Beginners and even fairly advanced players agree on one thing: analyzing the strength or weakness of a position (material being equal) is the hardest part of chess to learn. It is also one of the hardest elements to teach, and there are some who claim it is unteachable. But this wonderfully lucid book, written by one of the outstanding chess expositors of this century, presents the basis of analysis in such a disarmingly simple way that even the most casual player will be able to improve his game immensely.