“Why You Lose At Chess” Fred Reinfeld
An early attempt at a chess psychology book. I will list off Reinfeld’s chapter titles. They are all answers to the question “Why you Lose at Chess”.
1- You have no idea what kind of chess player you are.
2- You Play the Opening Blindly or by Rote
3- You Don’t Know the One Basic Principle of Chess Play: Control the Center.
4- You Lose Because You Can’t See One Move Ahead.
5- You Don’t Know When to Attack or When to Defend.
6- You Lose Because You Ignore the Odds.
7- You Lose Because You Play the Board and Not the Man.
8- You Lose Because You’re Easily Bored.
9- You Lose Because You’re Lazy.
10- You Lose Because You’re Stubborn.
Frankly, there are now better versions of this book. I would suggest “The Seven Deadly Chess Sins” or “Chess for Zebras” both by Jonathan Rowson. Another house keeping note. My copy of “Why You Lose at Chess” was written in descriptive notation (B-QB4).
