Introduction

Davorin deals with an issue every player has – attachment to material. Some are almost resistant to this, but almost everyone, except for the best, most ruthless tacticians don’t give material lightly. Beyond Material teaches you how to overcome attachment to material and it explains the true value of pieces, which is always relative to the situation on the board. The book also heavily deals with risk-taking during a game, sacrifices, and the wrong perception many inexperienced players share in which material is somehow superior to the other chess principles – time and space.

“In this book, Grandmaster Davorin Kuljasevic teaches you how to look beyond the material balance when you evaluate positions. With loads of instructive examples he shows how the actual value of your pieces fluctuates during the game, depending on many non-material factors. Some of those factors are space-related, such as mobility, harmony, outposts, structures, files and diagonals. Other factors are related to time, and to the way the moves unfold: tempo, initiative, a threat, an attack.” – New in Chess

Structure of the Book

Beyond Material is divided into six chapters, each dealing with a major theme related to materialism. Each chapter is accompanied by several annotated games. Chapter 1, Davorin discusses our attachment to material and lays the groundwork for developing non-materialistic thinking.

Chapter two explains the value of pieces and its changes depending on the position. The next two examine the correlation between time and material and space and material, and just as the first two, expand on the idea that material is no more important than them. Chapter five discusses the psychology of attachment to material, and the final chapter, which was my favorite, provides concrete examples of when materialism pays off, and when it’s the wrong approach completely.

The book covers 107 annotated games. Most begin in a critical position relevant for the topic, which I think is a good thing. There’s no need to go over the opening or automatic or simple decisions unrelated to the subject.

Many of the games covered haven’t been published before. They are all very instructive and depict what Davorin is trying to teach perfectly. My favorites were the games he’d played himself, like the one against Janković above.

“A fascinating effort that deserves a wide audience. One of the best books I have read this year.” – IM John Donaldson

Each chapter is accompanied by test positions, meant to reinforce the ideas presented in the annotated games.

Quality of Annotations

I read the electronic, interactive version of the book. That makes it very difficult to judge the quality of the annotations when compared to reading a physical copy. I could simply press arrows and follow each game along on a diagram. That makes annotations not redundant, but less crucial when compared to standard books. I can understand without having to visualize, and I don’t need every move described to me in order to follow the game. The only downside I can see is the quantity of the annotations. Almost every move of the main line is covered, and most important points of the majority of the sidelines as well, but Davorin could have added much more. I think a book becomes easier to read as the amount of text increases.

How difficult is Beyond Material to read and what rating should you be?

Davorin says that anyone “from decent club level to Grandmaster can get something practical out of the book.” I think I can fully agree with that after reading Beyond Material. The topic is advanced, and definitely not suited for inexperienced players. Going beyond material requires one to have covered all the basics of strategy, positional play and tactics. Understanding the correlation between material, time, and space, an advanced concept, is probably not even possible before you do that. I think the book is best suited for players above 2000 FIDE. I have struggled with it a lot. 

Conclusion

A difficult book for ambitious and advanced players. The topic it covers, the correlation between material, time, and space, is advanced, and the examples Davorin has used to illustrate it are advanced too. It had taken me a month to go through it properly. It was hard and exhausting. I’m a positional player in nature, very averse to dynamics, so I had to get outside of my comfort zone in order to change my thinking and switch from  positional, materialistic mindset to trying to mimic Shirov or Tal. A great resource. If you’re around or above 2000 FIDE, use Beyond Material to greatly improve your understanding of chess.