Supreme Chess Understanding is a puzzle book for advanced and master level players. It focuses on the difference between statics and dynamics, and how being able to differentiate between them and adjust your play accordingly can give you an upper hand in complex positions. Moranda has written a well-rounded book that covers previously unseen positions, mostly from games played between 2020 and 2022, with emphasis on critical positions in which one side had just missed an opportunity for an advantage.

Supreme Chess Understanding explains the difference between static and dynamic advantages, highlighting the importance of being able to do so while playing, and how knowing where your advantage (or disadvantage) lies enables you to evaluate, plan, and play precisely, according to what the position requires.

Static advantages such as material, a healthy pawn structure, the bishop pair enable you to convert the position by keeping control, without having to engage in risky, forcing play. Dynamic advantages, on the other hand, evaporate if mishandled. Having a favorable material imbalance, a lead in development, or a promising pawn break, isn’t here to stay, and we must act on it, or our advantage goals away. Moranda explains how to approach these in a series of 60 positions the reader can solve. The book isn’t divided by theme, but by increasing difficulty. Three chapters, the last one being master level, cover positions one could call critical positions.

A major advantage of Supreme Chess Understanding over other, similar volumes, is the small number of positions and their highly detailed explanation. Moranda goes over each problem in great depth, ensuring proper understanding of all the features of the position one had to appreciate in order to solve it. I found his writing style extremely instructive, albeit rather dry. But hey, it’s not Harry Potter.

The book is a test. You will get to determine, or have Moranda determine your playing strength. The levels range from 1800 to 2800, so needless to say that Supreme Chess Understanding, Statics & Dynamics is not meant for beginners. It’s an advanced book intended to make already strong players stronger at navigating complex positions, recognizing what to play for depending on the structure, piece placement, and other key factors. It’s a guide on knowing whether to attack or defend, whether to play dynamically and engage in complications or to keep things simple, and, in short, a set of guidelines for handling double-edged positions. Supreme Chess Understanding explains the concepts of time, material and coordination, their relations and interdependence, and how one type of advantage may be transformed into another.

For everyone who’s already covered the basics of calculation, strategy, and positional play, this book will be a great tool for improving understanding of different types of complex positions.