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.

Learn Chess: A Complete Course provides everything you need to know to get started in chess. The first part is devoted to first principles, explaining the rules and basic strategies, whilst the second develops a thorough understanding of the various winning methods, and includes a systematic study of openings, an introduction to attacking techniques, and a guide to fundamental endgame themes.

SENSITIVE, ENGAGING ILLUSTRATIONS. Bee Grandinetti's approachable illustrations clearly and amusingly depict each emotion so that they can be recognized and explored in a fun, low-pressure way EDUCATIONAL. Features 48 emotions ranging from happiness and sadness to anger, apathy, and anxiety. Written by Dr Emily Midouhas, a developmental psychologist and associate professor at UCL, specializing in the effects of the social and built environment on the emotional and behavioural problems of children and the mental health of children with special educational needs across childhood and adolescence, particularly children with ADHD and autism EASY TO PLAY. An easy-to-play bingo game for the whole family: be the first to get all 16 emotions on your card to win BINGO! COLLECT THE SERIES. Follows the successes of bestselling Dinosaur Bingo, Scary Bingo, Jungle Bingo, Poo Bingo and more! THE PERFECT GIFT. Beautifully designed, illustration-led, high-spec product for maximum gifting potential A fun and engaging way for kids and adults to talk about their emotions. The gameboard features 48 emotions as characters, illustrated by Bee Grandinetti whose warm and sensitive illustrations have been featured by Headspace and Airbnb. Each player gets a card with 16 emotions. An accompanying booklet by developmental psychologist Dr Emily Midouhas explains each emotion in child-friendly language and gives tips on learning to express emotions and allow them to be felt in healthy ways.

Lessons, motivation and coaching to make you a better chess player. In an ideal world, any aspiring chess player, at almost any level, would get better with a coach. If that's not possible, having chess champion coach Thomas Engqvist's book at your side is the next best thing. In his series of lessons, Engqvist guides you through not only the most important elements of chess to master but also the psychology, how to marry knowledge with imagination, and how to stay motivated. Suitable for older children through to adults, the lessons are drawn from chess games through history, from the 16th century to Magnus Carlsen and latest Alpha Zero computer chess. It features a range of key players, including Steinitz, Lasker, Nimzowistch, Botvinnik (Soviet chess school), and Fischer. With clear and accessible annotations to give clarity, the games highlight the most important lessons to learn and, just as importantly, how to 'practise' chess. International Master Thomas Engqvist has travelled the world teaching and coaching chess to a very high level for decades - and with this book, he can be your coach too.

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.

There is no easier way to win a game of chess than by luring your opponent into a devious trap. Similarly, there's nothing worse than being the one on the receiving end. Tricks, traps and swindles lie in wait everywhere, especially so in the opening phase of the game, and many battles can be won or saved simply through learning and mastering the most important ones.In this instructive and fun book, Gary Lane looks back though chess history and at modern times to create a list of his own favourite tricks and traps. Selecting from hundreds of contenders, Lane examines a variety of factors in order to decide which ideas are most worthy of inclusion. Discover the stories behind the most cunning tricks and traps of all time; how you can utilize them to score easy wins; and how you can avoid being tricked yourself. *An entertaining guide to the best ever tricks and traps*Invaluable advice from a seasoned tournament player*Ideal for players of all levels Gary Lane is an International Master and an experienced and successful player on the international tournament circuit. He qualified to compete at the World Cup in 2005 and is a former Commonwealth Champion. A prolific and popular chess writer, he is also a respected chess coach who has been involved in training some of England and Australia's top junior players.

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

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.

The vast majority of chess games witness familiar strategies and well known tactical motifs. These are the games that you will find in the anthologies and opening repertoires. Sometimes however, games appear that seem to have been played on a different planet. Conventional strategies go out of the window. Familiar tactical themes are nowhere to be seen. Chaos has broken out. The pieces appear to be in open rebellion and are steadfastly refusing to do the natural jobs that they were designed for. Having to navigate a path in such a game can be a nightmare. Do you rely purely on calculation? Is it better to trust your instincts? Can you assess the position using "normal" criteria? In order to answer these questions, prolific chess author and coach Cyrus Lakdawala has assembled a collection of brilliantly unconventional and irrational games. The positions in these games appear almost random. Kings have gone walkabout, pieces are on bizarre squares, huge pawn rollers are sweeping all before them. Irrational chess is like nothing you've seen before. As well as being highly instructive this is a hugely entertainging book. Do not adjust your set. It's chess, Jim, but not as we know it.

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.

The King's Indian and the Grunfeld are two of Black's most popular answers to 1 d4; unsurprising given that they were long-time favourites of chess legends Garry Kasparov and, before him, Bobby Fischer. Brimming with complexity and dynamism, these two openings often leave those playing White scratching their heads wondering how to squeeze even the slightest of advantages out of the opening and, just as crucially, how to avoid becoming swamped in a morass of complicated theory.
It's time for White to strike back! In this book, Timothy Taylor gets to grips with the King's Indian and Grunfeld, providing White with a number of easy-to-learn and effective weapons which are specially designed to cause Black maximum discomfort. Taylor examines the typical tactical and positional ideas for both players, highlighting the tricks and pitfalls one must look out for. A study of this book will allow the reader to battle against the King's Indian and the Grunfeld with renewed confidence.
*Written by a renowned openings expert
*Weapons against two of Black's most popular defences
*Ideal for club and tournament players
International Master Timothy Taylor is an experienced tournament player who has enjoyed several notable successes, including winning the US Open. He is also a skilled chess writer, one of his previous books, "How to Defeat the Smith-Morra Gambit," becoming a US Chess Federation bestseller. This is his second book for Everyman Chess; his first was "Bird's Opening,"
Outside of chess, he is the author of two published novels, "Elaine the Fair" and "Amanda," while he directed the film "Wicked Pursuits,"

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.

The 125 greatest chess games of all time, selected, analysed, re-evaluated and explained by a team of British experts and illustrated with over 1,000 chess diagrams. Join the authors in studying these games, the cream of two centuries of international chess, and develop your own chess-playing skills - whatever your current standard. Instructive points at the end of each game highlight the lessons to be learned. First published in 1998, a second edition of The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games in 2004 included an additional 12 games. This edition includes a further 13 games as well as some significant revisions to the analysis and information regarding other games in earlier editions of the book, facilitated by the use of a variety of chess software.

I have aimed to find a good balance of verbal explanations without ignoring the hardcore variations you have to know. In case you find some of the analyses a bit too long, don't be discouraged! They have been included mainly to illustrate the thematic ideas and show in which direction the game develops once the theoretical paths have been left. That's why I have actually decided to cover 37 games in their entirety, rather than cutting off my analysis with an evaluation. I believe that model games help you to better understand an opening, but certainly also the ensuing middle- and endgames. Just as in the The Modernized Sveshnikov, also in this book I have made frequently use of correspondence and engine games. With a lack of over the board (elite) tournaments, most elite players made their switch to the world of online chess as well. These games with a shorter time control are often full of mistakes, but the opening stage is still relevant. Hence, I have decided to include these online games whenever I thought them to be a useful addition to our repertoire. With the completion of this work and The Modernized Sveshnikov, I think I have succeeded in offering the reader a complete, ambitious, and sound Black repertoire against 1.e4. I am incredibly satisfied with the result of this work, as I think the mix of new ideas, beautiful variations, model games, extensive analyses and explanation of key concepts will inspire many chess fans. I would like to wish you all an enjoyable read and hope that you will be able to apply some of my recommendations in your own games. You no longer have to fear any Anti-Sicilian! Robert Ris Amstelveen, The Netherlands September 2021

Before you is the tournament book of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021. The event that has been won in sensational fashion by the young Dutch grandmaster Jorden van Foreest. In a tiebreak in the third blitz game, he was just a bit faster of his compatriot Anish Giri. The barrage was necessary because both players very surprisingly ended with the wonderful score of 81/2 out of 13 in joint first place. With this they had left behind, among others, World Champion Magnus Carlsen (71/2) and the number two in the world, Fabiano Caruana (8). An unprecedented achievement, because the tournament in Wijk aan Zee is sometimes called the "Wimbledon of chess" of the elite tournaments. After the last round, in which Van Foreest in a formidable way had left the Swede Nils Grandelius chanceless, it was waiting for the game between the Spaniard David Anton Guijarra and Anish Giri. Our compatriot was in a bad position, lost perhaps, but he managed to free himself from the tangled position and gain an important half point. It was decided beforehand that a tiebreak would be held, consisting of at least two blitz games. Should these result in a 1-1 score, an Armageddon game would be played. This turned out to be a nervous and blood-curdling fight, with the pieces flying around. In the end the younger OF the two, Jorden van Foreest, emerged victorious and thus the young Groninger booked the greatest success of his still young career. Apart from the commotion in the Dutch seaside resort of Wijk aan Zee, where the tournament was held - under strict corona rules - the whole of the Netherlands rose to its feet when this great result became known. Hadn't we had to wait since 1985, when Jan Timman won the Hoogovens chess tournament, for a Dutch chess player to stand on the highest podium? And now it was even two players from this country who could dispute together who would take the highest honor

Gain the advantage over your opponent with easy-to-remember strategies from one of the world's top chess players!
Strategy - it's the ultimate secret weapon for championship players around the world. Drawing on his considerable experience in tournament play, International Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan shows you how to apply flexible strategic principles to every part of your game. Using Seirawan's simple and effective planning and analysis techniques, you'll enter each game with confidence and energy, ready to play forcefully and intelligently - the way you need to play so you can win every time!
Learn to:
Knock your opponent off balance with bold opening moves
Formulate an overall game strategy before the middle game
Interpret the motivation behind your opponent's every move
Position yourself for a winning endgame
Diagrams throughout the book illustrate game positions, and you'll meet history's greatest chess strategies -learning from them move by move!
Whether for reference during practice games or simply for pleasure reading, Winning Chess Strategies is an information packed resource you'll turn to again and again.

Bird's Opening is an underrated and dynamic choice for White that immediately directs the game into relatively unexplored territory, setting Black players early problems and forcing them to think for themselves rather than having the luxury of relying on the theory of more mainstream openings. It's also a very flexible option that can lead to both sharp gambit play, such as the notorious From's Gambit, as well as quieter positional lines.
In this book International Master Timothy Taylor unearths the secrets of Bird's Opening and its many deviations. Using illustrative games, he examines tactical and positional ideas for both colors and recommends the best paths in both the 'main lines' and the lesser-trodden paths. A study of this book will give the reader the required knowledge and confidence to play the Bird's Opening with either color.
*Written by a Bird's Opening expert
*A complete up-to-date survey on an active chess opening
*Ideal for club and tournament players