Forordet av Yusupov

First of all I would like to congratulate the readers of this book on making a very good choice! As with all books by Jacob Aagaard, this is a quality work! It combines clear explanations and carefully selected material, mainly from very recent games, which you won’t find in other books. As a chess trainer, I know how difficult it is to find good positional exercises. (On the contrary it seems a relatively easy task to look for tactical positions – computers are a big help in showing us how poorly we can play chess!) The examples from this book will make the life of chess trainers a little bit easier and the life of their students and readers much more interesting!

Because you are holding this book, it means that you want to improve your positional skills and perhaps to make an important step towards grandmaster level (or to brush up your positional play if you are a grandmaster already). Then you may be interested to learn the answer to the popular question: “What is the difference between an amateur player and a grandmaster?” Many might think that it’s mainly the ability to calculate that helps grandmasters fathom the depths of the position. In some cases this is true, but it also true that grandmasters have generally better opening knowledge; they know more typical plans and pawn structures as well. Perhaps they are better (at least some of them) in endgames too. Still, I would put certain other qualities in first place. By working with amateur players, I have noticed that very often, even if they have the necessary knowledge about the position, they can’t use it properly. Grandmasters are trained to make decisions and have much more practical skills.

The second factor that struck me was seeing how much energy amateur players waste analysing or calculating moves that a stronger player would simply ignore.

This hints of a huge difference in the levels of positional understanding. As a result, an amateur player may spend too much time on weak moves and ideas; meanwhile a grandmaster concentrates on the heart of the position and looks for much better solutions.

It is not easy to improve positional understanding. One way is to work on good books with the games of strong players, and to pay special attention to their explanations. Also the careful analysis of your own games may help you to improve your evaluations and to correct some mistakes. Although Aagaard’s “approach with this book is not to teach positional understanding, but to teach positional judgement and decision-making”, I am sure that solving the many positional exercises from this book will help readers to raise their positional level too.

The tools that Aagaard uses in this book look simple. But his method of three questions and his rather modest approach shouldn’t deceive readers – if you follow the instructions carefully and concentrate on these important questions, you will most likely focus on the central elements of the position, which will help you to find the solutions of the exercises. Working with this book will train your positional judgement and develop your chess intuition. You will improve your decision-making process and learn some new practical skills. And maybe you will be able to make another step forwards...
Artur Yusupov, Twice Candidates Finalist