'How Not to Play Chess'-is this title still relevant?

This book has been around for a long time now and is still readily available. The question I have is how viable is it in this day and age? I have read it but my puny understanding of chess does not enable me to see if the info contained in Borovsky’s work is still viable in this day and age? If it is not then why in God’s name is this still in print? I would really like to see an in depth discussion of this method by some titled/more seasoned players. There really is not much discussion on the net about this work which I find to be rather unusual.  So is ZB’s tempi counting, exterior/interior/individual analysis still relevant? I wish a strong player would shed some light on this work and its contents. What do some of you that have read this work think about it? 

I would write a review if I could but at my current  level of chess understanding  I feel this would best be left to much stronger players who are familiar with the work and how it relates to modern chess. So far no takers

Awesome book! And full of practical information that you don't normally find in most modern books that tend to promise making you a GM overnight.

Just the "Contents" pages alone are to be treated as an in-game "Check List" that you should use for every move you are about to make. Play some 3 day per turn games and start incorporating these "ideas" until they become habit.

So to summarize, reread it, memorize it. And more importantly start utilizing in your own games and I guarantee your own rating will dramatically improve.

Matter of fact I'm going to reread it.

  Thanks for the  response Scrap. The book is bursting with information. The issue for me is given this rather ‘dense’ approach in such a short book one of weaker chess strength is often left wondering. The issue of tempi counting and its relevance/application to on the board situations left me wondering. Again, I’M hoping to generate some more discussion on the info contained in this book. Also, could you expound on how you utilize ZB’s approach in your own games?

The stuff that I have finally "learned", be it by reading or the school of hard knocks is all summarized neatly in that book. By my own experiences what ZB says matches what I have encountered. You just have to take each of the little "Contents" items and learn them one at a time until they become habit. Don't skip around.

At your level you should be focusing on the Tactics Trainer daily. Do the problems unrated and with the timer option turned off. Set the "Rating Range" from 0 min. to 500 max. and focus on getting the correct answer. Force yourself to move the pieces around in your mind. Set up an egg timer and spend no more than 5 minutes max on a single problem. Once you start getting those basic problems down cold tweak the "Rating Ranges" to 500 min. and 600 max. and repeat the process. You could set a goal of 200 correct in a row before moving the range. I still go through the lower level problems just for the practice. You'll be surprised how much it will improve your decision making process. It will help you prune your "candidate moves" much faster when you understand threats on both sides of the board.

Don't be afraid to use the "Analysis Board" function on the problems. Copy the FEN into a chess engine and play around with the various lines that you might have doubts or questions about. Use the chess engine as a tool to learn. It is like having an on call GM at your disposal 24 hours a day. Play the position against it or with it. Use its recommended lines to learn. Understanding is way, way more important than guessing or obtaining a rating. The problems will get progressively harder but at a manageable rate doing it in this fashion. Make sure you look at the entire board and try to understand the threats that are present. If you start doing that now it will make problem solving much easier at the higher levels because a lot of your moves will be forced in order to avoid a loss. You won't get surprised so to speak. Don't get into the habit of making knee-jerk reactions in a quest for speed or you'll spend time like I am having to do to break bad habits. Unlearning what I have learned.

Don't worry your speed will come to you. If you make a mistake write the problem # down in a little book or spreadsheet to keep a record. This way if you hit a plateau in your improvement you can show the list to a higher ranked player so they might be able to diagnose your weak area(s). All you are really trying to do is increase your board visualization and get exposure to the various patterns. Your subconscious will do the work trust me.

Tactics are just a one dimension of chess, once one quits losing games to tactical oversight you will find that you start losing in other ways that have to be addressed. That is the beauty of chess, always something new. But for now think of tactics like a basketball player would practicing his jump shot. Something they do daily but only one portion of the game.

Start playing longer time controls and then examine your games with the aid of your chess computer. Right now you are looking for tactical mistakes. Show your games to higher rated players. Discuss the game with your opponent. Ask them what they were thinking at points X, Y & Z. Give up the "Blitz" chess for a bit. Unless you are going to analyze each and every game. Simply moving pieces around quickly without learning anything from it is in my own personal opinion a misuse of valuable time. Time that could be spent in other areas with a much better reward ratio for your investment. Study endgames. Just King and pawn endings for now. Learn what "Key" squares are. Learn what is drawn and what isn't. Practice knowing how to mate with the K & Q versus K, K & R versus King, Bishop Pair, Bishop and Knight, etc. Practice mating using a Q and the other pieces versus a lone King without the use of your own King. Some will say those are a waste of time. But I disagree as it gives you a better understanding of how pieces coordinate their attacks.

I know it sounds like a lot but it really isn't. There are no short cuts to improvement. No magic bullet or pill that will make one better. The only "short cut" I can offer is in saying you must start by analyzing your own games. You must be willing to do the work plain and simple.

After you have done some additional practice go back in a few months and reread the ZB book. See if you notice an improvement in your understanding of what he had written. I used to do that on occasion, reread material. You'll be surprised at the results.

The video library on this site is fantastic and well worth the price of the full membership. You name it chess wise and they have a video for it. They continue to add to it daily. I'm currently going through all the endgame material and finding new ways of looking at things I thought I already knew. And after a 4-5 year layoff from chess it is quickly helping in knocking the rust off.

My apologies for this long winded response. But I hope it helps. Good luck! :)

Thanks for the information again, Scrap. Right now I spend 90% of my time on tactics and endgames. I prefer to study tactics with a book and nothing else. This helps with calculation and visualization skills. When I go into endgame I have a board and pieces. I will jot down notes in a notebook on certain things that jump out at me in various positions like reoccurring themes, general rules of thumb, etc. I spend the last 10% playing over instructive games. I do not utilize the computer for my study as I find the learning too passive for my taste.

Getting back to ZB’s works I recently found out by someone that his works were basically a forerunner of Silmans own A.M. & HTRYC. I tend to think How Not to Play Chess is more of a treatise on planning and analysis. These subjects are best left for folks who have already acquired a good knowledge of the game. The issue I think is the title of the book itself as it lends one to believe it is geared to beginners/intermediates. I hate it when I have to answer my own questions