The Caro-Kann has always been one of the most widely played openings among club and tournament players. This handy battle manual deals with the critical main line positions after 1 e4 c6 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4. Highly regarded author Grandmaster Neil McDonald offers a comprehensive survey of the state of current theory for both White and Black players, explaining the basic elements, strategies and tactics for both sides. This guide covers one of the most fashionable chess openings in current practice. It is ideal for club and tournament players and it provides everything you need to know to start playing the main line Caro-Kann straightaway. (6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 144 pages, diagrams)

When should we exchange a piece in the endgame and when should we keep it? Why is it so important? How to make a right choice? Different types of endings and guidance on how to make the correct decision were the subject of my book The Correct Exchange in the Endgame. Two editions were very well accepted by chess players of different levels. I am especially happy that many chess coaches and teachers found it useful for their training programs. The book was announced as a silver winner of the Boleslavsky Award 2016 by the FIDE Trainer's Commission. Many readers and coaches expressed a wish to see more instructive exercises, so together with Thinkers Publishing we decided to make an exercise book. It can be widely used by chess teachers in schools, coaches in chess clubs and all chess players. Trying to solve 120 instructive exercises and then going through the correct solutions, you will certainly improve your decision-making ability and analyzing skills, as well as enrich your knowledge and understanding of the final stage of the chess game.

The world's greatest and most celebrated magicians, conjurers and illusionists can make us believe the unbelievable, the impossible possible. But, of course, just like everybody else these conjurors had to start at a beginning. They too had to learn simple (but effective) card tricks, easy (but imaginative) coin tricks and basic (but still mind boggling) sleight-of-hand tricks before advancing to more innovative and radical skills and techniques. Amazing Magic Tricks is a cool compendium of diverse tricks to inspire all aspiring magicians to pick up a wand and impress their friends and family! Full of trivia as well as simple illusions to practice, perfect and perform at home, Amazing Magic Tricks will guide you on your way to becoming a master magician quicker than you can say 'Ta-Dah!'.

Tired of playing the same old openings? Bored with stuffy opening theory? A Ferocious Opening Repertoire 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. Are you constantly struggling with the black pieces? Can't make up your mind which openings to play? Are you looking for something new: an all-in-one solution to your problems? Look no further! In Play 1..Nc6, a complete chess opening repertoire for Black, Christof Scheerer, who is renowned for his innovative and adventurous opening ideas, provides the reader with an ambitious and all-encompassing repertoire for Black against every main line opening that White can play, based on the initial move 1...Nc6. The principal components of this black repertoire are the uncompromising Chigorin Defence, a long-time favourite of the brilliant Russian Grandmaster Alexander Morozevich, and the equally tricky Nimzowitsch Defence, advocated by Britain's first ever Grandmaster, Tony Miles. Drawing upon his wealth of practical experience in this opening, which has produced a remarkable success rate and some notable Grandmaster scalps, Scheerer uncovers the secrets behind 1...Nc6 and divulges his findings to the reader.

Find out how to win consistently and develop an adaptive, skilled game with this guide to every aspect of Texas Hold 'Em. With clear explanations of the rules, the hands, scoring, the odds and the betting systems, it will give you all the information you need to get started. It will also help you learn how to play online, warning you of the pitfalls and helping you to better 'read' your opponents and develop strategies for success. Featuring killer insights from an author with decades of experience in every aspect of the gaming world, this is an essential handbook for anyone who dreams of being a poker king - or queen.

The Queen's Gambit is one of the great classical openings. All the world champions and elite players have played this opening - most of them for both sides. In this book the highly experienced coach international master Andrew Martin explains the basic ideas behind all the different variations you can encounter after 1 d4 d5 2 c4. This includes the classical defences (such as the Orthodox, the Lasker and the Slav) as well as the weird and wonderful (such as the Albin Counter-Gambit, the Hennig-Schara Gambit and Marshall's Defence). 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.

Through classroom activities, wizard rock concerts and organizations like the Harry Potter Alliance, Harry Potter fans are using creativity to positively impact the world. This collection of essays and interviews examines how playful fandom - from fanfiction to Muggle quidditch, cosplay, role-playing games and even Harry Potter burlesque - not only re-imagines the canon but also challenges consumerism, questions notions of identity and fosters participatory culture. The contributors explore issues applicable to fan studies and performance studies at large, such as the role of performance, the nature of community, and questions of representation and ownership in the digital age. Presented in three sections, the essays discuss discrepancies between sanctioned versions of Harry Potter and fan creations, the reenactment and reinterpretation of the original narrative in fan performance, and collaborative and participatory performances that break down the boundaries between actors and audiences.

The Ghost Archipelago has returned. A vast island chain, covered in the ruins of ancient civilizations, the Archipelago appears every few centuries, far out in the southern ocean. At such times, pirates, adventurers, wizards, and legendary heroes all descend upon the islands in the hopes of finding lost treasures and powerful artefacts. A few, drawn by the blood of their ancestors, search for the fabled Crystal Pool, whose waters grant abilities far beyond those of normal men. It is only the bravest, however, who venture into the islands, for they are filled with numerous deadly threats. Cannibal tribes, sorcerous snake-men, and poisonous water-beasts all inhabit the island ruins, guarding their treasure hordes and setting traps for the unwary. In this new wargame, set in the world of Frostgrave, players take on the role of Heritors, mighty warriors whose ancestors drank from the Crystal Pool. These Heritors lead their small, handpicked teams of spellcasters, rogues, and treasure hunters into the ever-shifting labyrinth of the Ghost Archipelago. Using the same rules system as Frostgrave, this standalone wargame focuses on heroes who draw on the power in their blood to perform nigh-impossible feats of strength and agility. This game also includes 30 spells drawn from five schools of magic, a host of soldier types, challenging scenarios, treasure tables, and a full bestiary of the most common creatures that inhabit the Lost Isles.

How would you describe yourself or another person? Have you ever wondered how your identity could be visualised? It's not that easy, right? Imagine Me enables you to talk about the complicated and intimate subject of identity in a playful and accessible manner. Instead of using words and questions, you use visualisations to start a meaningful conversation about identity. The game consist out of 99 cards, each card has an authentic illustration that represents a particular trait. The cards are divided into three groups; Personality Traits, Character Traits and Colour Traits. The goal of this game is to compile and build a collage consisting out of 7 cards that represent your, or someone else's Visual Identity. The game can be played in various environments to uncover different social structures, for example, in a professional environment, at school or during a fun evening with friends and family. It can also be a helpful tool in the process of self-development as it can also be played alone. It is not about winning or losing. Instead, consider this game a playful tool to unravel visual identities and evoke meaningful interactions.

The Grandmaster Battle Manual explains how to be a more competitive chess player. Chess grandmaster Vassilios Kotronias has been a professional player for two decades and now he explains the secrets of his success. As a writer, Kotronias has the skill to explain in words what other top players can only express in long lists of chess moves. Improve your chess with a grandmaster guide.

This ethnography of a live action role-playing (LARP) community examines the structure of play, how new participants are introduced and apprenticed into the culture, player expectations and motivations, and games as they are designed and as they are performed. The main focus is on LARP's affordance for learning across a variety of disciplines and interests. The book is intended for LARP participants, academics interested in play or in collaborative development, those interested in new uses of familiar learning environments, and game developers with an interest in creating games with highly interactive narratives and co-creative play experiences in which the role of designer and player is blurred.

What does love have to do with games? As games have developed in complexity, they have increasingly started to include narratives that seek to engage with love in a variety of ways. Whilst media attention often seems to focus on more violent emotions and behavior in games, love has always been a central part of the gaming experience. We love to play games, we have titles that we experience love towards, and sometimes we love too much, or love terrible games for their mistakes. Love in games therefore, is rather like love in life - it can be complicated, unexpected and difficult but also fun, enlightening and powerful. The authors of this collection aim for the first time to unpack the meaning and role of love in games by examining some of these aspects. Love is hard to reproduce in games, and we trace a number of ways - from coding to cosplay, in which love can be expressed in, for and around games. Investigating how games can start to think about love in exciting, in-depth ways is also key to understanding the growing importance of games and gamers as important cultural markers, since it points to gaming as growing in maturity in its attempt to address such a varied subject.

A Billion Suns is a wargame of interstellar combat that puts you in command of fleets of powerful starships, from squadrons of agile, but fragile, fighters, to hulking and powerful capital ships. Choose your vessels from pre-existing classes then customise them to create your own sub-classes, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and armament, from accurate torpedoes to devastating macro-cannon. Using simple dice pool mechanics, you must carefully manage your resources and seize the opportunities that come your way in order to lead your fleet to victory and assert your dominance over the stars.

THE ideal chess book for the beginner THE ideal chess book for the improving player THE ideal chess book for the teacher. Absolute beginners can learn everything they need to know in order to play chess competitively. More experienced players will encounter deeper concepts and be able to approach chess from a new perspective, enabling them to take their play to the next level. Award-winning chess coach Erik Czerwin's unique training method begins by studying the simplest chess positions with very few pieces - and then moves on, step by step, adding more pieces to the board. Complex ideas are always built up from simpler situations, ensuring that the learning curve stays flat. With helpful exercises throughout, Fundamental Chess is the perfect book for every chess enthusiast.

When Bobby Fischer died in January 2008, he left behind a confounding legacy. Everyone knew the basics of his life: he began as a brilliant youngster, then became the pride of American chess, then took a sharp turn, struggling with paranoia and mental illness. But nobody truly understood him. What motivated him from such a young age, and what was the source of his remarkable intellect? How could a man so ambivalent about money and fame be so driven to succeed? What drew this man of Jewish descent to fulminate against Jews, and how was it that a mind so famously disciplined could unravel so completely? From his meteoric rise, to an utterly dominant prime, to his eventual descent into madness, the book draws upon hundreds of newly discovered documents and recordings, and numerous firsthand interviews conducted with those who knew Fischer best, to paint, for the very first time, a complete picture of one of the most enigmatic icons. This is the definitive account of a fascinating man and an extraordinary life, one that at last reconciles Fischer's deeply contradictory legacy and answers the question: 'Who was Bobby Fischer?'

The characters, villains, and starships of the Signal of Screams Adventure Path come alive on your tabletop with this collection of more than 100 creature and starship pawns, designed for use with the Starfinder Roleplaying Game or any tabletop science fantasy RPG. Printed on sturdy cardstock, each of these double-sided pawns slots into a size-appropriate plastic base from the Starfinder Pawns Base Assortment, making them easy to mix with traditional metal or plastic miniatures. With dozens of distinct images, the Starfinder Signal of Screams Pawn Collection depicts the enemies and allies from all three adventure of the Signal of Screams Adventure Path. * The Diaspora Strain * The Penumbra Protocol * Heart of Night

From the opening bid to much later rounds of bidding, from uncontested sequences to highly competitive auctions, this book will provide the groundwork so that you will know when silence can be golden. Each chapter covers the principles that indicate when bidding is the right course, and then which call to choose, and when passing is the winning action.

Play Cards and Learn to Identify Mammals in the Northwestern United States! Anyone who enjoys nature, wildlife, and the great outdoors will love these cards for playing your favorite games or to use as flash cards. Inspired by Stan Tekiela's popular Mammal Identification Guides, this gorgeous deck of playing cards features professional photographs of 54 of the most notable mammal species in the Northwestern states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and also Northern California. Each card depicts full-color photographs of such animals as the Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Lion, Pronghorn, and more--so you can begin to learn what 54 different species look like. Card Features 54 of the most notable mammal species Beautiful photograph on every card Ideal for card games or as flash cards Play games like blackjack, poker, rummy, and solitaire while learning more about wildlife. Get Mammals of the Northwest Playing Cards for yourself, and you can also give this deck of cards as a fun and thoughtful gift.