel Davies that looks that it seems perfect for my intention.
It has 12 chapters, one for each month and with theme for the month. The first chapters are about how to handle the pieces.
Every chapter has 4 sub-chapters, one for each week, each with an aspect of the theme.
So this is a program for the whole of the year since 12 times 4 is 52, one sub-chapter for every week of the year.
Every sub-chapter has two (or three) games to study with a lot of annotations, moreover six positions of which to find a best move.

The author says that if you use 3 to 5 hours a week to study with this program you will increase your skill radically. Yes, this is a motivator to continuing, but nevertheless, I think I will be better. How much?, I don't know.

Now I have around 1600 in rating here at RHP. What will I have when the year is over? Perhaps 1700? Or more? And if I gain more rating points at RHP, what will it then be OTB?

Is there anyone of you who has gone through this book, from chapter one to chapter twelve? Please let me know what you think!

Wish me good luck!

I am going to buy this. Amazon have it?

Originally posted by Anderssen Attack
I am going to buy this. Amazon have it?

I think you will have to find it through used book dealers. Yusupovs (called something like "Build Your Chess"😉 might be am alternative. The first book is aimed for 1500-players if I remember correctly but I have heard the comment that it is more suitable for 1700-players.

Originally posted by surgubbe
1700->2300?? Wow

Were I you I would not put too much faith in books or DVD "systems" that promise rapid improvement from anything but beginner level and consider for the moment the following graphs.

First Magnus Carlsen took more than three years to achieve a 500 point rating increase as the World's Best during his most formative years:
http://ratings.fide.com/id.phtml?event=1503014

Wesley So - another wonderkid still only 16/17
http://ratings.fide.com/id.phtml?event=5202213

Or mister rapid chess improvement himself Michael de la Maza who achieved similar but from a far lower base and levelled out much earlier:
http://main.uschess.org/datapage/ratings_graph.php?memid=12775875

Then you can assess perhaps, what the "likely" dividend from such an approach might be, whether you are to a certain extent being sold an "impossible dream" by certain authors, and whether in any instance the online chess community is being asked to believe the unlikely.

Good point!

I am a certified skeptic and I do not believe in any "Get Rich Quick schemes". I hope to find a good tool/book which would give my solitaire chess studies some structure.

Ragwort is right. An improvement from 1700-2300 is grossly unlikely in any adult player, a rate and range of improvement that would normally be associated only with a talented and dedicated junior.

If you haven't reached 2100 by the time you are, say 21, you'll never reach 2300 under normal circumstances. Since 95% of all players in the world never come close to 2100 at any time in their lives, a leap to 2300+ is granted only to the most gifted. I guess an 'unusual' regime of personal coaching and tuition could just about drag a 2000 to 2300, but never a 1700.

The point is this: chess is not an activity that depends for performance on a well-trained 'autonomous system'. That is to say: unlike physical games where correct and relentless repetition (ie drills) yields performance benefits, chess requires cognitive and conceptual understanding of highly variable circumstances. One can 'drill' memory to learn openings; but one cannot drill the successful management of a K-side attack, nor when such an attack is timely. Things like this hugely limit the capacity of the vast majority to improve beyond a certain (fairly low) point.

Worth noting that FabianFnas' opponents' average rating is in the 1500s.