The Modern Defence is an important opening that can be played by Black against absolutely any White opening system. It is an ambitious, counterattacking weapon, favoured by dynamic players. White is initially allowed to occupy the centre but Black plans to undermine this structure in the middlegame with well-timed blows from the pieces and pawns. If Black gets it right then the white centre can be dramatically swept away. However, when it goes wrong, Black can be overrun. ----- First Steps is a new opening series and is ideal for improving players who want simple and straightforward explanations. First Steps emphasizes: ---- * the basic principles --- * the basic strategies --- * the key tricks and traps ----- First Steps books are based around carefully selected instructive games which demonstrate exactly what both sides are trying to achieve. There is enough theory to enable the improving player to get to grips with the opening without feeling overwhelmed. If you want to take up a new opening, First Steps is the ideal place to start.

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.

Brought together for the first time in one volume, How to play against 1 d4 and 1 e4 Finding a suitable defence to 1 d4 isn't an easy task, especially if you don't have endless time available to study all the latest theoretical developments. If you choose fashionable openings, it's imperative to keep pace with modern theory if you want to succeed with Black. It's not easy finding a good opening to play against 1 e4, especially if - like the majority of chess players - you don't have endless time available to study the latest theoretical developments. If you choose fashionable openings, it's often a necessity to keep pace with modern theory if you want to succeed with Black.

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)

This book examines what might be described as the "pure" Reti Opening. White starts with 1 Nf3 and intends to meet 1...d5 with the "Reti" response 2 c4. One of the major advantages of playing these systems is that they rely far more on general strategic understanding than rote memorisation. However, this does not mean that Black is not set difficult problems to solve. In the modern era these lines have mainly been championed by Vladimir Kramnik and Lev Aronian. Both these players have frequently set very difficult problems for their elite opponents with these complex systems. This series provides an ideal platform to study chess openings. 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 opening 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 study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general chess skills and knowledge. * Essential guidance and training in the Reti Opening * Analyses all key variations * Utilizes an ideal Q+A approach to chess study

Sixty-two masterly demonstrations of the basic strategies of winning at chess, featuring games by the greatest chess masters-Capablanca, Tarrasch, Fischer, Alekhine, Lasker, Petrosian among them-compiled and annotated by one of chess literature's most brilliant authors. Each game selected offers a classic example of a fundamental problem and its best resolution, described and diagramed in the clearest possible manner for players of every level of skill. 146 illustrations. Introduction. Table of Contents. Index of Players.

International Chess Master Jeremy Silman tests a player's strengths and weaknesses with 131 problems that cover openings, middlegames (both positional and tactical), and endgames. As a player completes a problem, he or she may then turn to consult Silman's lengthy answer to the problem, which is always detailed yet never dry. Through this process of problem solving, analysis and advice, a player is led to discover the major flaws imbedded in his or her play. Through this same process, a player is also led to an understanding of Silman's system of thinking about the game, and how it differs from many other systems of chess thinking.

The definitive work on practical endgame tactics

Chess For the Gifted and Busy cuts through the mysteries of strategy and tactics to show you just what you need to know and delivers all the essential knowledge.

Following on from the enduring success of one of the most important chess books ever written, Bobby Fischer: My 60 Memorable Games, and the recently released Magnus Carlsen: 50 Memorable Games, celebrated chess writer Andrew Soltis delivers a book on Fabiano Caruana, the Grandmaster set to rival current world champion Magnus Carlsen. This book details Caruana's remarkable rise from chess prodigy to one of the best chess player in the world, exploring how he acquired the skills of 21st-century grandmaster chess over such a short period of time. This book dives into how he wins by analysing 60 of the games that made him who he is, describing the intricacies behind his and his opponent's strategies, the tactical justification of moves and the psychological battle in each one.

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.

Translated by Harry Golombek. Superb guide to neglected area of chess. Two formidable grandmasters cover attacking the king, defense, importance of pawn structure, analysis, much more. Authoritative introduction by Harry Golombek. Belongs in the library of every serious chess enthusiast. Indexes of players and middle-game themes.

"Three Moves Ahead" shows how classic chess strategies address the #1 problem of Information Age executives: how to move quickly in the face of incalculable complexities and unexpected change. This witty and novel guide, written for non-players, is packed with scores of real-world examples showing how top CEOs use Grandmaster techniques to win on Wall Street. Readers will see how a "strong square" strategy drove Adobe's rise from niche player to industry giant, as well as Western Union's success through a hundred years of technology changes. They'll learn how AOL has played a crucial "exchange sacrifice" to revive its fortunes, and how Google is taking turf from Microsoft with a "minority attack." Most importantly these days, they'll find out "what to do when you don't know what to do," and avoid the fate of companies like Polaroid, Gateway, and our dearly departed Ma Bell.

"A fun ride from Apprentice to Business Grandmaster. Grab it "--Donald Trump

Bob Rice (Short Hills, NJ) was a long-time partner at Wall Street's prestigious Milbank, Tweed, Hadley, and McCloy. He left to start a software venture that was purchased by Viewpoint, a NASDAQ company of which he later became CEO. He is currently a Managing Partner of Tangent Capital, which structures financial products for hedge funds, and a member of the "New York Angels" venture finance group. Along the way, Bob served as Commissioner of the Professional Chess Association, founded the Wall Street Chess Club, ran numerous international chess events and produced a successful "Speedchess" series for ESPN.

A huge amount was published about chess in the United Kingdom before the First World War. The growing popularity of chess in Victorian Britain was reflected in an increasingly competitive market of books and periodicals aimed at players from beginner to expert. The author combines new information about the early history of the game with advice for researchers into chess history and traces the further development of chess literature well into the 20th century. Topics include today's leading chess libraries and the use of digitized chess texts and research on the Web. Special attention is given to the columns that appeared in newspapers (national and provincial) and magazines from 1813 onwards. These articles, usually weekly, provide a wealth of information on early chess, much of which is not to be found elsewhere. The lengthy first appendix, an A to Z of almost 600 chess columns, constitutes a detailed research aid. Other appendices include corrections and supplements to standard works of reference on chess.

This instructive book for competitive players, based on Edmar Mednis' classic Practical Endgame Lessons, provides the reader with a wealth of useful instruction in endgame play, reinforced by a a series of tests presented as simulations of tournament play. Explains the fundamental principles of endgame play . Deals with all standard types of endgame: pawn endings, bishop endings, rook endings, etc . Contains more that twenty test endings to help develop your skills . Uses many examples by the world's leading endgame exponents: Smyslov, Karpov, Korchnoi, etc. Grandmaster Edmar Mednis is one of the world's leading endgame exerts.He is a regular contributor to Chess Life magazine and is author of How to be a complete Tournament Player, From Opening to the Endgame and From the Middlegame into the Endgame. International Master Colin Crouch is one of England's most highly regarded analysts and writers.

This exceptional book continues the unique project where one of the greatest chess players of our time transforms her personal journey to the top into a roadmap for everyone who ever wanted to better themselves in the game of chess. In this volume, Judit tells the story of her rise from teenage grandmaster to Top Ten superstar.

This book is the first in a series examining the cutting edge of opening theory. The idea is to identify the most important theoretical battlegrounds of the moment and then analyse as deeply as possible in search of improvements. Thus the reader will be ahead of the current state-of-the-art, rather than lagging behind trying to memorise old games.

An insightful new book that is perfect for newcomers to chess inspired by Netflix's Queen's Gambit. Written by one of the best chess communicators in the business, chess master and chess journalist Andy Soltis divulges practical advice and explains technical terms that chess books often overlook. From learning how to train your mind with chess information to choosing the best chess opening, dip in and out of this invaluable guide to improve your chess in a minutes.  Chess questions answered in this book include: Is there a best way to study chess? How do I know if I have a natural talent? How important is chess memory and how can I train mine? How long should I think before choosing a move?  Is there a proper way to think? Can I think like a chess computer? How do I develop chess intuition?  Don't try to swallow too much information in one sitting. Dip in and out of these great chess questions to better understand the game and let the improvement happen incrementally. 

With more than 400 illustrations, and detailed maps, this immense and deeply researched account of the history of chess covers not only the Persian and Arab game familiar to most Westerners for the past 500 years, but also variants going back 1500 years that are still being played in some parts of the world. The evolution of strategic board games, especially in India, China and Japan, is discussed in detail. The many more recent chess variants (board sizes, new pieces, 3-D etc.) are fully covered. Instructions for play are provided, with historical context, for every form of the game.

Rewire Your Chess Brain is not your average chess book. It does not deal with opening theory or middlegame strategy. It focuses purely on problems and studies, all of which are the results of artificial construction rather than scenes from real-life battles. In a chess study, White has to play and win (or draw). In a chess puzzle, White has to force mate in a stipulated number of moves. The starting positions in both forms rarely resemble anything found over the board in real life play. However, the solutions are invariably surprising and often quite beautiful. The best examples of both forms have often been compared to great works of art. However, these are not mere gallery pieces, lacking practical application in real life play. Solving these puzzles can be extremely challenging and will, without question, improve the "real world" tactical ability of anyone attempting to do so. Prolific chess author and coach Cyrus Lakdawala has been intrigued by studies and problems all his life. When training his students he often sets them studies and problems to solve. Many of them who have adopted this technique have seen extraordinary increases in their chess ratings. In this book Lakdawala assembles the problems and studies that are most effective to improve tactical ability. Work your way through this book and you will undoubtedly see the results in your own games.

It is generally agreed that one of the best ways for a chess-player to improve is by constant practice and testing. The puzzles in this book provide a wealth of positions to test every facet of the reader's tactical skills, and have been selected by analyzing games new and old in search of original puzzle positions (rather than simply trawling through previous puzzle books as is all too often the case). It is therefore very unlikely that even seasoned solvers will recognize many of these positions!