On the Origin of Good Moves by Willy Hendriks (Hardcover)

This On the Origin of Good Moves by Willy Hendriks is an English-language hardcover chess book that explores how chess thinking developed, rather than simply retelling old games. With 432 pages and a strong focus on the evolution of good moves, it combines chess history with training material and exercises.

What the book covers

Willy Hendriks starts from a familiar idea: that a player’s development mirrors the development of chess itself. He accepts that there is a great deal to learn from the old masters, but he also questions some of the standard stories about how chess ideas progressed.

One of the most interesting threads in the book is its challenge to the usual view of Wilhelm Steinitz as the discoverer of positional play. Hendriks takes the reader through chess history in a careful, investigative way, sorting facts, offering fresh interpretations and pointing to less obvious figures. The result is a view of progress driven by evolution, rather than by a single breakthrough in theory.

Inside the book

This book brings together chess history, ideas and practical study material. It includes many instructive examples from earlier eras, presented in a fresh way, and it encourages the reader to work actively with the positions instead of just reading about them.

The exercises are a major part of that approach. They let you look at positions through the eyes of earlier masters and search for good moves yourself. That makes the book relevant both for readers who enjoy chess history and for players who want to deepen their understanding of the game.

The author is International Master Willy Hendriks, a chess coach with more than 25 years of experience. His earlier book, Move First, Think Later, won the English Chess Federation Book of the Year Award.

Edition information

• Language: English
• Format: hardcover
• Page count: 432 pages
• Author: Willy Hendriks

This edition runs to 36 chapters and more than 400 pages, giving the book plenty of room for its historical argument and exercises.

Key details

• Product type: hardcover chess book
• Title: On the Origin of Good Moves
• Author: Willy Hendriks
• Language: English
• Format: hardcover
• Page count: 432 pages
• Content focus: history of chess ideas and the development of good moves
• Includes: training exercises