This is a chess book for everyone, from eight to eighty, beginner to master. In a clear, easy-to-follow format it explains how the best way to beat a stronger opponent in the opening stage of the game. Delightful and instructive games of famous players are used to show the 50 most effective opening traps that chess masters use to win their games.

Do you need to be a genius to be good at chess? What does it take to become a Grandmaster? Can computer programmes beat human intuition in gameplay? The Psychology of Chess is an insightful overview of the roles of intelligence, expertise, and human intuition in playing this complex and ancient game. The book explores the idea of 'practice makes perfect', alongside accounts of why men perform better than women in international rankings, and why chess has become synonymous with extreme intelligence as well as madness. When artificial intelligence researchers are increasingly studying chess to develop machine learning, The Psychology of Chess shows us how much it has already taught us about the human mind.

Every chess player wants to improve, but many, if not most, lack the tools or the discipline to study in a structured and effective way. With so much material on offer, the eternal question is: How can I study chess without wasting my time and energy? Davorin Kuljasevic provides the full and ultimate answer, as he presents a structured study approach that has long-term improvement value. He explains how to study and what to study, offers specific advice for the various stages of the game and points out how to integrate all elements in an actionable study plan. How do you optimize your learning process? How do you develop good study habits and get rid of useless ones? What study resources are appropriate for players of different levels? Many self-improvement guides are essentially little more than a collection of exercises. Davorin Kuljasevic reflects on learning techniques and priorities in a fundamental way. And although this is not an exercise book, it is full of instructive examples looked at from unusual angles. To provide a solid self-study framework, Kuljasevic categorizes lots of important aspects of chess study in a guide that is rich in illustrative tables, figures and bullet points. Anyone, from casual player to chess professional, will take away a multitude of original learning methods and valuable practical improvement ideas.

The c3 Sicilian has been one of the most widely played openings among club and tournament players for more than a decade. It leads to dynamic play in which the better prepared player invariably comes out on top. In this handy battle manual, highly-regarded author Grandmaster Joe Gallagher offers a comprehensive survey of the state of current theory for both White and Black players, explaining the basic elements, strategies and tactics for both sides. (6 1/8' x 9 1/8', 176 pages, illustrations)

The King's Indian Attack was a firm favorite of the legendary Bobby Fischer, and more recently it has been utilized with great success by world-class Grandmasters such as Alexander Morozevich. The renowned chess coach Mark Dvoretsky regards the King's Indian Attack as a perfect weapon on which to base an opening repertoire. Its great advantage over other openings is that it's a thematic system that can be employed against many different lines, while the emphasis is on the understanding of ideas rather than the dry memorization of moves. The King's Indian Attack leads to rich middlegame positions that are full of dynamic possibilities for both sides.
In this easy-to-use guide, King's Indian Attack expert John Emms goes back to basics, studying the fundamental principles of the King's Indian Attack and its numerous lines. Throughout the book there are an abundance of notes, tips and warnings to help the improving player, while key strategies, ideas and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated.
*User-friendly design to help readers absorb ideas
*Concentrates on the key principles of the King's Indian Attack
*Ideal for the improving player

A book for chess players who want to build their skills on solid foundations. Yusupov guides the reader towards a higher level of chess understanding using carefully selected positions and advice. This new understanding is then tested by a series of puzzles.

What exactly makes the greatest players of all time, such as Magnus Carlsen, Bobby Fischer, and Garry Kasparov stand out from the rest? The basic aspects of chess (calculation, study of opening theory, and technical endgame ability) are of course of great importance. However, the more mysterious part of chess ability lies within the thought process. In particular: * How does one evaluate certain moves to be better than others? * How does one improve their feel of the game? This book will tackle this woefully underexplored aspect of chess: the logic behind the game. It will explain how chess works at a fundamental level. Topics include: * What to think about when evaluating a position. * How to formulate and execute plans. * How to generate and make use of the initiative. The reader also has plenty of opportunities to test their decision-making by attempting 270 practical exercises. These are mostly designed to develop understanding, as the justification of the moves is more important than the actual correct answer.

A Real Simple gift guide pick for 2017 A fun board game based on the best-selling Listography journal series: Listography: The Game invites players to create and share lists based on fun and thought-provoking topics - from geography and pop culture to toothpaste and constellations! With the goal of being the first around the game board, players score points according to the number of similar or unique answers. Every round in the game results in creative thinking, surprise outcomes, and lots of laughs. May the best list win! * Small and compact for travel and to take to dinner parties * Game makes a fun and unique housewarming gift * Lisa Nola is the creator of the Listography book series and the popular list-making website, listography.com. With over one million copies sold, her books inspire creative auto-biography and reinvention through list-making Listography: The Game will appeal to list-lovers who want to have a good time laughing with friends. * For 3-6 players, ages 12 and up * Includes: 300 cards (300 list topics), game board, 6 player tokens, sand timer, 6 list pads * Great ice-breaking game and for groups to get to know each other

____ *THE STRATEGIES BEHIND A SUCCESSFUL LIFE FROM THE LEGENDARY GRANDMASTER AND ADVISOR TO NETFLIX'S THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT, NOW WITH A NEW FOREWORD* 'In this book, chess is a teacher, and I aim to show it is a great one.' For over twenty years, Garry Kasparov dominated the world of chess. As the youngest ever undisputed World Champion, known for confounding his opponents at every move and breaking record after record, Kasparov was asked the same question time and time again: what makes a champion? Drawing on a wealth of revealing and instructive stories, from the most intense moments of his greatest games to the world-changing decisions of history's greatest strategists such as Winston Churchill and Steve Jobs, Kasparov reveals the strategic ways of thinking that always give a player - in the game of life as well as chess - the edge. PRAISE FOR GARRY KASPAROV 'I've never seen someone with such a feel for dynamics in complex positions' - Magnus Carlsen, World Chess Champion 'There is nothing in chess he has been unable to deal with' - Vladimir Kramnik, Chess Grandmaster 'Mr. Kasparov is not only one of the world's smartest men, he is also among its bravest.' - Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch

An easy-to-understand guide to chess strategy -- conceptual planning -- has always been the amateur's dream. This book makes that dream a reality. This comprehensive guide in dictionary form, the first of its kind, makes all aspects of chess strategy quick, easy, and painlessly accessible to players of all degrees of strength. Each strategic concept is listed alphabetically and followed by a clear, easy-to-absorb explanation accompanied by examples of how this strategy is used in practice. Such great World Champions as Steinitz, Capablanca, Petrosian, Fischer, and Karpov have used these strategies in virtually all of their games. Now you can arm yourself with their weapons. As you incorporate these weapons into your own play, they will enrich your appreciation of the game and lead you to one beautiful victory after another.

Chess was invented more than 1,500 years ago, and is played in every country in the world. Stephen Moss sets out to master its mysteries, and unlock the secret of its enduring appeal. What, he asks, is the essence of chess? And what will it reveal about his own character along the way? In a witty, accessible style that will delight newcomers and irritate purists, Moss imagines the world as a board and marches across it, offering a mordant report on the world of chess in 64 chapters - 64 of course being the number of squares on the chessboard. He alternates between "black" chapters - where he plays, largely uncomprehendingly, in tournaments - and "white" chapters, where he seeks advice from the current crop of grandmasters and delves into the lives of great players of the past. It is both a history of the game and a kind of "Zen and the Art of Chess"; a practical guide and a self-help book: Moss's quest to understand chess and become a better player is really an attempt to escape a lifetime of dilettantism. He wants to become an expert at one thing. What will be the consequences when he realises he is doomed to fail? Moss travels to Russia and the US - hotbeds of chess throughout the 20th century; meets people who knew Bobby Fischer when he was growing up and tries to unravel the enigma of that tortured genius who died in 2008 at the inevitable age of 64; meets Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen, world champions past and present; and keeps bumping into Armenian superstar Levon Aronian in the gents at tournaments. He becomes champion of Surrey, wins tournaments in Chester and Bury St Edmunds, and holds his own at the famous event in the Dutch seaside resort of Wijk aan Zee (until a last-round meltdown), but too often he is beaten by precocious 10-year-olds and finds it hard to resist the urge to punch them. He looks for spiritual fulfilment in the game, but mostly finds mental torture.

Renowned chess teacher and grandmaster Artur Yusupov continues his complete course of chess improvement. Volume 1, The Fundamentals, showed club chess players the basic ideas they should know. Now Volume 2, Beyond the Basics, sets off on the road to mastery. Yusupov guides the reader towards a higher level of chess understanding using carefully selected positions and advice. This new understanding is then tested by a series of puzzles. Artur Yusupov was ranked No. 3 in the world from 1986 to 1992, just behind the legendary World Champions Karpov and Kasparov. He has won everything there is to win in chess except for the World Championship. In recent years he has mainly worked as a chess trainer with players ranging from current World Champion Anand to local amateurs in Germany, where he resides.

The Sicilian Taimanov (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nc6) is a very flexible Black system in the Sicilian Defence developed by Mark Taimanov. It is characterised by the development of the g8-knight on e7, often along with a quick ...b7-b5. The Taimanov often leads to tense, dynamic position which are ripe in counterattacking possibilities. In Opening Repertoire: The Sicilian Taimanov, highly experienced chess author and coach Nigel Davies guides the reader through the complexities of the Taimanov and carves out a repertoire for Black. He examines all aspects of this highly complex opening and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans. There are also suggestions for countering White's "anti-Sicilian" tries thus creating an entire repertoire to meet 1 e4. * A complete repertoire for Black against 1 e4. * A question and answer approach provides an excellent study method. * All key variations analysed in detail.

The chess world has witnessed a great number of wonderfully gifted attacking players, geniuses who have dazzled the chess public with their brilliant masterpieces. Everyone has their own favourites, and in "Chess Secrets: Great Attackers," Colin Crouch chooses three of his own: Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Tal and Leonid Stein. World Champions Kasparov and Tal need no introduction, while Stein was a highly creative and intuitive player with the ability to destroy the world's best players with his vicious attacks.Crouch examines their differing approaches and styles, and highlights some crucial themes, including the idea of controlled risk - in some sacrificial attacks even the greatest players can't always see everything to the end. A study of this book will help you to enhance your skills in one of the most crucial elements of the game. *An entertaining and instructive guide to attacking chess*Learn from the greats of the game*Discover how famous chess minds work "Chess Secrets" is" "a new series of books which uncover the mysteries of the most important aspects of chess study: strategy, attacking play, opening play and gambits, classical play, endgames and preparation. In each book the author chooses and deeply studies a number of great players from chess history who have excelled in a particular field of the game and who have genuinely influenced their descendants. Dr Colin Crouch is an International Master, an extremely experienced tournament player and a highly regarded chess writer. His previous books for Everyman Chess include "Queens"" Gambit Declined: 5 Bf4!," which has been highly acclaimed for its thoroughness and originality, with one reviewer describing it as 'the opening bookof the year'. He has been a regular columnist for "British Chess Magazine" and "CHESS."

Show off your best animal-tracking skills in this brilliant matching game. The task is to match 25 tracks to their animal owners. Has an elephant just crossed your path or was it an echidna? Can you track down a coyote, make out the trail of a peacock and recognise the paw print of a panda? Beat your opponents by making as many matches as you can!

Former US Open Champion Timothy Taylor presents weapons for Black against the hugely popular Spanish Opening, basing his repertoire on the Modern Steinitz Defence. This opening can lead to razor-sharp lines, such as the Siesta Variation, where one slip by either player could prove to be fatal. But a major attraction of the Modern Steinitz is its flexibility, as Black can also choose to play in a more positional manner. Taylor studies in depth the critical main lines, and also what to do if White avoids these. Read this book and be ready to slay the Spanish!

PLAY AND LEARN: learn about bees and biodiversity as you play this family strategy game for age 6+, based on traditional Mancala SCREEN-FREE FUN for two players aged 6 and up SOMETHING TO TREASURE: this is a quality product made to last, with bespoke illustration and sleek and stylish packaging EXPLORE THE ENTIRE SERIES: this game is one of our nature games, others include Bird Bingo, I Saw It First! Ocean, and many more Buzz the bees to the flowers to collect pollen and then back to the hive to make honey for feeding and growing your very own bee colony. The player with the largest colony wins! Based on the ancient gameplay of mancala, Beehive Mancala is a fun strategy game for adults and children aged 6+. Includes facts on the bees and flowers featured, plus details on the honey-making process and the importance of bees from the beekeeper at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London, UK.

One of the best ways to improve is to study the games of a top Grandmaster, and Ivan Sokolov's uncompromising style and tactical flair make him a perfect role model. In this book Sokolov demonstrates the deadly effectiveness of his systems against openings such as The Nimzo-Indian, Queen's Gambit, Slav and King's Indian. Contains 50 deeply annotated games with introductions . Brilliant and inventive opening play will both instruct and entertain . Includes many spectacular miniatures of under 30 moves Ivan Sokolov is one of the most outstanding talents to emerge in the 1990's, and many of his victims in this book- Anand, Adams, Topalov, and Lautier - hail from the cream of the younger generation. As a key member of the Bosnia- Herzegovina Olympiad team he won a solver medal in Moscow in 1994, and was ranked 12th equal in the world in December 1996. Sokolov is resident in the Netherlands, and tied with Jan Timman in the 1996 Dutch Championship.

Many historical chess books focus on individual 19th century masters and tournaments yet little is written covering the full scope of competitive chess through the era. This volume provides a comprehensive overview, with more than a third of the 300 annotated games analyzed by past masters and checked by powerful engines. Players such as Max Lange and Cochrane, known to the chess public only by the name given to a fierce attack or gambit, are brought to life. Fifty masters are each given their own chapter, with brief biographies, results and anecdotes and an endgame section for most chapters.

What are the greatest opening ideas in chess history? This is a fascinating question that would undoubtedly spark endless debate and discussion amongst all the experts and enthusiasts of the game. From the invention and development of openings which are now considered to be mainline, to the wealth of stunning one-move novelties which have convincingly overturned previous expert assessments, there is certainly a plethora of brilliant ideas to choose from - everyone will have their own opinion on this subject!In this book, Christoph Scheerer looks back though chess history and at modern times in order to create his own list of favourites. Selecting from hundreds of candidates, Scheerer examines factors such as creativity, shock value, effectiveness and endurance in order to decide which ideas are most worthy of inclusion. Read this book and discover the stories behind the most powerful opening ideas of all time, and how you can utilize and learn from these ideas to improve your chess. *An entertaining guide to the best ever opening ideas*Written by an opening expert*Ideal for players of all levels

In this highly original and instructive test yourself book, grandmaster Chris Ward invites readers to solve a selection of carefully chosen puzzles. In this, the second book in the 'It's Your Move' series, the positions are aimed at club players who are looking to hone their skills in order to climb further up the chess ladder. The reader is given a choice of five plausible plans for each position and has to decide which is the most likely to succeed. The answers then identify the most promising plan and explain why the other choices are less attractive. (5 3/4 x 8 1/4, 144 pages, diagrams)