This book takes a closer look at the Classic mistakes by amateur players include: 1. Moving a piece too often in the opening. This is one of the mainstays which we think relates at least partly to the desire to create something in the opening, when we would be better advised to focus on simple development. 2. Impatience. Sometimes amateur players are too eager to change something when there really is no need. 3. Overgeneralizing. One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed when comparing professional play to amateur play is that the former is much more about concrete calculation - you go there, we go here and so on - whereas an amateur player will have a tendency to overgeneralize when thinking about a position, perhaps because they are not used to the basic art of calculation. 4. Cutting variations off too quickly. Amateur players do not extend their calculation far enough, and thus superficiality tends to kick in. These and other mistakes are explained in the book. Of course it should be noted that professional players also make these kinds of mistakes. GM Danny Gormally is the author of 6 chess books. I have found all of them to be entertaining and often instructive. Probably the most infamous is 2016’s Insanity, Passion and Addiction – A Year Inside the Chess World. As the title suggests, it’s a frank and candid look at the life of a lower-level chess professional In this book, Mr. Gormally talks a lot about the effect of covid on the chess world as he knows it. The title phrase Pandemic Shark refers to junior players who used their time away from OTB play to drastically improve their play while maintaining drastically low ratings as their playing strength increased by leaps and bounds. The book presents 57 games and 9 test positions. The games are a mix of casual and serious with the author’s own play featuring in about a third. I found his teaching contests with students and friends to be the most instructive. He presents nuggets of knowledge that highlight the differences between a GM’s way of seeing the board as compared to that of weaker players. There are also serious contests between top players. These are chosen to illustrate is chosen themes. There’s also a chapter on the scaled back 2021 British Championship; his prep and approach. There is an attempt to show all the book’s games as belonging to unified themes. This is only partially successful and the book comes across as somewhat disjointed. Nevertheless, there is undeniable instruction and entertainment value to be had. The author is most effective when presenting opinions and candour over strict analysis. His position of being far above amateur players while simultaneously way below the chess elite qualifies him to comment on the strengths, weaknesses and challenges of playing at his level. This isn’t the first book to reach for to improve your play. Nevertheless, it has a great deal of instructional value. It also offers honest entertainment in a well-written manner. There are few GMs who write this honestly and well. Neil Sullivan, June 2022. Born 04/05/1976 Currently living in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Daniel has been a chess professional for over twenty years, in which time he has played in many tournaments both in the U.K. and abroad. He has represented England in the European team championships and the Olympiad. Daniel has taken high placing in the British chess championships and on several occasions has placed in a tie for second. He is also the two times winner of the English rapid play championships. In 2005 he scored his final Grandmaster norm in a tournament in Gibraltar, where he scored a 2693 performance. In that tournament he played against several world-class grandmasters, including Nakamura, Aronian, Sutovsky and Dreev, and only lost one game.  He is also the author of several well-received chess books, including a year in the chess world and mating the castled king, one of the few western chess books in recent years to be translated into Chinese. As a writer he is known for his laid-back and humorous style. This is second book for Thinkers, after the bestselling ' The Comfort Zone'' of 2021. Frequent piece movement in the opening: Avoid excessive piece shuffling Lack of patience: Learn to wait for the right moment Overgeneralization: Be specific in your analysis Premature variation elimination: Consider all possibilities before dismissing a line