Technical Decision Making in Chess

Technical Decision Making in Chess

Most players find the same moments slipping away: the endgames and the positions where one side holds a structural or material edge but the win (or the save) refuses to come. In this book — part of his acclaimed Decision Making series — former World Championship Challenger Boris Gelfand opens up his own thinking in exactly these technical situations.

This is not a manual of memorised positions but a window into how an elite grandmaster actually decides. Gelfand explores the recurring questions of technique: when to defend passively and when actively, why a bad plan beats no plan, when it is right to "run" with the king, and how to choose the correct transformation of one advantage into another. His concept of the "Zone of one mistake" — the danger zone where a single slip squanders everything — is likely to be a revelation.

The examples range from Rubinstein’s classics to his own battles with players like Karjakin, and include fascinating chapters on stalemate, geometry, opposite-coloured-bishop endings, and the practical value of studying endgame compositions.

Demanding and deep, it is best suited to strong club players and above who want to understand technical chess from the inside. A serious book that repays serious study.

This ebook is a part of Bundle: Gelfand Decision Making