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.

There is no better way to improve your tactical ability than by working out winning combinations in positions taken from Grandmaster games. In this final - and most challenging! - part of his best-selling three-volume course in chess tactics, Russian chess teacher Livshitz provides a wealth of test-yourself positions identified under recurring combinational themes such as diversion, interference, X-ray attack and many more! Solving these positions will stretch your imagination to the full and enable you to test and assess your Chess IQ. (6 7/8' X 9 3/4', 133 pages, illustrations)

The Sicilian Defence is by far the most popular chess opening. If you play 1 e4 as White, on average you are likely to meet the Sicilian in virtually every other game! You need to be prepared to face the Sicilian at all times, and a ready-to-use repertoire against it is an indispensible weapon.In this book, Gawain Jones confronts the challenge of meeting the Sicilian head on. He has constructed a comprehensive Anti-Sicilian repertoire for White, which is based on lines he has successfully employed at grandmaster level. These are sound, reliable options for White, but don't be fooled - they also contain more than a drop of poison. Variations covered include the popular King's Indian Attack, various Bb5 systems and weapons against Black's offbeat tries.

• A Grandmaster's repertoire against the Sicilian
• Packed with new ideas and critical analysis
• Highlights key tactical and positional ideas

Liberty London is known for its floral and graphic prints and the offering of innovative and eclectic designs. The Liberty Anita Peggable Chess Set from Galison highlights Liberty's classic floral themes, perfect for any game enthusiast. This set features a peggable chess construction with pops of red and blue for the 32 chess pieces. Makes a perfect gift. * Box: 7.8 x 7.8 x 2.8", 198 x 198 x 71 mm * 32 Wood Chess Pieces * 1 Portable Chess Board * Instructions are included * Perfect for playing on the go!

Viktor Korchnoi is a chess legend. In a career which has spanned over 60 years, he won countless grandmaster tournaments, was a four-time Soviet Champion, a multi-time World Championship Candidate, and twice fought for the World Championship in famous battles with his adversary Anatoly Karpov. Throughout his career Korchnoi continually refined his style and he was as comfortable in defence as he was in attack. He was happy to provoke opponents, accept sacrifices, defend precisely and then ruthlessly exploit weaknesses. In this book, former American Open Champion Cyrus Lakdawala studies his favourite Korchnoi games and examines Korchnoi's skills in the key areas of attack and defence, initiative, exploiting imbalances, accumulating advantages and endgame play. He demonstrates clearly how we can all improve by learning from Korchnoi's play. Move by Move provides an ideal platform to study chess. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, the Move by Move format greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to improve your chess skills and knowledge. *Learn from the games of a chess legend *Important ideas absorbed by continued practice *Utilizes an ideal approach to chess study

In "Champions of the New Millennium" three accomplished authors present the eighteen best chess players in the world today. Each player is introduced with an illuminating profile, and then four of his or her finest games are explained in depth. These players are: The current top ten: Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Morozevich, Svidler, Mamedyarov, Shirov, Leko, Ivanchuk, Aronian. The stars likely to dominate the next decade: Karjakin, Carlsen, Radjabov, Wang Yue, Ponomariov and Grischuk. The best female player ever, Judit Polgar. And finally, World Championship finalist and comeback kid, American star Gata Kamsky. This is the ideal guide to who's who in modern chess.

Very few chess books are able to make an original contribution about the strategic side of chess, but that is the aim of this remarkable book. The dogmas of chess, which have been established for over a century, are rarely questioned despite the clear evolution in the style of top-class chess. Chess grandmaster Lluis Comas Fabrego takes on the challenging task of separating the truth from the lies in traditional advice on how to play better chess. By taking an irreverent look at the supposed absolute truths of chess, Comas Fabrego judges the validity of established rules and strategic concepts. Accompanied by many practical examples and good advice, readers learn how to reduce the complexity of chess towards the essential features of each position, and so improve their play.

Magnus Carlsen: A Life in Pictures tells the story of the reigning World Chess Champion. Magnus Carlsen, born in 1990 in Oslo, Norway, became a Grandmaster by 13. Carlsen was crowned World Champion in 2013, when he defeated Anand and has successfully defended his title three times. He currently plays again for the title in Dubai. Carlsen is a family man, often surrounded by his father, mother and sisters. As a sports fanatic he plays and follows football and basketball. He doesnt shy away from his celebrity status, and was both a G-Star model and a Real Madrid VIPguest. But his most genuine smile breaks through when he talks chess with his youngest fans, the kids in a chess tournament. For this book, publisher New In Chess, part of the Play Magnus Group, had access to pictures of the Carlsen family archive and to all pictures of the best chess photographers.

Grandmaster Johan Hellsten believes that mastering chess strategy - just like chess tactics - requires practice, practice and more practice This book provides a basic foundation of strategy in all three phases of the game - the opening, middlegame and endgame. It includes more than 350 training exercises.

What separates the greatest chess players from mere mortals? Grandmaster Danny Gormally believes that understanding, preparation and will to win are three crucial factors. In Play Chess Like the Pros he examines these key aspects and attempts to bridge the gap between the best and the rest. He believes that a player's capacity to improve is limitless, and in this age of computer-assisted learning the opportunity to do so is greater than ever before. But are you prepared to stretch yourself, to take yourself out of the comfort zone? However, this is more than a self-improvement book. Nearly 15 years of experience as a chess professional makes the author ideally placed to tell the stories, not just behind the moves but also the characters who play them, giving the reader an insider's view of professional chess in the modern age.

What is it that makes Magnus Carlsen the strongest chess player in the world? Why do Carlsens opponents, the best players around, fail to see his moves coming? Moves that, when you replay his games, look natural and self-evident? Emmanuel Neiman has been studying Carlsens games and style of play for many years. His findings will surprise, delight and educate every player, regardless of their level. He explains a key element in the World Champions play: instead of the absolute best move he often plays the move that is likely to give him the better chances. Carlsens singular ability to win positions that are equal or only very slightly favourable comes down to this: he doesnt let his opponents get what they hope for while offering them the maximum amount of chances to go wrong. In areas such as pawn play, piece play, exchanges as a positional weapon and breaking the rules in endgames, Neiman shows that Magnus Carlsen has brought a new understanding to the game. Neiman also looks at Carlsens key qualities that are not directly related to technique. Such as his unparalleled fighting spirit and his ability to objectively evaluate any kind of position and situation. Carlsen is extremely widely read and knows basically everything about chess. Whats more, as the most versatile player in the history of the game he is totally unpredictable. THE MAGNUS METHOD presents a complete analysis of the skills that make the difference. With lots of surprising and instructive examples and quizzes. Examining Carlsens abilities together with Emmanuel Neiman is a delightful way to unlock you own potential.

The subject of the book and movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, Josh Waitzkin has long been the top-ranked player for his age in the United States and a role model for chess-playing kids everywhere. Now, for the first time, Waitzkin reveals the aggressive tactics and psychological techniques that have propelled him to the forefront of the chess world. His unique introduction to the game combines solid instruction with stories about his personal experiences that capture all the excitement and tension of playing chess at the championship level.

Josh Waitzkin's Attacking Chess presents nineteen different offensive strategies, progressing from the most elementary, including forks, pins, skewers, and double threats, to the more advanced and sophisticated moves used by the world's best players. Chapters such as Minor Traps, The Seventh Rank and the Pig, Mating Nets, and Quiet Moves in Attack show how anyone can develop a more aggressive and creative style of play. Each strategy is illustrated with examples taken from actual games Waitzkin has played, described with all the gusto and competitive intensity this young master brings to his craft. You can feel the heat of battle throughout this action-packed manual -- it's guaranteed to entertain and inspire all students of chess who want to learn how to emerge victorious from the black and white jungle.

All chess players know the impact of a surprising move in a game of chess. The victim is disoriented and often blunders in reply, while the player landing the surprise feels invigorated, lusting for the battle ahead. It is thus quite a surprise in itself that this is the first book devoted to this important practical aspect of chess psychology. Avni, a highly experienced and respected chess writer, provides a detailed understanding of the many ways of surprising the opponent. This is far more than a list of tips for how to find startling moves. Avni explains a whole theory of surprise, which the reader can absorb and make a fundamental part of his approach to chess. The book includes games where surprise played a major role, annotated by Grandmasters Ronen Har-Zvi, Gad Rechlis, Eran Liss, Ilan Manor, Ram Soffer and International master Artur Kogan. FIDE Master Amatzia Avni is a psychologist. He has written several acclaimed works on chess, including 'Creative Chess' and 'Danger in Chess, ' both published by Cadogan. (5 11/16' X 8 1/4', 112 pages, index, illustrations)

Everyone knows that the queen is the most dominant piece in chess, but few people know that the game existed for five hundred years without her. It wasn't until chess became a popular pastime for European royals during the Middle Ages that the queen was born and was gradually empowered to become the king's fierce warrior and protector.

"Birth of the Chess Queen" examines the five centuries between the chess queen's timid emergence in the early days of the Holy Roman Empire to her elevation during the reign of Isabel of Castile. Marilyn Yalom, inspired by a handful of surviving medieval chess queens, traces their origin and spread from Spain, Italy, and Germany to France, England, Scandinavia, and Russia. In a lively and engaging historical investigation, Yalom draws parallels between the rise of the chess queen and the ascent of female sovereigns in Europe, presenting a layered, fascinating history of medieval courts and internal struggles for power.

Are you making the most of your chess talent? Do you always perform to the best of your ability? Do your results match up with your understanding of the game? If the answer to any of these questions is 'no' then read on!In "The Survival Guide to Competitive Chess,"" "Grandmaster and experienced tournament player John Emms reveals the secrets of how to maximize your potential and improve your results. Drawing upon his own over-the-board experiences, Emms tackles the all-important aspects of practical play: concentration and behaviour at the chessboard; playing for a win or a draw; winning good positions and saving difficult ones; handling time trouble; avoiding silly mistakes; understanding your strengths and weaknesses; building an opening repertoire; using chess computers and software; preparing for opponents; understanding and utilizing the finer points of the rules; and much more besides. Read this book and play every game with the confidence that you really can give it your best shot. *A comprehensive guide to practical play*Ideal for ambitious players*Written by a battle-hardened expert John Emms is one of the UK's leading Grandmasters and has captained the English Team at two Chess Olympiads. He's an experienced coach who has worked with many top players, including World Championship finalist Michael Adams. He's also a highly respected writer; previous works for Everyman Chess include "The Scandinavian "and the best-selling "Starting Out: The Sicilian,"

The French Defence is one of the most solid and strategically rich responses to 1.e4. Many chess opening lines have been analysed to death by computer, but the French is relatively resistant to this growing trend, as the characteristic blocked pawn centre leads to situations where a player with superior understanding can overcome an opponent whose expertise lies in computer-assisted preparation. Acclaimed authors Ntirlis and Aagaard present a complete repertoire for Black based on 3.Nc3 Nf6 and 3.Nd2 c5. With many new discoveries and detailed explanations of positional and strategic motifs, this book is essential reading for those playing this complex opening with either colour.

If you want to improve your middlegame play, you will have to develop a FEEL for positions. Thats what Boris Zlotnik has been stressing during his long and rich trainers career. Clicking through concrete variations (a popular pastime in the computer era) is not enough. To guide your thinking during a game you should be able to fall back on a reservoir of typical ideas and methods. That is exactly what this book offers you: Zlotniks legendary study material about the middlegame, modernized, greatly extended and published in the English language for the first time. As you familiarize yourself with the most important strategic ideas and manoeuvres in important basic opening structures, you will need less time to discover the clues in middlegame positions. You will find it so much easier to steer your game in the right direction after the opening has ended. Zlotniks Middlegame Manual is accessible to a wide range of post-beginners and club players. It is your passport to a body of instructive material of unparalleled quality, collected during a lifetime of training and coaching chess. A large collection of exercises, carefully chosen and didactically tuned, will help you drill what you have learned. With a foreword by Fabiano Caruana.

The Open Ruy Lopez (also known as the Open Spanish) has always been a popular choice both at club level and at grandmaster level, where it has withstood the test of time after decades of close scrutiny. It offers both sides the opportunity for a sharp clash of forces in which the better prepared player will often come out on top. It is therefore no surprise that such fighting players as Victor Korchnoi and Jan Timman have always used the Open Ruy Lopez as an important weapon in their armory. Written by leading author Grandmaster Glenn Flear, this book explains the basic elements, strategies and tactics for both sides and offers an accessible, digestible blend of explanatory and theoretical material. (6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 160 pages, b&w illustrations)

Discover all kinds of delicious foods from around the world - from sourdough to bagels and croissants to crumpets. Mark them off on your game card and... BINGO! Contains 48 superbly illustrated food chips, one game board, 8 double-sided game cards and 150 brightly coloured counters, as well as a leaflet containing fun trivia and games for the baked goods featured.

Surprise yourself and reach higher! This book is based on real amateur games and shows you how an average club player can proceed through the ranks and reach Candidate Master level. Its a hard struggle, nothing comes for free and your path will be strewn with setbacks and disappointments. Just like in real life. Alex Dunne guides you in the more than 50 games that you will be playing and offers lots of practical, straightforward and effective advice. Slowly but surely, you will improve in all phases of the game: the opening, the middlegame and the endgame. Dunne explains when and how to activate your pieces and how to recognize and punish the errors your opponents are bound to make. At the end of the book, having absorbed these lessons, your experience, technique and confidence will have improved in such a way that your first win against a master will not come as a big surprise.

Chess - Crowood Sports Guides is the perfect tool for anyone wanting to improve their performance, from beginners learning the basic skills to more experienced participants working on advanced techniques. Standard chess rules and basic notation is covered as well as how to use each piece effectively; tactics and strategy; how to plan for success; the three phases - openings, middlegames and endgames; advanced techniques - analysing a position, opening repertoires, when to sacrifice, key endgame principles; hints and tips for developing chess further and finally using computers for analysis and preparation.

Offering a playful and engaging way to encourage young people, especially those on the autism spectrum, to think about themselves and their wider environment, this cooperative board game is perfect for working with groups of children and young adults with autism of all ages (10 and up). Each player works to create their own cartoon figure, emphasising how everyone is unique, and the figure includes elements that shows both how they look from the outside, and their inner characteristics. Games typically last around an hour, and discussion points are provided afterwards, to open conversation about their character, and about the nature of autism.