Logical Chess, Move by Move — Irving Chernev

Reading in progress…

One immediate take away so far is this powerful passage in the introductory:

“It is an understanding of position play that restrains the master from making violent moves or embarking on premature, foolish attacks; that checks the natural impulse to hunt for combinations at every turn; that counsels him in the placing of his pieces where they have the greater potential for attack, tells him how to seize the vital central squares, to occupy the most territory, to camp and weaken the enemy. And it is position play that assures him that definite winning opportunities will then disclose themselves, and decisive combinations will appear on the board. The master does not search for combinations. He creates the conditions that make it possible for them to appear!”

Such a great concept that can also apply to life, creating the conditions that make winning combinations appear.