An instructional book about the crucial questions that masters ask themselves before committing to a move – a checklist for all players to ask themselves before making their own moves.

Beginners learn to ask themselves the key questions. As they improve, they ask more sophisticated questions: 'What did my opponent's last move allow me to do?", 'Where is his position weakest?", 'Should I take an irrevocable step now or wait?', 'What does my opponent want me to do?'. For chess master players these are almost subconscious checklist. Andy Soltis runs through the checklist of things to ask before making a move with fascinating and illuminating examples of real chess games,  from Karpov to Judith Polgar, from Magnus Carlsen to Fabiano Caruana. 

A key to improving is to ask all of these questions and find the right answers, for players looking to improve. The advice of Chess Masters is good advice for all chess players and the best way to take your play to the next level.



Andrew Soltis is an International Grandmaster, a chess correspondent for the New York Times and a highly popular chess writer. He is the author of many books including 500 Chess Questions Answered, The Chessmaster Checklist and How to Swindle in Chess - snatch victory from a losing position. He lives in New York.



'A very good instructional manual on how to make better decisions by narrowing down the essence of what is going on in any given position'



'An immersive and instructive read'