The Catalan is a sophisticated and wide-ranging opening system which is popular at all levels of chess. In recent years it has been catapulted into the limelight by Vladimir Kramnik, who has revitalized it with many new ideas and has utilized it with great success against the world's strongest players - on occasion making it look like a forced win for White! In this book, Grandmaster Nigel Davies presents a major study of this important opening. Drawing upon his wealth of personal experience with the Catalan, Davies provides a reliable and dynamic repertoire for White, covers the keys plans for both sides, and tackles crucial modern day issues such as move orders.

Chess is an easy game to learn, but a difficult one to master. A study of tactical play and some practical experience can get a player to a standard where they are skilful enough to prevent both checkmate and material loss. However, to advance from here to a higher level it is necessary to tackle positional play. This can appear daunting. However, once the principal strategic ideas are recognized, then everything becomes clearer and the game becomes simpler. In this book Grandmaster and experienced chess writer John Emms provides the improving player with the fundamental knowledge required to enter very game with confidence.This book offers a complete introduction to chess strategy, important positional ideas and is ideal for club and tournament players. (6 x 9, 144 pages, diagrams)

This book provides a repertoire for Black with the ever-popular Queen's Gambit Declined. Opening expert John Cox covers not one but two key options for Black. The Tartakower Variation is a sophisticated defence used successfully by world champions such as Kasparov, Karpov and Kramnik. The Lasker Variation is an easy-to-learn and reliable option devised by one of the legends of the game. Cox also demonstrates how to play against White's other tries, including the Exchange Variation and Bf4 lines. He explains in detail the typical plans and tactics adopted by both sides, whilst also tackling the tricky subject of move-order possibilities. *A repertoire for Black against the Queen's Gambit *Provides answers to all of White's main options *Ideal for improvers, club players and tournament players

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.

How does one determine the "best" chess games? What one may see as brilliant, another may see as simply necessary. Like some art lovers, chess fans claim that they know a good game when they see it, and that they know better from good. But "best"? How is this articulated? This book, itself a work of art, is brought together by the use of five criteria: the overall aesthetics (clever and relentless are insufficient qualities); the originality (e.g., not yet another white knight sacrifice in a Sicilian); the level of opposition (the loser played very well); the soundness (i.e., Are the moves refutable with perfect play?), accuracy (few of the moves are second-best), and difficulty (the winner overcame major obstacles) of the game; and finally the overall breadth and depth (one wants a series of sparkling ideas, with no dry patches). The 100 best games were taken from an initial field of about 7,000 played from 1900 through 1999 that had already gained some attention in magazines, books and periodicals. Three hundred games were then selected that appeared to have features consistent with the criteria. The 300 games were evaluated with scores - points given for each category of criteria. The games were then ranked, one to 100, by the score they received. No attempt was made to balance the selection according to period, nationality of players or opening. Also included is a chapter on the most overrated games of the twentieth century and one on games that would have made the list if...It includes 335 diagrams, an index of players and an index of openings by ECO codes.

In the summer of 1972, with a presidential crisis stirring in the United States and the cold war at a pivotal point, the Soviet world chess champion, Boris Spassky, and his American challenger, Bobby Fischer, met in Reykjavik, Iceland, for the most notorious chess match of all time. Their showdown, played against the backdrop of superpower politics, held the world spellbound for two months with reports of psychological warfare, ultimatums, political intrigue, cliffhangers, and farce to rival a Marx Brothers film. Thirty years later, David Edmonds and John Eidinow have set out to reexamine the story we recollect as the quintessential cold war clash between a lone American star and the Soviet chess machine. A mesmerizing narrative of brilliance and triumph, hubris and despair, Bobby Fischer Goes to War is a biting deconstruction of the Bobby Fischer myth, a nuanced study on the art of brinkmanship, and a revelatory cold war tragicomedy.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

The Budapest Gambit (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5) is an aggressive, dynamic approach for meeting 1 d4 and is a great line for throwing opponents onto their own resources. It is certainly double-edged as Black moves the same piece twice early on and also sacrifices a pawn. This pawn is often quickly regained but one of the great advantages of the Budapest is that if White tries to hang on to the pawn (and many players do) Black can quickly whip up a ferocious attack. A great number of materialistic but unprepared White players have found themselves swiftly demolished by Black's tremendously active pieces. When White is more circumspect and allows Black to regain the pawn, play proceeds along more sedate strategic lines where Black enjoys free and easy development. Experienced chess author and coach Andrew Martin examines all key variations of the Budapest. There is an emphasis on typical middlegame structures and the important plans and manoeuvres are demonstrated in numerous instructive games. * Includes complete repertoires for Black with both 3...Ng4 and 3...Ne4 * Comprehensive coverage featuring several new ideas * Take your opponents out of their comfort zone!

Initially things looked gloomy for Bobby Fischer. Because he had refused to participate in the 1969 US Championship, he had missed his chance to qualify for the 1970 Interzonal Tournament in Palma de Mallorca. Only when another American, Pal Benko, withdrew in his favour, and after the officials were willing to bend the rules, could Bobby enter the contest. And begin his phenomenal run that would end with the Match of the Century in Reykjavik against World Champion Boris Spassky. Fischer started out by sweeping the field at the 23-round Palma Interzonal to qualify for the next stage of the cycle. In the Candidates Matches he first faced Mark Taimanov, in Vancouver. Fischer trounced the Soviet ace, effectively ending Taimanovs career. Then, a few months later in Denver, he was up against Bent Larsen, the Great Dane. Fischer annihilated him, too. The surreal score in those two matches, twice 6-0, flabbergasted chess fans all over the world. In the ensuing Candidates Final in Buenos Aires, Fischer also made short shrift of former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, beating the hyper-solid Armenian Tiger 6"-2". Altogether, Fischer had scored an incredible 36 points from 43 games against many of the worlds best players, including a streak of 19 consecutive wins. Bobby Fischer had become not just a national hero in the US, but a household name with pop-star status all over the world. Jan Timman chronicles the full story of Fischers sensational run and takes a fresh look at the games. The annotations are in the authors trademark lucid style, that happy mix of colourful background information and sharp, crystal-clear explanations.

Fred Reinfeld-his name is known to almost every chess player in the United States. But his accomplishments? These are not so well known. Reinfeld was one of the strongest players of his time, ranking just below Reuben Fine and Sammy Reshevsky (against whom he had a plus score). He was an accomplished author of some of the best chess books of the thirties and forties. Fred Reinfeld was a respected numismatist, still recognized as a pioneer in the field sixty years later. He was an editor or major contributor to almost every major chess magazine of the thirties through the forties-Chess Review, Chess Correspondent, and Chess Life. This book is the first book on this remarkable man whose works have contributed more to chess than any other author. Many of Reinfeld's comments, ideas, and thoughts are quoted in their original context. Known his own time for the strength of his annotations, many are preserved here for the modern reader. Reinfeld lives!]

Are you tired of playing the same old openings again and again? Perhaps it's time for a change. This book features three opening experts who get together to take a look at the Dutch Defense, one of Black's most ambitious answers to 1 d4. It presents the Dutch defense in a different light.

Chess Secrets is a series of books which uncover the mysteries of the most important aspects of chess, such as strategy, attack, defence, opening play, endgames, off-board preparation and mental attitude. In each book the author studies a number of great players who have excelled in such aspects of the game, greatly influenced their peers and inspired all of us. In Great Chess Romantics, Craig Pritchett selects five players, whose artistic spirit expresses a personal commitment to the discovery and revelation of great new truths and beauty on the chessboard. Anderssen defined romanticism's inherently dramatic and correct combinational core. Chigorin championed this essence in splendid opposition to an emerging new classical consensus. Reti revealed the extraordinary power of new flank openings. Larsen confounded the overly sober, scientific Soviet school at innumerable turns. In the computer age, Morozevich constantly discovers new depths to chess, while simply oozing exquisite strokes in his best games.

Attacking your opponents king is not just a shortcut to victory, its also one of the most enjoyable and gratifying experiences in chess. If you want to win more games you should become a better attacker. Studying typical attacking motifs and ideas easily brings dividends while you are having a good time. Michael Prusikin presents the prerequisites and the rules for a King attack in a lucid and attractive manner. In 15 thematic chapters he teaches you how to assess the nature of the position, identify the appropriate offensive patterns, find the preliminary moves and conduct your attack in a clear and effective way. Battering rams, obstructive sacrifices, pawn storms, striking at the castled position, sacrificing a knight on f5, Prusikin demonstrates the most important patterns of attack with lots of clear and well-chosen examples. Next, Prusikin tests your newly acquired insights and your attacking intuition with exercises covering all the themes and motifs. You will find that studying ATTACKING STRATEGIES FOR CLUB PLAYERS is both entertaining and rewarding.

Are you looking for something a bit different? Do you wish to surprise your opponent on the first move? Do you enjoy playing creatively from the beginning of the game? Look no further than 1 b4! With this aggressive pawn lunge White takes the game into relatively unknown territory and forces Black players onto their own devices. Those facing 1 b4 are not allowed to fall into the comfort zone of established theory; instead they have to think for themselves from very early on.This opening has been seriously neglected by chess literature... until now. In this landmark book, Yury Lapshun and Nick Conticello take an in-depth look at 1 b4 and its many variations. The authors use illustrative games to highlight key ideas and tactics for both sides. They also provide a practical and fun-to-play repertoire for White, offering options against both Black's main defences and his more offbeat tries. Read this book and confound your opponents with 1 b4! *A complete repertoire for White*Presents answers to all of Black's possibilities*Ideal for ambitious and adventurous players

Nothing more clearly separates chess master from chess wannabe than winning endgame play. For most chess players, victory is the real finish line. And the endgame is the last lap of the race. This revised, updated edition of Just the Facts brings English readers the once strictly guarded and time-tested Soviet training methods, the key to the 50-year Russian dominance of the chess world. Winning Chess Endgames can take you from beginner to master.

The a...6 Slav is a relatively new phenomenon in a very popular opening, and over the last few years it has attracted the attention of some top class players: Alexei Shirov, Sergei Movsesian, England's Julian Hodgson, and more recently, world number one Garry Kasparov. In this first ever book solely devoted to the a...6 Slav, Grandmaster and openings expert Glenn Flear delves into the secrets of this complex line. He explains the tactics and positional ideas for both White and Black and presents a comprehensive coverage of the theory, concentrating on all the new wrinkles and discoveries.
* Written by a prominent openings theoretician
* All major lines are covered
* Ideal for club and tournament players

This book is partly designed as an autobiographical experience focusing on the processes that arise in the life of a chess player that have be translated into everyday life. In part, the book incorporates psychological theories that generally explain these processes, but overall it can be seen as a guide on how to use any activity to learn skills that will enrich your life. There are several activities in life which can be seen in the same way if we know where and how to exploit the opportunities. The truth is that all aspirations are interconnected when we keep an eye on the thematic links. I believe that this book will give you a new insight into how any ability can be transferred from a particular activity to the universal wisdom of life. It will awaken your networking skills and teach you how to turn life activities into lifelong skills that will improve your well-being. The course of the book follows the typical process of playing chess, starting with training, followed by the tournament situation, the course of the game, the time after the game and the tournament. Since I am not a poet, I have often borrowed some quotations from famous, imaginative and clever people from all over the world. I believe that these valuable thoughts have enriched the book. One thing I ask you to do while reading this book is to open your mind and enjoy the inner journey. So let us go and try to become aware of the processes behind our life activities. Let us find out what and why we do what we do in our daily lives.

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

Are you tired of constantly following the same old opening moves? Fed up with always having to keep up with modern chess theory? Or perhaps you simply wish to try something new and exciting, but cannot decide between the numerous choices available? We have the answer! In this book, John Emms, Chris Ward and Richard Palliser team up to examine one of the most popular and respected openings at all levels of chess: the Nimzo-Indian. Instead of pursuing the well-trodden paths, they choose an original approach, concentrating on fresh or little-explored variations of the Nimzo, and 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 a brand-new 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.