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Classic amateur mistakes is an essential read for the aspiring tournament chess player.

Experienced Author and coach Grandmaster Daniel Gormally argues that amateur players have a different outlook on chess compared to more experienced and professional players.

Due to a lack of confidence in their chess calculation, they often struggle to deal with concrete positions and will succumb to paralysis by analysis. If you ask an amateur player about a typical chess position, they will often waffle on in such a way about the general features of the position to the extent that your eyes will glaze over. Ask a professional player about that same position, and by contrast they will bombard you with variations.

In this entertaining, humorous and entertaining read, Gormally gives his reasons why this is and tries to explain how they can improve, as well as also analysing other classic amateur mistakes, like moving a piece too often and not attacking enough.

The sum result is a tome that will not only help the amateur player to achieve better results but will also give them a consistent process going forward at the board that they feel comfortable with.

Daniel Gormally is a chess Grandmaster based in Alnwick in Northumberland. As well as being the author of several chess books including the comfort zone, pandemic shark and mating the castled king, he also runs a moderately successful chess YouTube channel.

In 2024 Gormally won the UK rapid play championship in Peterborough, and in 2025 he won the UK open blitz championships in Leamington Spa. In 2026 Gormally officially became a senior chess player and is hoping to use this fact to avoid playing underrated juniors in open tournaments, as much as possible.

In his spare time Gormally likes to read comic books and watch Korean cooking game shows, as well as trying to repair his bad back by going to the gym and attending yoga classes.

Irving Chernev's outstanding chess books earn him a high rank among the world's top chess authors. In this well-annotated text, Mr. Chernev guides his readers to an understanding of the subtleties of combinative play.

Step-by-step from the simplest combinations to the most complex, the book explains the intricacies of pins and counter-pins, Knight forks, smothered mates, and other elements of combination play. There is a discussion in chapter five of combinations lurking in roads not taken — alternate lines of play show up in Chernev's notes to the game, while the sixth chapter, "Convincing the Kibitzers," shows the second-guessers what would have happened had the masters done the obvious. (Some disastrous combinations show up here.) A host of boomerangs follow — cases where the player didn't look far enough ahead and his combination, instead of bringing about the opponent's ruin, paved the way to his defeat. Chapters 8–21 take up combinations used by such great players as Tarrasch, Botvinnik, Nimzovich, Steinitz, Rubinstein, and Pillsbury; the sacrificial combinations of Anderssen and Spielmann; the dazzling brilliancies of Morphy, Keres, and Alekhine; the deadly attacks of Marshall; the almost unfathomable ideas of Lasker; and the matchless creations of Capablanca. Mr. Chernev's thoughtful annotations unravel the secrets of each of these plans. A diagram accompanies each combination; an index, by player, leads the reader to the combination he is looking for.

Do you relish the prospect of setting your opponent awkward problems from the early start of the game? If so, you should just continue reading, for in the Bg5 Najdorf, it’s every man for himself, and only the best informed and most creative resourceful player survive. The Bg5 variation gives White very dangerous attacking ideas, and Blacks really needs to know a precise defense to come out of this variation alive. This book provides weapons that are ideal choices for those who revel in forcing opponents into chaotic and uncomfortable positions. Lukasz Jarmula, a player and writer of international caliber, will be your truthful guide!

The goal of this book is to illustrate how specific pawn structures should be studied for typical themes even if they arise from different openings. The pawn structure with (typically) White’s isolated queen pawn on the ‘d’ file has been known for over a hundred years, and different players have shown best plans for both sides over the years.

This book offers to meet the new challenges to Black by building an English Hedgehog formation. It is all the more convincing as it is based on the successful practical experience of one of the authors.

The Queen's Indian Defence has the reputation of a very reliable system for Black. Although his chances of obtaining sharp double-edged positions are restricted, good knowledge of piece set-ups and different plans should offer Black chances of seizing the initiative even in calm variations. The opening monographs on the QID, as a rule, focus on the move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6. What is Black supposed to do if the opponent wishes to avoid the QID and begins the game with the moves 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4, or 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3?. How should Black deploy his pieces and what should he aim for in the middlegame? The book of the grandmaster from Saint Petersburg and chess-coach Evgeniy Solozhenkin answers these questions!

In 1971 Robert James Fischer defeated Mark Taimanov by the sensational score of 6–0 in Vancouver. Twenty years later Taimanov put pen to paper, reflecting on the experience and his, in total, 8 games with Fischer. This book is now published for the first time in English, exactly 50 years after the match.

With additional annotated games from Taimanov and guest appearances by some of the youngest and brightest stars of the US chess scene today, "I was a Victim of Bobby Fischer" gives the ultimate insight into one of the most famous chess matches in history.

The Janowski Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined arises after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6. Black plays ...a6 to prepare the queenside expansion ...b5, aiming to challenge White’s c4 pawn and gain space. The idea was introduced by the Polish-French grandmaster Dawid Janowski around the turn of the 20th century.

Compared with classical QGD lines, this variation is less theoretical and offers flexible development for Black. White usually responds by strengthening the center and preventing ...b5, often with moves like a4, Nf3, or cxd5. The resulting positions typically feature a strategic battle between White’s central control and Black’s queenside expansion.

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 you improve and your opponents become stronger, very often these crafty lines don't stand up to close scrutiny, and suddenly you're back to square one with no suitable opening weapons.

In Starting Out: 1 d4! John Cox solves this perennial problem by providing the reader with a strong and trustworthy repertoire with the white pieces based on the popular opening move 1.d4. The recommended lines given here have stood the test of time and are regularly employed by Grandmasters. Reading this book will give you the confidence to play these variations against all strengths of player and provide you with a reliable opening armoury for years to come.

This book is written in Everyman Chess's distinctive Starting Out style, with plenty of notes, tips and warnings throughout to help the aspiring player.

The Modern Benoni is just about the most aggressive method that Black can choose to counter White’s 1 d4. In the main line variations Black allows White to have a preponderance of central pawns which, traditionally, grants the first player the advantage. However, in return, Black gains the opportunity for tremendously dynamic counterplay. This places White and under immediate pressure as any inaccurate moves can prove to be disastrous. In this book, FIDE Master John Doknjas examines all aspects of this highly complex opening and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans. With thorough variations and explanations on pawn structures and piece placement, this book provides insight for both strong masters and less experienced players alike. The format is ideal for the chessplayer keen to improve their game. While reading you are continually challenged to answer probing questions – a method that greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of chess knowledge.

A Practical Black Repertoire with Nf6, g6, d6 Volume 1

The great appeal of a universal system is economy: learn one harmonious set-up and play it against almost anything. Alexei Kornev builds exactly that for Black here — a repertoire founded on the flexible ...Nf6, ...g6, ...d6 structure (the King’s-Indian/Pirc/Modern family), where the same fianchettoed bishop on g7 and the same core plans recur whatever White does.

This first volume handles everything except the main King’s Indian battleground. Against 1.e4 it gives the Pirc Defence; against everything where White declines the big centre it supplies clear, unified answers — the English and Réti, the offbeat 1.f4, 1.b3 and 1.b4, and the whole Queen’s-Pawn family (the Trompowsky, London, Torre, and fianchetto systems). Because all of these are met with the same ...g6 scheme, the amount you must learn stays remarkably small.

In the Chess Stars house style, each chapter pairs a "Main Ideas" overview of the typical plans and structures with a detailed "Step by Step" theoretical section, so you can study to whatever depth suits you.

Volume 2 completes the system, covering the main King’s Indian Defence after 1.d4 and c4. Together they give Black one coherent, low-maintenance answer to the entire opening landscape — ideal for club players and above who would rather master one set-up deeply than juggle a different defence for every White move.