Small Steps to Giant Improvement

About This Book

Small Steps to Giant Improvement by Grandmaster Sam Shankland is a modern classic of chess instruction that earned the prestigious Boleslavsky-Stein Award as the best instructional chess book of 2018. Published by Quality Chess, this book offers a deep and practical exploration of pawn play and positional chess, presented through the lens of Shankland's own games and experiences as a top American grandmaster. Sam Shankland is an American Grandmaster who has represented the United States in multiple Chess Olympiads and has a peak rating above 2700. His achievements include winning the 2018 US Chess Championship and competing against the world's elite players. What makes Shankland particularly effective as an author is his ability to articulate the subtle positional concepts that guide his decision-making at the highest level of competition. The book focuses primarily on pawn structures and their strategic implications, a topic that Shankland considers the foundation of positional understanding. Rather than presenting abstract principles, he uses his own games to demonstrate how pawn structure decisions influence the entire course of a game. Each chapter examines a specific aspect of pawn play, with multiple annotated games illustrating the key concepts. Among the topics covered are isolated pawns, hanging pawns, pawn majorities, backward pawns, doubled pawns, and pawn breaks. For each structure, Shankland explains not just the general principles but also the exceptions and nuances that separate good players from great ones. His annotations reveal the thought processes behind critical decisions, showing readers how a top grandmaster evaluates positions and formulates plans. One of the book's greatest strengths is its honesty. Shankland doesn't present himself as infallible. He openly discusses his mistakes, missed opportunities, and lessons learned from defeats. This candid approach makes the instruction more relatable and educational, as readers can learn from both the successes and the failures of a world-class player. The quality of the annotations is exceptional. Shankland provides detailed verbal explanations alongside concrete variations, ensuring that readers understand not just what to play but why. He frequently points out the critical moments in each game where the evaluation shifted, helping readers develop their sense of when positions are changing character. The book also benefits from Shankland's training with renowned coaches, including the legendary Boris Gelfand. Insights from these training sessions are woven throughout the text, giving readers access to the kind of high-level instruction that is normally available only to elite players. This coaching perspective adds depth and authority to the material. What distinguishes Small Steps to Giant Improvement from other positional chess books is its modern perspective. The games are recent, the analysis is engine-checked, and the strategic concepts are presented in the context of contemporary grandmaster practice. This makes the material immediately applicable to modern tournament play, unlike some older classics that may feel dated. The writing style is clear, engaging, and appropriately detailed. Shankland avoids both the excessive brevity that plagues some modern chess books and the overwhelming verbosity of others. Each game is annotated with just the right amount of explanation to convey the key ideas without losing the reader in unnecessary detail.