This new 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. The Four Knights is an opening with a long and distinguished history. Despite its deceptively quiet appearance, it can lead to extremely sharp play - for example in the Belgrade Gambit - as well as more strategic battles in the main lines. In this book, Cyrus Lakdawala invites you to join him in examining the many different variations of the Four Knights. He shares his experience and knowledge, studies the typical plans and tactics for both sides, offers repertoire options and provides answers to all the key questions. *Essential guidance and training in the Four Knights *Also covers Three Knights and Anti-Petroff lines *Utilizes an ideal approach to chess study

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 Samisch King's Indian continues to be one of the fiercely contested openings in chess. White's play is based around an extremely solid centre, and there's the very real possibility of launching a direct attack against the black king; a welcome change because often it is Black who goes gunning for checkmate in the King's Indian. But the Samisch is flexible too; if White wishes he can instead try to strangle Black with his obvious space advantage. It's these features that have made the Samisch such a popular weapon for White both at club level and with the world's elite. World Champions Botvinnik, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik have all utilized the Samisch at one time or another, a testimony to the strong reputation of this opening.
In this book, opening expert John-Paul Wallace presents an up-to-date study of the Samisch and its many offshoots. Using illustrative games, he looks at the traditional main lines, the trendy 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 either side of the Samisch with confidence in his or her own games.
*Essential coverage of an aggressive opening
*Written by a Samisch expert
*Ideal for club and tournament players

Chess has the rare quality that children love it despite the fact that it is good for them. Playing chess is just like life: you have to make plans, take decisions, be creative, deal with challenges, handle disappointments, interact with others and evaluate your actions. In this guide, psychologist and chess teacher Karel van Delft provides access to the underlying scientific research and presents the best didactical methods. Van Delft has created a dependable toolkit for teachers and scholastic chess organizers. What can teachers do to improve their instruction? How (un)important is talent? How do you support a special needs group? How do you deal with parents? What are the best selling points of a chess program? Boys and girls, does it make a difference? How do chess in schools programs fare in different countries? This is not a book on chess rules and moves, but it points the way to where good technical chess improvement content can be found. Van Delft offers a wealth of practical advice on the most effective didactics in order for kids to build critical life skills through learning chess.

Half a century ago I left a country, the red color of which dominated a large portion of the world map. One way or another, the fate of almost every single person described in this book is forever linked with that now none-existent empire. Many of them ended up beyond its borders too. Cultures and traditions, and certainly not least of all a Soviet mentality, couldn't have just left them without a trace. Having been transplanted into a different environment, they had to play the role of themselves apart from certain corrections with regard to the tastes and customs of a new society. Nevertheless, every one of them, both those who left the Soviet Union, and those who stayed behind, were forever linked by one common united phenomenon: they all belonged to the Soviet school of chess. This school of chess was born in the 20's, but only began to count its true years starting in 1945, when the representatives of the Soviet Union dominated an American squad in a team match. Led by Mikhail Botvinnik, Soviet Grandmasters conquered and ruled the world, save for a short Fischer period, over the course of that same half century. In chess as well as ballet, or music, the word "Soviet" was actually a synonym for the highest quality interpretation of the discipline. The Soviet Union provided unheard of conditions for their players, which were the sort of which their colleagues in the West dare not even dream. Grandmasters and even Masters received a regular salary just for their professional qualifications, thereby raising the prestige of a chess player to what were unbelievable heights. It was a time when any finish in an international tournament, aside from first, was almost considered a failure when it came to Soviet players, and upon their return to Moscow they had to write an official explanation to the Chess Federation or the Sports Committee. The isolation of the country, separated from the rest of the world by an Iron Curtain, was another reason why, talent and energy often manifested themselves in relatively neutral fields. Still if with music, cinematography, philosophy, or history, the Soviet people were raised on a strict diet, that contained multiple restrictions, this did not apply to chess. Grandmasters, and Masters, all varied in terms of their upbringing, education, and mentality and were judged solely on their talent and mastery at the end of the day. Maybe that's why the Soviet school of chess was full of such improbable variety not only in terms of the style of play of its representatives, but also their different personality types. Built was a gigantic chess pyramid, at the base of which were school championships, which were closely followed by district ones. Later city championships, regions, republics, and finally-the ultimate cherry on top-the national event itself. The Championships of the Soviet Union were in no way inferior to the strongest international tournaments, and collections of the games played there came out as separate publications in the West. That huge brotherhood of chess contained its very own hierarchy within. Among the millions, and multitudes of parishioners-fans of the game-there were the priests-candidate masters. Highly respected were the cardinals-masters. As for Grandmasters though well...they were true Gods. Every person in the USSR knew their names, and those names sounded with just as much adoration, and admiration as those of the nation's other darlings-the country's best hockey players. In those days the coming of the American genius only served to strengthen the interest and attention of society towards chess, never mind the fact that by that point it had already been fully saturated by it. The presence of tons of spectators at a chess tournament in Moscow as shown in the series "The Queen's Gambit" is in no way an exaggeration. That there truly was the golden age of chess. Under the constant eye, and control of the government, chess in the USSR was closely interwoven with politics, much like everything else in that vanished country. Concurrently, the closed, and isolated society in which it was born only served to enable its development, creating its very own type of culture-the giant world of Soviet chess. I was never indifferent to the past. Today, when there is that much more of it then the future, this feeling has become all the sharper. The faster the twentieth century sprints away from us, and the thicker the grass of forgetting grows, soon enough, and under the verified power of the most powerful engines that world of chess will be gone as well. It was an intriguing, and colorful world, and I saw it as my duty to not let it disappear into that empty abyss. Genna Sosonko, May 2021.

Improve Your Chess will help you to improve your technique and master your game. This lively new edition is written by William Hartston, an experienced chess player and daily columnist for the Independent. It is structured in 75 easy-to-follow lessons, clearly demarcated by level, so that you are challenged throughout. You will get to grips with complex strategy and the meta-principles which rule the relationship between pieces and their co-operation throughout play. All new concepts are demonstrated by illustrated worked examples, and you will get a chance to see these principles borne out in grandmaster play. NOT GOT MUCH TIME? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. AUTHOR INSIGHTS Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the authors' many years of experience. TEST YOURSELF Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress. EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE Extra online articles at www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of chess FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. TRY THIS Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.

Do you need to freshen up your chess openings? Stun your opponents with new and exciting ideas! Dangerous Weapons is a series of opening books which supply the reader with an abundance of hard-hitting ideas to revitalize his or her opening repertoire. In this book, three opening specialists team up and take a contemporary look at the Caro-Kann, one of the most popular chess openings. Instead of analysing the well-trodden main lines they concentrate on fresh or little-explored variations, 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! *State-of-the-art coverage of the Caro-Kann *Packed with original ideas and analysis *Ideal weapons to shock your opponents

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.

All chess players are dazzled by the idea of gambit play, whereby one side sacrifices material in the opening to gain certain advantages. But do you have the nerve to gamble when it comes to practical play? Do you know when it's right to sacrifice and when it's better to err on the side of caution? In this book, Angus Dunnington aims to answer these questions and many more as he takes an in-depth look at gambits in the modern game. By using illustrative examples, Dunnington explores the key aspects of successful gambit play, whilst also underlining the reasons why some gambits work while others flounder. The book is a must for those wishing to sharpen up their opening weapons.
This book is a thorough education on gambit play and contains wild and aggressive chess. It is written by one of Britain's leading chess coaches

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!

The hero has no advantage whatsoever but somehow manages to keep setting the opponent problems. Their opponent goes slightly astray and suddenly hero has a tiny advantage. It's not much but now that they have a little something to work with, they are in their element. They play accurately and remorselessly and make life incredibly difficult for their opponent. Suddenly, and almost imperceptibly, their advantage increases. Further tiny inaccuracies follow, hero turns the screw and bags the full point. Their opponent is left shaking their head, wondering where on earth they went wrong. This is the squeeze and the great champions have been capable of squeezing opponents to death. Jose Capablanca, Tigran Petrosian, Anatoly Karpov and, in the current era, Magnus Carlsen are legendary in this respect. How do they do it? How do they set problems in apparently sterile positions? How can they continuously manage to defeat world class opposition from positions that others would simply give up as drawn? In this book, Cyrus Lakdawala explains the mechanisms commonly used in squeeze plays. Using examples from the world's greatest strategic masters he unpicks the secrets of the squeeze.

Mikhail Tal was simply a chess phenomenon. The 'magician from Riga' stunned the chess world when he became the youngest ever World Champion (at that time) in 1960, and he won countless supporters for his scintillating tactical play and his infectious enthusiasm for the game. Tal's dazzling tactical style would often leave his hapless opponents in a state of shell shock. As former World Champion Vassily Smyslov once noted, 'Tal's appearance in chess had the effect of an exploding bomb, since his style of play was distinguished by extraordinary combinative brilliance.'
In this book Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik revisit Tal's brilliant victories. The authors have carefully picked his most famous and instructive games and combinations, ones which set the chess world alight with admiration. A study of this tactical genius is sure to entertain and benefit the aspiring chess student.
Includes Tal's most brilliant sacrificial attacks
Ideal for the attacking-minded chess player
Perfect for sharpening your tactical ability

Chess Developments provides state-of-the-art openings coverage. Chess Developments focuses on the current trends - concentrating on critical lines, theoretical novelties and powerful new ideas. It offers players of all levels the opportunity to keep up-to-date with current opening theory whilst also expanding and improving their repertoires. The Grunfeld is a dynamic opening in which Black allows White to build an imposing pawn centre before plotting its downfall by a series of attacks with pawns and pieces. This ambitious, hypermodern approach is popular from club level all the way through to the World's elite. In this book, David Vigorito selects and examines the most important and instructive Grunfeld games from recent years, highlighting the main developments and novelties for both White and Black. Vigorito is well known for his opening expertise, and his clear explanations of the plans and tactics for both sides will benefit all players. *Essential coverage of the Grunfeld Defence *Packed with key new ideas and critical analysis *User-friendly design to help readers absorb information

The main part of the book is divided into exercises and solutions, with 110 positions taken from double fianchetto games. I have divided the exercises into chapters, with each chapter featuring games by players who have deployed the double fianchetto quite often. You will find a lot of typical motifs used by these players.

The French Defence is renowned for its resilience and tenacity, and is considered to be one of Black's most reliable answers to 1 e4. Indeed, many White players become frustrated in their attempts to prove an advantage and make headway against Black's ultra-solid formation.In "How to Beat the French Defence," Andreas Tzermiadianos meets this difficult challenge head on. He advocates his favourite weapon against the French - the Tarrasch Variation. Drawing upon his wealth of playing experience and study of this line, Tzermiadianos reveals an abundance of opening ideas and novelties, and provides the reader with a complete repertoire which is aimed at posing Black serious problems. Read this book and you will be able to fight the French Defence with renewed confidence and vitality. *Covers all of Black's possibilities*Details typical plans for both sides*Written by a French Tarrasch specialist

The Modern Defence is a dynamic, ambitious and universal opening, one that can be used against virtually every system White can play. Black's provocative strategy is based upon allowing White to construct an imposing pawn centre in the anticipation that a well-timed strike will bring about its downfall. Both sides can play for high rewards, albeit at some risk: White can hope to succeed with a direct attack or to squash Black with a space advantage, while Black will aim to destroy White's centre and mop up the remains. All in all this can lead to intriguing battles in which one slip from either side is often fatal. In this book, Nigel Davies studies the Modern by going back to basics, introducing the key moves and ideas, and taking care to explain the reasoning behind them - something that has often been neglected or taken for granted.Everyman Chess's "Starting Out" series has firmly established itself as the leading guide to studying openings for up-and-coming players. These" "books are distinguished by their easy-to-read layout, the lucid explanations of the fundamentals, and the abundance of notes, tips and warnings to help the reader absorb vital ideas. "Starting Out" opening books are ideal for enthusiastic chess players who have little experience of the openings in question and who wish to appreciate the essential principles behind them. *Written by a renowned Modern expert*All the main lines are covered*Ideal for improvers, club players and tournament players

Former world champion Jose Capablanca's introduction to chess, available for the first time in English in algebraic notation, 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. Topics covered include: . The game, the pieces, their moves and object . Improving your game . Elementary opening principles...and much more 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.

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.

This is a major event in chess publishing. Two German endgame experts have produced a masterful one-volume encyclopedia which covers all major endgames. This, the first truly modern single-volume endgame encyclopedia, supersedes all previous works of this type by being far more accurate and readable. This is no dry reference work; throughout the work, the authors emphasize the practical elements of endgame play: principles, rules of thumb and thinking methods. They also provide a feast of detailed analysis for those looking to study the endgame in depth. Unlike previous books of this type (the most recent of which is now eight years old), Fundamental Chess Endings makes full use of endgame tablebases and the analytical engines that access these tablebases. As a result, where previous authors could only make educated guesses, in this book, the authors can often state the definitive truth, or get much closer to it. Throughout, the emphasis is on the general principles that can be extracted from detailed theory, making Fundamental Chess Endings both an ideal endgame reference work and a book that can profitably and enjoyably read from start to finish. With new time controls meaning that competitive games are played to a finish, it has become especially important that chess-players understand the main endgame principles. Fundamental Chess Endings sets the mark for which all others will aim.

Chess puzzle books are undoubtedly popular - and with good reason. Solving chess puzzles helps to sharpen a player's tactical and combinational skills. This ability is absolutely fundamental for chess development. You won't get better at tennis until you can consistently hit the ball with accuracy and you won't get better at chess until you improve your ability to calculate. It is that simple and there are no shortcuts. Many puzzle books take a far too simplistic approach and offer endless positions where the solution is nearly always along the lines of: queen takes something check, king takes queen, check, check and a pretty mate. Aesthetically pleasing perhaps but of minimal use for actual improvement as the patterns are so familiar. Practical Chess Puzzles avoids this pitfall. The positions chosen are far more like those that actually appear on the board during the vast majority of games. Furthermore, at all stages, the puzzles are ranked, enabling the student to gauge progress and identify and correct weaknesses. * 600 puzzles featuring instructive, typically "game-like" positions * A ranking system to assess progress.

The Ruy Lopez is an incredibly popular opening at all levels of chess; this is perhaps unsurprising given that it's recognized by most experts as White's greatest chance of obtaining a lasting advantage after the moves 1 e4 e5. Also known as the Spanish Opening, the Lopez is steeped in rich tradition, having provided the battleground for countless clashes between World Champions of past and present: Kasparov, Fischer, Karpov, Topalov, Kramnik, Anand - the list is endless!
Given its immense popularity, one issue a prospective Lopez player has to face up to is the mountain of theory that has gradually developed over the years. In this book, however, Andrew Greet circumvents this potential problem by advocating a comprehensive and yet concise repertoire for White, one that can be assimilated into an opening armoury with relative ease. He also covers thoroughly the typical tactical ideas and strategies for both White and Black, arming the reader with enough knowledge to begin playing the Ruy Lopez with confidence in his or her own games.
*Written by a Ruy Lopez expert
*All black defences are covered
*Ideal for improvers, as well as club and tournament players
Andrew Greet is a young International Master, a former British Junior Champion, and is one of the UK's most rapidly improving players. In 2005 he scored a perfect 11/11 in the British National League, the first time any player had achieved this remarkable feat. He is also an experienced coach and writes regular articles for "CHESS,"

The Queen's Gambit Declined is an opening of great historical importance and Black's fundamental answer to 1 d4. From the very first move Black obtains a firm foothold in the centre, something that White finds extremely hard to undermine. Indeed, Black often bases his entire strategy around this control. The soundness of the Queen's Gambit Declined has never been in question, and its supporters at the highest level include a long list of Grandmasters headed by Kasparov, Kramnik, Karpov and Short, as well as many World Champions from the past.
This book is a further addition to Everyman's best-selling "Starting Out" series, which has been acclaimed for its original approach to tackling chess openings. Neil McDonald goes back to the basics of the Queen's Gambit Declined, introducing the key moves and ideas, and taking care to explain the reasoning behind them - something that is often neglected or taken for granted in other texts. In this user-friendly guide, the reader is helped throughout by an abundance of notes, tips and warnings highlighting the vital characteristics of the Queen's Gambit Declined and of opening play in general. "Starting Out: Queen's Gambit Declined "is a perfect guide for improving players or for those new to this opening.
*Detailed coverage of a classic chess opening
*Written by a Queen's Gambit Declined expert
*All the main lines are covered
English Grandmaster Neil McDonald is an experienced and successful player on the international chess circuit. He is a respected chess coach, who has trained many of England's strongest junior players. McDonald is also a talented chess writer and has many outstanding works to his name. Earlier Everyman Chessbooks include "Concise Chess Openings "and "Starting Out: The English,"

Benjamin Katz is a renowned chess coach with over 20 years experience coaching students of all ability levels throughout the United States. He has helped numerous students improve and achieve chess success. This book details the training program he has developed based on this extensive experience. It cultivates the core skill set required to advance beyond the basics in chess. Included are key strategies, basic endgame positions and techniques, information on what to do when you're stuck, how to convert an advantage, and a high-level opening repertoire for both black and white. There are also numerous practical exercises that utilize a combination of recent examples from the games of Benjamin's students, as well as games played by the top players in the world, both contemporary and from the game's history. Benjamin Katz is a National Chess Master and the co-founder of Growing Minds Chess Academy, a progressive chess instruction company in New York City that incorporates the latest in modern educational theory with tried and trusted approaches to chess learning.