The Amateur’s Mind By IM Jeremy Silman

Crafted by “America’s chess teacher” who coached 1000’s of club players out of the trench — then immortalized by the 2021 Chessable Author of The Year…

Unlock The Chess Thinking Skills That
Transform The Amateur Into A Master

This “tell it like it is” guide to chess strategy explores the mind of the amateur — weeds out flawed thinking processes in your game — and replaces them with the strategic foresight of a master.

Grandmaster-vs-grandmaster games show you how the strongest players beat their peers.

But if you want to learn how to beat the players you will face…

In your club or in tonight’s online blitz binge…

Including that nemesis who always one-ups you until today…

Then you’ll love the master-vs-amateur battles in The Amateur’s Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions Into Chess Mastery — by the late International Master Jeremy Silman.

He was “America’s chess teacher,” and one of the most influential chess authors for the past 35 years.

Silman’s unique teaching format contrasts the way amateurs and masters pick their moves. So you can think more like the latter.

Through key positions, he plays sparring games against his students — records their thinking processes as they go — and exposes the biggest holes in the games of players rated 1000 to 2100.

And with International Master Andras Toth breaking the lessons down into actionable steps, you too can…

Iron the Same Mistakes Out of Your Game
And Punish Opponents for Making Them

Mistakes like rushing with the “most forward” move, only to squander their advantage…

2 out of 3 amateurs chose the aggressive-looking
Bg5xf6 and Nd5 here, throwing away their advantage.
Go to chapter 2 to see how to build up your position.

Respecting the opponent so much that one resigns in a completely OK position…

Settling for a move which looks good but misses the opponent’s idea by a mile…

And developing for development’s sake, winding up uncoordinated…

Developing the bishop to g2 seems logical… but
it fails to support the advanced queenside pawns.

Just to name a few.

You rarely see these misplays when a GM plays another GM. But in amateur games, they’re a dime a dozen…

And you’ll go to town exploiting them for points through Silman’s guidance.

In the Chessable edition, Toth walks you through Silman’s analysis, and provides a fresh perspective through 16.5 hours of video.

All delivered in a teaching style worthy of the 2021 Chessable Author of the Year award.

From chapters 1 to 12, Silman and Toth show you how to:

🧠 Win the battle between bishops and knights. Follow a few “rules of engagement,” and ensure you have the dominant minor piece.

🧠 Seize decisive amounts of space. Learn a pointing technique that tells you which way your pawns go… the best way to attack when the center is closed or open… plus a few simple checks to maintain a tight position while pushing pawns.

When you have a full pawn center, attacking plans
like Ng3 and f4-f5 present themselves.

🧠 Command both sides of winning pawn play. Pick off the opponent’s backward, doubled, isolated, and hanging pawns — while the same “weaknesses” fuel your pieces’ activity.

While others dread hanging pawns, you’ll use them to
kick enemy pieces and gain space with tempo!

🧠 Drive your material advantage home. Either by exchanging down to a simple position — or by activating the extra piece or pawn to outnumber the opponent.

🧠 Pull ahead in development, or take over the initiative. So you can force the play until you gain a permanent advantage — or score a knockout!

🧠 Master your mental game. From lifting the curse of the mindless king hunter… insisting on playing the game your way… to ensuring you feel good and play good with a 6-point checklist.

🧠 Craft a winning plan by simply observing the differences between Black and White’s position.