Viktor Korchnoi is a chess legend. In a career which has spanned over 60 years, he won countless grandmaster tournaments, was a four-time Soviet Champion, a multi-time World Championship Candidate, and twice fought for the World Championship in famous battles with his adversary Anatoly Karpov. Throughout his career Korchnoi continually refined his style and he was as comfortable in defence as he was in attack. He was happy to provoke opponents, accept sacrifices, defend precisely and then ruthlessly exploit weaknesses. In this book, former American Open Champion Cyrus Lakdawala studies his favourite Korchnoi games and examines Korchnoi's skills in the key areas of attack and defence, initiative, exploiting imbalances, accumulating advantages and endgame play. He demonstrates clearly how we can all improve by learning from Korchnoi's play. 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

It was the chess legend Philidor who wrote: 'The pawns are the soul of chess', and yet it is these modest infantrymen who are always the first to die for the cause. Pawn sacrifices are incredibly common in chess games, and yet for some unknown reason they have been rather neglected in chess literature... until now.In this pioneering work, Timothy Taylor carries out an in-depth study of this significant subject. Using an abundance of instructive examples, Taylor uncovers the secrets of pawn sacrifices, highlighting the many reasons for their success, indicating the ideal situations in which pawn sacrifices work, as well as showing positions in which they are not so effective. The ability to handle pawn sacrifices is one of the most important skills in chess, and enhancing this skill will undoubtedly improve your understanding and results. This book will show you how to do this. *An enlightening and entertaining guide to pawn sacrifices*Covers essential tactical and positional ideas*Written by a battle-hardened professional player

Level up your Game Master skills with these fun, interactive prompts and activities to help your worldbuilding from RPG expert James D'Amato. Make your next campaign truly unique with the help of this interactive guide to world building! From RPG expert James D'Amato comes a fun new guide that teaches beginner and experienced gamers alike how to build and create their own game elements for customizing existing adventures or creating new stories from scratch. The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Worldbuilding Guide includes dozens of activities for a wide range of genres from fantasy and sci-fi to horror and x-punk. This lively and interactive book helps Game Masters create dynamic destinations, powerful items, shadowy organizations, compelling villains, and more. Make the most of your gaming experience with these unique and personalized ideas for your gaming group's next adventures!

This book explores video games as important cultural artifacts and as sources of powerful, compelling storytelling. It begins by considering the fundamental structures of video games-including immersion and player agency-and deepens the exploration of such elements by considering how each plays a role in storytelling. The book moves from the theoretical to the practical by considering numerous modern games and the stories they tell through careful, considered analysis of each title's story. Games considered at length include the Mass Effect series, BioShock, The Last of Us and many more. The book also explores genres like the visual novel, which are less frequently considered in video game study. What emerges from this book, which appeals to academics, game enthusiasts, and the general public, is the importance of considering video games as serious and important sources of storytelling exploring complex thematic subjects like identity, morality, and the impact of player choice.

Mike Sexton once asked Chip Reese, "The guys you play against are tough. What separates you from them?" Chip replied, "You're right Mike. They are tough. In fact, when they play their 'A' game, I'm really no better than they are. The difference is that they also have a 'C' and 'D' game, whereas I don't. They become weak players when they steam and just about all of them do. My edge is that I don't steam." (Life's a Gamble, D&B 2016). If you've ever wondered if the psychological aspect of poker is important, that should provide the answer. One of the greatest players of all times is attributing his success to the fact that he has better psychological control over his play than his opponents. The good news is that, actually, there is nothing mysterious about Chip's ability. To do the same you simply have to adhere to specific strategies and guidelines. This book will tell you what they are and explain why they work. These strategies, implemented into your everyday routine, will substantially increase your performance and improve your mental state. Peak Poker Performance will show you how to:* Create an unbeatable mindset* Pursue excellence during downswings* Eliminate procrastination* Improve your motivation* Master your emotionsPlus much, much more Dr. Patricia Cardner has worked with hundreds of poker players, at mid-stakes and high-stakes levels, both through private coaching and online training. With the help of Jonathan Little, Patricia moves on from her first book, 'Positive Poker' and uses the very latest research to take you to the next level so you too can achieve better results on the felt and in life.

Featuring interviews with the creators of 35 popular video games-including John Madden Football, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, WCW/nWo Revenge, and RBI Baseball-this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of some of the most influential and iconic (and sometimes forgotten) sports video games of all time. Recounting endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega-publishers and the uncertainties of public reception, the interviewees reveal the creative processes that produced some of gaming's classic titles.

Video games are a complex, compelling medium in which established art forms intersect with technology to create an interactive text. Visual arts, architectural design, music, narrative and rules of play all find a place within, and are constrained by, computer systems whose purpose is to create an immersive player experience. In the relatively short life of video game studies, many authors have approached the question of how games function, some focusing on technical aspects of game design, others on rules of play. Taking a holistic view, this study explores how ludology, narratology, visual rhetoric, musical theory and player psychology work (or don't work) together to create a cohesive experience and to provide a unified framework for understanding video games.

The Rules of Winning Chess provides you with the key fundamentals of the game, principles that you can easily learn and remember, and that will help you to achieve both greater understanding and enjoyment of chess.

Who had the most commercial success in their lifetime, Ernest Hemingway or Agatha Christie? Whose work has the most adaptations, F. Scott Fitzgerald or Franz Kafka? Who courted the most scandal, Colette or James Joyce? Pit 32 of the world's greatest modern writers against each other with these beautifully illustrated cards. An ideal gift for the book lover in your life.

The Sicilian Defence is by far the most popular chess opening. If you play 1 e4 as White, on average you are likely to meet the Sicilian in virtually every other game! You need to be prepared to face the Sicilian at all times, and a ready-to-use repertoire against it is an indispensible weapon.In this book, Gawain Jones confronts the challenge of meeting the Sicilian head on. He has constructed a comprehensive Anti-Sicilian repertoire for White, which is based on lines he has successfully employed at grandmaster level. These are sound, reliable options for White, but don't be fooled - they also contain more than a drop of poison. Variations covered include the popular King's Indian Attack, various Bb5 systems and weapons against Black's offbeat tries.

• A Grandmaster's repertoire against the Sicilian
• Packed with new ideas and critical analysis
• Highlights key tactical and positional ideas

PLAY AND LEARN: learn about bees and biodiversity as you play this family strategy game for age 6+, based on traditional Mancala SCREEN-FREE FUN for two players aged 6 and up SOMETHING TO TREASURE: this is a quality product made to last, with bespoke illustration and sleek and stylish packaging EXPLORE THE ENTIRE SERIES: this game is one of our nature games, others include Bird Bingo, I Saw It First! Ocean, and many more Buzz the bees to the flowers to collect pollen and then back to the hive to make honey for feeding and growing your very own bee colony. The player with the largest colony wins! Based on the ancient gameplay of mancala, Beehive Mancala is a fun strategy game for adults and children aged 6+. Includes facts on the bees and flowers featured, plus details on the honey-making process and the importance of bees from the beekeeper at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London, UK.

Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse is a skirmish-scale miniatures game of survival horror. It pits players against each other in a nightmarish near-future where the dead have returned to life and are feasting on the living.

Players build their own factions, representing desperate civilians, military personnel, or hardened survivors, and must explore, scavenge, and fight in order to survive another day. Rival gangs are only one of the dangers they face - mindless zombies wander the streets, driven by insatiable hunger and drawn by the sound of combat!

A gang's ability to scavenge is as vital as their combat ability, and players must ensure that they have the resources to survive in this hostile world. Scenarios and campaigns allow you to develop your gang, gain experience and recruit new henchmen to build up your strength or replace the inevitable casualties of the zombie apocalypse.

Frank Legato is not only a recognised slot expert, but he also knows what it's like to take on the one-armed bandits; he's a player first and foremost. In this funny and insightful book, Frank shares his 20 years of experience researching, writing about, and playing the slots. You'll learn: exactly how slot machines work; which machines pay back the most money, and which pay most frequently; which slot beliefs are merely silly myths and which are facts; how to recognise phoney (and funny) slot systems that should be avoided; Frank's own strategies for increasing your winning potential; how to maximise your returns from slot clubs; and more... States. From Las Vegas to Atlantic City to Tunica, Mississippi, from Indian casinos to riverboats to 'racinos', Frank explains the character and history of each slot venue and reveals his favorite places to play slots in each location. After reading this book, you'll know everything there is to know about slot machines, including how to win millions playing them... or lose trying.

Market Garden was a bold plan, designed to capture the Rhine crossings along the Dutch-German border and establish a foothold for an advance into Germany. A massive combined arms operation involving airborne landings and an armoured thrust, it was one of the most dramatic and controversial operations of the war. This new Campaign Book for Bolt Action allows players to command the forces facing each other across the Rhine, fighting key battles and attempting to change the course of history. New, linked scenarios, rules, troop types and Theatre Selectors provide plenty of options for novice and veteran players alike.

The definitive work on practical endgame tactics

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!

The definitive work on practical endgame tactics

Key aliens and NPCs from the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path come alive on your tabletop with the Dawn of Flame Pawn Collection, featuring more than 100 creature pawns for use with the Starfinder Roleplaying Game or any tabletop science-fantasy RPG! Printed on sturdy cardstock, each pawn presents a beautiful full-color image of an alien, NPC, or starship from the Dawn of Flame campaign, including crafty efreet, rebellious soldiers, scheming gangsters, and dozens of unique creatures. The Dawn of Flame Pawn Collection, together with the creatures and characters from the Starfinder Alien Archive Pawn Box and Starfinder Core Rulebook Pawn Collection, provides pawns for nearly every Dawn of Flame encounter. Each cardstock pawn slots into a size-appropriate plastic base from the Alien Archive Pawn Box, making the pawns easy to mix with traditional metal or plastic miniatures.

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.

Learn the language of flowers in this blossoming memory game. Match flowers to their uses and meanings, and collect the most pairs to win. From lillies at funerals, to 'flower power' carnations - this fun game is an ideal gift for nature lovers. Pair up the flowers with their typical uses and meanings in this beautiful and simple memory game. To play, place the cards face down and see if you can remember where the matching pairs are located. Collect more pairs than your opponent to win! With all kinds of flowers included - from marigolds in Mexican Day of the Dead displays to Japan's cherry blossom season, and from Van Gogh's Sunflowers to the first flower germinated in space - this fun and educational game is an ideal gift for nature lovers everywhere.

The dramatic 2016 World Championship match in New York City stunned the chess world, as Sergey Karjakin fought champ Magnus Carlsen to a tie until matters had to be settled in a rapid-play shootout. You'll learn chess tactics and strategies from the best players in the world, as a top team of writers-including a former world champion--explains the moves.