The Dutch Defence is one of Black's most enterprising answers to 1 d4. Black strives to unbalance the position by creating an asymmetrical pawn structure on the very first move, giving himself every opportunity to fight for the initiative from the outset. In this book, Neil McDonald tells you everything you need to know in order to play this opening successfully. He provides the reader with a comprehensive repertoire against 1 d4, with the dynamic Leningrad Variation as Black's main weapon. Read this book and play the Dutch with confidence!

This accessible how-to guide for parents and teachers on the best way to teach chess to children, from international chess expert Richard James, is linked to both his bestselling book, Chess for Kids, and his website chessKIDS academy. James, who taught grandmasters Luke McShane and Jonathan Rowson, shows how learning chess is interesting and fun. It can also help children develop life skills, such as decision-making and social skills, and be a springboard to other subjects in the school curriculum, such as maths, science, history and even languages. In an easy-to-follow, fun way, James explains how to structure short lessons with worksheets and other activities to introduce the chess pieces, chess notation and chess-board dynamics - so that children can understand the thinking behind the moves and start playing and enjoying this fascinating game.

Building and maintaining an opening repertoire can be a demanding task -- for a start there are an enormous number of different lines to choose from. There's a strong temptation amongst beginners and improving players to opt solely for tricky lines in order to snare unsuspecting opponents, but this approach has only short-term value. As players improve and their opponents become stronger, very often these crafty lines don't stand up to close scrutiny, and suddenly they back to square one with no suitable opening weapons.
In Starting Out with 1 e4! and Starting Out with 1 d4! Neil McDonald and John Cox solve this perennial problem by providing the reader with a strong and trustworthy repertoire with the white pieces based on the popular opening moves 1 e4 and 1 d4. The recommended lines given here have stood the test of time and are regularly employed by Grandmasters. Reading these books will give players the confidence to play these variations against all strengths of player and provides them with reliable opening armoury for years to come.
These books are written in Everyman Chess's distinctive Starting Out style, with plenty of notes, tips, and warnings throughout to help the aspiring player.
>Grandmaster-style opening repertoires
>Written by opening experts
>Ideal for improving players
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 Chess books include Concise Chess Openings and Starting Out: The Dutch Defence.
John Cox is a FIDE Master and a former junior international and British Junior Champion. Previous works for Everyman Chess include Starting Out: Alekhine's Defence and Dealing with d4 Deviations.
Other Books in Series
Starting Out with 1 d4!

This is an instructional manual for improving chess players. It helps you to sharpen your tactics and learn to play dynamic attacking chess while studying the most entertaining gambits. This volume deals with various openings after 1.e4 e5, and lines covered include: Marshall Attack, Traxler variation, Frankenstein-Dracula variation, Falkbeer Counter-Gambit and more.

Vladimir Kramnik is a giant of the chess world. He firmly secured his legendary status when he won the World Championship in 2000 by defeating the previously dominant Garry Kasparov - the only player ever to do so in a match. Kramnik held on to his crown for seven years, and today he remains one of the World's elite players. In this book, former American Open Champion Cyrus Lakdawala invites you to join him in a study of his favourite Kramnik games. Lakdawala examines Kramnik's renowned skills in attack and defence, exploiting imbalances, dynamic elements, accumulating advantages and endgame play, and shows how we can all improve by learning from Kramnik'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 practising 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

The King's Indian Defence is one of the great classical counter-attacking openings. The most aggressive world champions (including Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov) have all scored brilliant knockout victories with this opening. In this book the highly experienced coach international master Andrew Martin explains the basic ideas behind all the different variations that occur after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6. The focus on strategic elements such as pawn structures, attacking plans and typical piece manouevres allows the reader to quickly gain an excellent feel for this complex opening. First Steps is an opening series that 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.

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.

"Notions of chess have been shattered by a teen-age Hungarian girl - some call her modest and soft-spoken, but many opponents know her as a ferocious tiger over the board - who after years of steady progress began breathing down the necks of the top men and now has broken the barrier of one of the worlds most exclusive clubs: she has earned the rank of grandmaster at 15 years, 5 months, one month younger than Bobby Fischer when he did it 34 years ago." New York Times, 1992 Great achievements often take a lifetime of preparation, but when these achievements are becoming the World Number 1 woman chess player at the age of 12 and the youngest ever grandmaster at the age of 15 you have to start early! In this very personal book Judit Polgar describes her early moments of success and the chess ideas she needed to master to achieve them. This exceptional book is the beginning of a unique project where one of the greatest 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.

Simon Williams presents an ambitious opening repertoire for Black based on the ever-popular French Defence. In this book one of the world's most imaginative Grandmasters combines his unique attacking ideas with the traditionally solid French structure, resulting in a powerful armoury of weapons. This will prove ideal for players who like to seize the initiative and cause problems for their opponents from the outset. Williams' recommendations are based on his own practical experience, where his ideas have stood the test of time against powerful grandmaster opposition. Attacking Chess is a brand new series of opening repertoire books. It focuses on traditional attacking openings, as well as creative and forceful ways to play openings that are not always associated with attacking chess. It provides ambitious repertoires designed for players of all levels. *A Grandmaster's repertoire in the French Defence *Packed with new ideas, analysis and novelties *Illustrative games explain typical plans and tactics

This is the first volume of the new series "Key Concepts of Chess". The idea is to deal with middlegames in which a certain structure or essential theme becomes central. The idea of starting this series is in line with the "Understanding before Moving" series because the aim, is to improve the understanding of club chess players. According to the author, playing an opening should be 'hung up' on stereotypical ideas and concepts belonging to this structure. The thorough exploration of middlegame structures is beyond the scope of opening books, hence it makes more sense to expose it in this complementary series. In this first volume, the "Hedgehog System" is discussed in detail. Apart from being part of the author's repertoire, this typical set-up deserves to be widely highlighted. Although in the second part of the trilogy on the Sicilian, the Hedgehog has already made its appearance, in this book the seemingly fragile, but oh so treacherous creature can reconsider its spines in an extensive way.

Tired of playing the same old openings? Bored with stuffy opening theory? This book provides a welcome antidote! Former American Open Champion Cyrus Lakdawala presents a range of vicious weapons for White in a repertoire which is perfect for those who have little time for study, but enjoy taking opponents out of their comfort zones and causing them problems from the very beginning. The repertoire's backbone is provided by the aggressive Veresov Opening (1 d4, 2 Nc3 and 3 Bg5) and this weapon is accompanied by equally hostile options against other Black tries such as the French, Caro-Kann, Dutch, Benoni, Pirc and Philidor. These weapons are ideal choices for those who revel in forcing opponents into chaotic, uncomfortable positions. *Opening weapons to shock and confound opponents *Covers all of Black's main defences *Includes game summaries with key points to remember

"In the dimension of reviving the mystique and wonder of chess, it is all too easy for those engaged in the rough and tumble of chess combat to overlook the mystery and infinite aesthetic profundity of its intellectual and iconic ethos. One example stands out... Barry has encountered many of the greats in person and across the board. Barry's insights into the relationship between Staunton pattern pieces, pawns and Masonic Symbology are worthy of a new Dan Brown novel. So, in this book, prepare to follow a Tour d'Horizon, a veritable Smorgasbord of chess information, artistic connections and inspirations combined with a mentally stimulating journey throughout the diverse ramifications of chess, art, culture and its place in the canon of civilised virtue." Raymond Keene OBE, International Chess Grandmaster, Chess Correspondent of The Times

The Slav Defence (1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6) has been one of Black's most reliable defences to the queen's pawn since its adoption by World Champions Alekhine and Euwe in the 1930s. Nowadays it is very popular both at grandmaster level (it is used regularly by Ivanchuk, Lautier and Short) and with club players. In this book Grandmaster Matthew Sadler explains the strategy and tactics of this perennial favourite. Through the use of model games for both sides, the author provides a thorough grounding in the key ideas, so that readers can quickly and confidently start to use the Slav in their own games. Also included is a survey of the trendy new 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 a6 variation.

The 'Anti-Sicilians' have invariably been a popular choice at all levels of the game. Analysis of this opening in previous literature has rarely been extensive due to the misconception that Anti-Sicilians are simplistic and thus, easy to play 'by hand'. While maintaining the ideals of straightforward plans and digestible variations, this series of volumes will attempt to integrate 'Anti-Sicilians' into mainstream theory - with a particular focus on negating Black's attempts to achieve any significant activity. This first volume provides significant coverage of the Rossolimo variation - perhaps the most pertinent example of how an 'Anti-Sicilian' has emerged to become arguably even more popular than its counterpart, 3.d4 after 2...Nc6. With a particular emphasis on analysing multiple alternatives within each critical variation, this book should appeal to anyone wishing to update and expand their knowledge and understanding of the fashionable Rossolimo.

"Across the Board" is the definitive work on chessboard problems. It is not simply about chess but the chessboard itself--that simple grid of squares so common to games around the world. And, more importantly, the fascinating mathematics behind it. From the Knight's Tour Problem and Queens Domination to their many variations, John Watkins surveys all the well-known problems in this surprisingly fertile area of recreational mathematics. Can a knight follow a path that covers every square once, ending on the starting square? How many queens are needed so that every square is targeted or occupied by one of the queens?

Each main topic is treated in depth from its historical conception through to its status today. Many beautiful solutions have emerged for basic chessboard problems since mathematicians first began working on them in earnest over three centuries ago, but such problems, including those involving polyominoes, have now been extended to three-dimensional chessboards and even chessboards on unusual surfaces such as toruses (the equivalent of playing chess on a doughnut) and cylinders. Using the highly visual language of graph theory, Watkins gently guides the reader to the forefront of current research in mathematics. By solving some of the many exercises sprinkled throughout, the reader can share fully in the excitement of discovery.

Showing that chess puzzles are the starting point for important mathematical ideas that have resonated for centuries, "Across the Board" will captivate students and instructors, mathematicians, chess enthusiasts, and puzzle devotees.

Jesus de la Villas worldwide bestseller 100 Endgames You Must Know successfully debunked the myth that endgame theory is complex and that endgame books are tedious. Reviewers praised its clarity and completeness and thousands of players dramatically improved their endgame understanding (and their results!). In recent years, De la Villas students sometimes complained that when they had to apply what they had studied in 100 Endgames, they didnt always have the material ready at their fingertips. De la Villa then made an important discovery: most of the errors his students made are being made by others as well, even by strong and sometimes famous chess players! De la Villa started collecting training material and selected those exercises best suited to retain and improve your knowledge and avoid common errors. In this book the Spanish grandmaster presents hundreds of exercises grouped according to the various chapters in 100 Endgames. Solving these puzzles will drive home the most important ideas, refresh your knowledge and improve your technique. This book contains a massive amount of clear, concise and easy-to-follow chess endgame instruction. The advice De la Villa gives in the solutions is practical and useful. Ideal for every post-beginner, club player and candidate master who wishes to win more games.