The book introduces the main problems, key methods, and milestone results in singularity analysis of mechanisms. It provides a comprehensive and concise overview of basic results while also addressing a few advanced topics of singularities in mechanical systems and robots.

Volume 2 is divided into eight chapters. Unlike Volume 1, it is possible to mix the order in which you study these chapters , but not to study the games within each chapter out of order, since the examples build upon each other in complexity. I suggest that the chapter on "Passed Pawns" should be studied first, because many of the various middlegame structures can ultimately give rise to a passed pawn in the endgame. Work carefully through these examples, because masters use pawn structures even in the opening to predict the properties of endgames which can potentially arise - this is a widely neglected aspect and can be a strong weapon for you!

For almost two centuries the French Defense has been a universally popular opening. Many authorities have made their contribution to establishing the theory. Thanks to their efforts, players nowadays can easily make a choice between the many and various options, whether peaceful or sharp, whether statically or dynamically orientated. Just as importantly, if not more so, fans of the French worldwide can today find good options to play both for a win and a draw! All this makes the French Defense very popular. However, the authors think that many lines have not been well explained or should be revisited. Some other lines deserve a better reputation. Finally we have also suggested some new approaches. Simply speaking, the French Defense looks to be inexhaustible and there cannot be enough books dedicated to it. This book takes a step in the direction of revitalizing our favorite opening! The authors have decided to set the book in order from the less to the more popular and complex lines. In the case of the most popular moves 3. e5, 3. Nd2 and 3. Nc3, we decided to offer two options for Black – one aims to lead to calm play, taking care first with finding balance and equalizing; the other aims to lead to a direct game. Needless to say, we wish to arm the reader in all scenarios that can arise in a practical game of chess, depending on their intentions, wishes, preparation, motivation level, and standings etc.  

For almost two centuries the French Defense has been a universally popular opening. Many authorities have made their contribution to establishing the theory. Thanks to their efforts, players nowadays can easily make a choice between the many and various options, whether peaceful or sharp, whether statically or dynamically orientated. Just as importantly, if not more so, fans of the French worldwide can today find good options to play both for a win and a draw! All this makes the French Defense very popular. However, the authors think that many lines have not been well explained or should be revisited. Some other lines deserve a better reputation. Finally we have also suggested some new approaches. Simply speaking, the French Defense looks to be inexhaustible and there cannot be enough books dedicated to it. This book takes a step in the direction of revitalizing our favorite opening! The authors have decided to set the book in order from the less to the more popular and complex lines. In the case of the most popular moves 3. e5, 3. Nd2 and 3. Nc3, we decided to offer two options for Black – one aims to lead to calm play, taking care first with finding balance and equalizing; the other aims to lead to a direct game. Needless to say, we wish to arm the reader in all scenarios that can arise in a practical game of chess, depending on their intentions, wishes, preparation, motivation level, and standings etc.  

How to learn strategy? Can it be learned? It can be, of course. And these volumes are the perfect guide to learn (or, more precisely, to learn to understand) strategy. Our idea is to throw light on all the strategic concepts in these volumes. To help you navigate more simply, we have divided all the material into two volumes. This first one is exploring the elements of strategy, explaining typical and essential principles in detail. The second one is about pawn structures. Of course, structures themselves actually mean nothing without recognizing patterns and principles from the elements (because pawn structures are used to determine the values of pieces, for instance). That is why volume two can be considered as an advanced level of strategy. Generally, examples will be based on material adopted from volume one and upgraded. Volume one is divided into nine chapters and the titles suggest the topic explained in detail. Examples are arranged from less to more complex and I recommend that the reader not skip examples inside the chapters. Moreover, I would ask the reader to go through the chapters in the order in which they are presented in the book, because the most important topics come first. For instance, centralization is the leading principle and it must be kept in mind while working on other topics!