Brought together in one volume, two Everyman Chess classics: Can you be a Positional Chess Genius ? and Can you be a Tactical Chess Genius? Test your tactical chess skills with a quiz book with a difference! Grandmaster James Plaskett, a player of distinguished tactical ability, has carefully assembled an abundance of chess puzzles to test players of all levels. At the beginning of each chapter the puzzles are relatively easy, worth five points for a correct solution. However as you move on they become more and more difficult, soon becoming worth ten points and eventually 15. If you get stuck, do not despair as help is at hand! You can ask a grandmaster to obtain the guidance you need. However, use this option carefully, as it will cost you some of your hard-earned points. You can also obtain points for finding the basic idea of the solution without necessarily working out all the refinements. Either on your own or with friends, this book will provide hours of brain-teasing enjoyment. Test your positional chess expertise with a quiz book with a difference! International Master and experienced chess teacher Angus Dunnington has carefully assembled an abundance of positional chess puzzles to test players of all levels. At the beginning of each chapter the puzzles are relatively easy, worth five points for a correct solution. However as you move on they become more and more difficult, soon becoming worth ten points and eventually 15. If you get stuck, do not despair as help is at hand! You can 'ask a grandmaster' to obtain the guidance you need to help solve the puzzles. However, use this option carefully, as it will cost you some of your hard-earned points. You can also obtain points for finding the basic idea of the solution without necessarily working out all the refinements. Either on your own or with friends, this book will provide hours of brain-teasing enjoyment.

Let's face facts: everyone enjoys winning. And the only thing better than winning is to win quickly! Mistakes are often made in the early part of the game - at all levels of chess - but a key skill is to recognise these critical moments as they happen and to exploit them with maximum efficiency. This is a skill which Grandmaster Simon Williams addresses in this book. Using instructive and entertaining games in which one side wins quickly, he examines all the typical mistakes chess players make in the opening and early middlegame, how you should look to exploit them, and how to avoid falling into similar traps yourself. All too often opponents are let off the hook, mistakes go unpunished and the game drags on. Don't let this happen to you - become a ruthless winner!

Grandmaster Alexei Shirov's best selling books, Fire on Board and Fire on Board Volume 2 are now brought together in a single volume. ln this collection of his best games from 1983 to 2004, Grandmaster Alexei Shirov shows why he is widely regarded as one of the most aggressive and inventive players of the modern era. lt contains a delightful selection of his favourite games, each of which is explained in detail, together with sections on tactical highlights and endgames. Special attention is devoted to the super-sharp Botvinnik variation, which Shirov has used to remarkable effect against the world's leading players. Since becoming a grandmaster in 1990, Alexei Shirov has firmly established himself amongst the world's leading players. His many tournament successes include first place at Munich in 1993 and equal second with Kasparov behind Karpov at Linares in 1994. His penchant for wild attacking games has made him a great favourite with the chess public, who see him as natural heir to another Latvian, the former world champion Mikhail Tal.

"Chess Rules of Thumb" gives you the winning principles of chess in clear, short statements. Three-time US Champion Lev Alburt and World Chess Hall of Fame Curator Al Lawrence have put together three centuries of insights from the masters. Fun to browse or to read from cover-to-cover, it's a book that all chess playersfrom beginners to grandmasterslwiull enjoy for a lifetime. Like life, chess has its rules. The difference that your parents probably didn't tell you about chess. "Never cross the street before looking both ways." "Never discuss portable explosives in the airport security line." "Never overthrow the cut-off man." "Never download email from someone you don't know." "Never take the queen's knight pawn." Save hours of head-scratching and uncertainty in your own games and understand why the masters make the moves they do: "The worst square for a White knight is b.2." "With rook vs. two knights, exchanging queens is worth a pawn." "Never capture the b.2 pawn with the queen." "Rooks united on the seventh are blind pigs." "The winner is the one who commits the next-to-last mistake." Backed up with diagrams and illustrations to help you remember key principles, a glossary of essential chess terms and a rundown on all major openings, "Chess Rules of Thumb" will improve your chess play. And it's great fun to read "Never buy a chess book that isn't fun "

"Bobby Fischer...The precision and energy that he played with is unmatched in the history of chess." Magnus Carlsen, World Chess Champion Nearly 30 years since his last chess game, Bobby Fischer's fame continues to grow. Appearing in Hollywood movies, documentaries and best-selling books, his life and career are as fascinating as they ever were and his games continue to generate discussion. Indeed, with each new generation of computer, stunning discoveries are made about moves that have been debated by grandmasters for decades. International Grandmaster Andrew Soltis played Fischer and also reported, as a journalist, on the American's legendary career. He is the author of many books, including Pawn Structure Chess, 365 Chess Master Lessons and What it Takes to Become a Chess Master.

Brought together for the first time in one volume are three books by the titan of chess, Jose Capablanca. ----- One of the greatest chess prodigies of all time, he evolved the most perfect chess technique seen on a chessboard. A former World champion, and one of the most successful tournament players in the history of the game, Capablanca's uncanny position judgment empowered him to produce games that were masterful pieces of position play, and that culminated often in combinations of startling brilliancy. ----- My Chess Career. Written one year before he became chess champion of the world, this book relives in Capablanca's own words 35 of his greatest games and those events of his life relevant to his chess career. The seminal work of the Cuban genius who repeated the exploits of Morphy, suddenly bursting onto the European scene and annihilating the great masters who had hitherto dominated the international arena. This book captures the magic of Capablanca's early victory at San Sebastian 1911 and his second place - bowing only to Lasker - at St Petersburg 1914. ----- Chess Fundamentals.Capablanca's classic instructional manual first appeared in 1921, the year he defeated Emanuel Lasker for the world championship title. This handbook is packed with timeless advice on different aspects of practical play and illustrated by Capablanca's own games. ----- A Primer of Chess. Capablanca's introduction to chess is an ideal first chess book for players of all ages. In systematic fashion, Capablanca lucidly explains the rules and basic principles of this fascinating game, and illustrates these with a wide range of practical examples. ----- After capturing the world championship in in 1921, Capablanca was for a time regarded as practically invincible. Although he surprisingly lost his title to Alexander Alekhine in 1927, Capablanca remained a leading player until his death in New York in 1942.

The Pirc is an ambitious counter-attacking response to White's most popular opening move, 1 e4. Black's philosophy is based around allowing White to build a large and impressive-looking pawn centre, only to plot its downfall by attacking it with pieces or timely pawn strikes. When it works, the results can be spectacular, but of course this method of play carries with it some danger; if Black is not careful he runs the risk of simply being swamped in the centre. Such a provocative approach has found favour with a line of uncompromising Grandmasters including former Soviet Champion Alexander Beliavsky and Mikhail Gurevich.
In this book James Vigus provides an up-to-date appraisal of the Pirc and its many variations. Using illustrative games, he examines the traditional main lines, the fashionable alternatives and the tricky sidelines, while outlining the typical tactical and positional ideas for both White and Black. A study of this book will allow the reader to begin playing the Pirc with confidence in his or her own games.
*Essential coverage of a dynamic opening
*Written by a Pirc expert
*Ideal for club and tournament players
FIDE Master James Vigus is a former British Junior Champion. He's a regular book reviewer and contributor to "British Chess Magazine" and was editor of "Dragon" (Cambridge University Chess Magazine). This is his first book for Everyman Chess. Outside of chess, he's completing a PhD in English Literature at Cambridge.

Many of the classics of Soviet chess literature have struggled to see the light of day, but none more so than Soviet Middlegame Technique by Peter Romanovsky. The original version of this famous guide to the middlegame was published in 1929 when Romanovsky was Soviet Champion. Romanovsky later decided to update and improve his work. As he finished his work in 1942, World War II was underway and Romanovsky was trapped in the notorious siege of Leningrad. The author barely survived and his manuscript was lost. Romanovsky was undeterred and finally recreated his improved book in 1960. His writing was later translated into English and published in two titles -- one on Planning and the other on Combinations. In this fresh translation we have included both works to create the ultimate version of a classic of Soviet chess literature.

Leonid Stein was a three-time Soviet Chess Champion and one of the World's strongest players during his career, which was tragically cut short at its peak by his premature death in 1973. Stein was a fierce competitor who defeated virtually all of his closest rivals and enjoyed excellent results even against World Champions. Stein possessed a unique creative attacking style, and his legacy includes a number of wonderful attacking games. In this book, International Master Thomas Engqvist invites readers to join him in a study of his favorite Stein games, and shows how we can all improve by learning from Stein's masterpieces. 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 practicing 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.

Alexander Alekhine was a two-time World Chess Champion and is widely regarded to be one of the greatest chess players of all time. During his best years he dominated tournaments, and in 1927 he defeated his great rival Jose Raul Capablanca to win the world title. Alekhine was renowned both for his fierce competitive nature and his dazzling combinative play. He had a phenomenal ability to unleash combinations even from seemingly harmless positions, and he is undeniably one of the best attackers the game has ever seen. In this book, FIDE Master Steve Giddins invites you to join him in a study of his favorite Alekhine games, and shows us how we can all learn and improve our chess by examining Alekhine's masterpieces. 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 practicing 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

Are you tired of playing the same old openings time and time again? Fed up with constantly having to keep up with modern chess theory? Or perhaps you simply wish to play something new and inspiring, but cannot decide between the numerous options available? Don't despair - help is on hand! In "Dangerous Weapons: The Queen's Gambit", opening experts Richard Palliser, Glenn Flear and Chris Ward team up to investigate one of the most popular openings in chess history, but in a revolutionary way. They concentrate on little-explored and fun-to-play variations of the Queen's Gambit, selecting a wealth of 'dangerous' options for both colours. Whether playing White or Black, a study of this book will leave you confident and fully-armed, and your opponents running for cover! "Dangerous Weapons" is an exciting series of opening books which supply the reader with an abundance of hard-hitting ideas to revitalize his or her opening repertoire. Many of the carefully chosen weapons are innovative, visually shocking, incredibly tricky, or have been unfairly discarded; they are guaranteed to throw even your most experienced opponent off balance. It features large array of opening weapons for both White and Black. It explains The Queen's Gambit in a completely new light. It is ideal for ambitious and adventurous players.

Two books from the Chess Secrets series brought together in one volume. Chess Secrets is a series of books which uncover the mysteries of the most important aspects of chess: strategy, attack, classical play, opening 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 undeniably influenced those who have followed. Chess Secrets: Heroes of Classical Chess: Learn from Carlsen, Anand, Fischer, Smyslov and Rubinstein by Craig Pritchett. In Heroes of Classical Chess, Craig Pritchett selects five great players whose style exemplifies classically direct, clear, energetic, tough, ambitious yet fundamentally correct chess playing attributes. Pritchett studies the major contributions they have made, compares their differing styles and discusses the critical influences they have had on the development of chess, on their peers and on all our games. Chess Secrets: The Giants of Strategy: Learn from Kramnik, Karpov, Petrosian, Capablanca and Nimzowitsch by Neil McDonald. The chess world has been blessed with some wonderful strategists, innovators of the game with their instructive play and profound teachings. In The Giants of Strategy, Neil McDonald chooses his selection of the most prominent ones and highlights the major contributions they have made. He examines their differing approaches and styles, and from Nimzowitsch to Kramnik, how they followed in each other's footsteps. A careful study of this book will help you to understand and improve in one of the most crucial elements of the game.

1...e5 enjoys an excellent reputation as a reliable defense against White's most popular opening choice, 1 e4. However, anyone who is primed to face the Ruy Lopez must also be prepared to face a number of White alternatives. This collection of variations make up the Open Games and include not only popular choices such as the Italian Game, Scotch Game, Bishop's Opening, King's Gambit, Vienna Game and Four Knights, but also many tricky sidelines and some wild and wacky gambits. Many of these might not be theoretically strong but can be both daunting and dangerous for the uninformed player. In this book, FIDE Master Martin Lokander tackles all these lines head on and presents a practical repertoire for Black in the Open Games. This book tells you everything you need to know about facing the Open Games when White avoids the Ruy Lopez. *Essential reading for 1...e5 players *Every opening bar the Ruy Lopez is covered *Packed with new ideas and critical analysis

In this richly illustrated book, Dr Jorma Kyppoe explores the history of board games dating back to Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. He provides a description of the evolution and various interpretations of chess. Furthermore, the book offers the study of the old Celtic and Viking board games and the old Hawaiian board game Konane, as well as a new hypothesis about the interpretation of the famous Cretan Phaistos Disk. Descriptions of several chess variations, including some highlights of the game theory and tiling in different dimensions, are followed by a multidimensional symmetrical n-person strategy game model, based on chess. Final chapter (Concluding remarks) offers the new generalizations of the Euler-Poincare's Characteristic, Pi and Fibonacci sequence.

Such has been the acclaim for John Watson's ground-breaking works on modern chess strategy and his insightful opening books, that it is only natural that he now presents a strategic opening repertoire.
It is the chess-player's holy grail: a flexible repertoire that gives opponents real problems but doesn't require masses of memorization or continual study of ever-changing grandmaster theory. While this book can't quite promise all of that, Watson offers an intriguing selection of lines that give vast scope for over-the-board creativity and should never lead to a dull draw.
The repertoire is based on 1 d4 and 2 c4, following up with methodical play in the centre. Watson uses his vast opening knowledge to pick cunning move-orders and poisonous sequences that will force opponents to think for themselves, providing a true test of chess understanding. Throughout, he discusses strategies for both sides, so readers will be fully ready to pounce on any inaccuracies, and have all the tools to decide on the most appropriate plans for White.

The Tarrasch Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined is a fierce counter-attacking line arising after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5. In this variation Black gains free and easy piece play but in return usually has to accept the structural weakness of an Isolated Queen's Pawn (IQP). In the early development of chess theory this line was somewhat frowned upon due to the vulnerability of the IQP. However, Siegbert Tarrasch, after whom the opening is named, famously declared that, "he who fears an Isolated Queen's Pawn should give up chess". The Tarrasch has had many powerful adherents over the years including the legendary Garry Kasparov who made much use of it in the early part of his career. In this book Cyrus Lakdawala guides the reader through the complexities of the Tarrasch and carves out a repertoire for Black, based on a modern treatment popularised by the Russian grandmaster Daniil Dubov. 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. * A complete repertoire for Black to counter 1 d4. * The question and answer approach provides an excellent study method.