In the book The Chess Method, GM I. Dorfman reveals to us his method of chess training, set up at the French Young Talents Chess School in Cannes of which he was coach and teacher. He discovered that mistakes in chess occur in positions, which he calls criticism, where the player faces a variety of choices. In order to generalize the search procedures for optimal plays and detect critical positions, he conceived this chess method.

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Basically the method allows to foresee the dynamics of the evolution of the strategic elements in a chess game, anticipating the modification of these strategic elements consists of detecting the critical positions, which are approached from a static point of view without considering dynamic factors of the position. (Static factors are those that have a lasting influence). The candidate plays in a certain position are extracted precisely by analyzing the static balance of the position, so that the player with a negative static balance must opt for dynamic solutions.

In summary, the algorithm for searching the candidate plays on which this method is based on chess:

Detect a critical position.
Determine the static balance of that position.
Extract the candidate plays and choose the optimal movement.
The book is structured with a first chapter of theory and explanation of the method in chess of more than 50 pages, a second chapter with practical application through commented games and an annex with games by way of training.

The method in chess is a book of surprising and deep pedagogical clarity, which allows us to understand and generalize the thinking process in chess, and to develop an understanding of the game.

Regarding the author, born in May 1952 in the Soviet Union and French nationalized. In 1977 he was champion of the USSR equaled with Boris Gulko. He was a coach for Kasparov in the first four matches against Karpov for the World Chess Championship and subsequently trained the young Frenchman Étienne Bacrot (1993-1997) and Veselin Topalov (1998).