Jeremy Silman (born August 28, 1954) is an American International Master (IM) of chess and writer. Silman was born in Del Rio, Texas. He began playing chess at the age of 12. He has won the American Open, the National Open, and the U.S. Open, and was the coach of the US junior national chess team. He attained the IM title in 1988. Silman has written over 35 books, mostly on chess but also on casino gambling, and has written articles for chess magazines such as Chess Life and New in Chess. He has also written many chess mentoring puzzles on the chess.com website. Silman is the professor in a video chess course produced by The Teaching Company as part of its Great Courses series. Silman served as a chess consultant on the 2001 Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Monk, and Malcolm in the Middle. However, Silman was uncredited for his work on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Silman is also said to have been involved in the Haight-Ashbury scene in the 1970s. The preface to his Endgame Course mentions this, and fellow chess players Daniel King and Ronan Bennett allude to this in a newspaper column from 2007. Strategy of imbalances In his books, Silman evaluates positions according to the "imbalances", or differences, which exist in every position, and advocates that players plan their play according to these. A good plan according to Silman is one which highlights the positive imbalances in the position. The imbalances are, in rough descending order of importance according to Dana Mackenzie: Superior minor piece, which refers to the relative strength of the knights and bishops Pawn structure Spatial control Material; in his Chess Life series The Art of Planning, Silman called this the most important imbalance because it affected every phase of the game; Control of open files, diagonals, and squares Development Initiative; Silman notes that this (along with superior development) is a dynamic imbalance that must be used quickly if the advantage is not to fade away Silman's thinking technique Silman proposes in How to Reassess Your Chess a five-fold procedure that he recommends that players use. This procedure is to be followed after checking for tactical threats for both sides. Figure out the positive and negative imbalances for both sides. Figure out the side of the board you wish to play on. You can only play