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The Sicilian Taimanov (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6) is a very flexible Black system in the Sicilian Defence developed by Mark Taimanov. It is characterised by the development of the g8-knight on e7, often along with a quick ...b7-b5. The Taimanov often leads to tense, dynamic position which are ripe in counterattacking possibilities.

In Opening Repertoire: The Sicilian Taimanov, highly experienced chess author and coach Nigel Davies guides the reader through the complexities of the Taimanov and carves out a repertoire for Black. He 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. There are also suggestions for countering White’s “anti-Sicilian” tries thus creating an entire repertoire to meet 1.e4.

The world’s top trainer, Mark Dvoretsky, and one of his best-known pupils, grandmaster Artur Yusupov, present a five-volume series based on courses given to talented young players throughout the world. The books contain contributions by other leading trainers and grandmasters, as well as games by pupils who have attended the courses.

The final volume of the series deals with various creative aspects, such as the calculation of variations and the development of intuition. It also explores the psychology of taking decisions, both when attacking and when defending.

CHESS INFORMANT’S 160th ADVENTURE

STEP AHEAD

CONTENTS:

• PAVLOVIC – OVERVIEW OF CANDIDATES

• AFEK – AN UZBEK VICTORY IN PRAGUE

• PERUNOVIC – AUSTRIAN BUNDESLIGA 2023/24

• SPEELMAN – HAND IN SILICON HAND

• KOTRONIAS – KING'S INDIAN DEFENCE – 5.Be2 Variation

• NTIRLIS – DEEP OPENING IDEAS THAT ARE NOT JUST FOR GRANDMASTERS

• PRUSIKIN – ABOUT OUTPOSTS AND PAWN MAJORITIES

• BARAK GONEN – WORLD OF CORRESPONDENCE CHESS

• DJURASEVIC – STUDIES – PEARLS OF THE CHESS GAMES

• ROGERS – THE SEMTEX BLUES

• GRIFFIN – FROM THE CHESS INFORMANT ARCHIVES

Traditional sections: 355 games and fragments, combinations, endings, Tournament reviews, the best game and the most important theoretical novelty from the preceding volume.

The periodical that pros use with pleasure is at the same time a must have publication for all serious chess students!

I assume that most of you have read (and enjoyed!) the first volume of this series, but for those who haven’t: don’t worry. The level of the content of the two books is identical and you can work through the second volume without having studied the first one. However, it’s still not too late to get a copy of the first volume! In the first six chapters I will mainly look at positions with limited material left on the board. Endgames, yes, but also positions where the initiative plays an important role. My aim is to illustrate the specific features of all the pieces and this can best be done without too many other pieces on the board.

During my chess career I have played almost 4000 classical games, a good deal of them against grandmasters, including world's top players, a number of which I managed to defeat. A lot of these games are interesting and instructive, and studying them will definitely help any player to get new expertise, learn new ideas and therefore improve their chess skill. This book is divided into three chapters. The first part is a brief description of my life and career. The second chapter includes 54 of my most memorable victories grouped by their main contents (tactics, attack, positional play etc.) while in every section games are arranged in chronological order. The third chapter is specifically devoted to endgames and contains analyses of the 12 most interesting, often amazing endgames, I had in my practice. Some of the games and endings were published (mostly a long time ago) in various chess magazines. All my earlier annotations have been fully revised for this book, with the help of more modern computers and analysing engines. I don’t understand the strange approach of some chess commentators (mostly those providing online coverage of games), who decline using chess engines in order to give more "human" commentaries (which leads to numerous mistakes and blunders as they can't fully concentrate on the games in the same way as players do). I don't see any contradiction between human explanation of decisions taken in the games and their verification with technical aids. On top of this, computer analysis often reveals fantastic possibilities hidden in the position, which are as instructive as details of human thinking.

Siegbert Tarrasch and Aron Nimzowitsch could be called the two vainest chess players in history. This book tells the fascinating story of their lifelong rivalry. They clashed as personalities, as players and as chess writers, both searching for the truth in chess, but with very different perspectives.

Tarrasch is seen as the dogmatic theorist and, according to Nimzowitsch, didn't offer much more than the well-meaning advice of a housewife. Nimzowitsch is the philosopher, the designer of a complete ‘system’ that explains everything there is to know about chess to future generations of students.

Does chess history treat these giants fairly or are they mere caricatures? And what was the role of the third protagonist in this debate, Semyon Alapin, whom Nimzowitsch condescendingly called ‘an artist of variations’? These questions, and these different viewpoints, are at the heart of this in-depth investigation.

Hendriks offers a wonderful and often highly entertaining look at this great controversy. The many chess fragments nicely illustrate how our expertise has evolved in this turbulent period of chess history.

Willy Hendriks.(1966) is an International Master who has been working as a chess trainer for over thirty years. His bestselling book Move First, Think Later won the English Chess Federation Book of the Year Award in 2012. Hendriks has published two other widely acclaimed chess books, On the Origin of Good Moves (2020) and The Ink War (2022).

In Black and White is probably the most honest autobiography ever published by a chess grandmaster. It covers Paul van der Sterren’s rise to the chess elite, but above all, his struggle to become a better player, his insecurities and the difficulties he encountered.

This book provides a hugely illuminating insight into the life of a chess professional, but there is a lot in his story that will resonate with players of any level. From his first moves on the chess board to his Candidates Match against Gata Kamsky, only four steps away from the World title – everything is described in great detail and with the utmost frankness by the Dutch grandmaster. The story doesn’t end there – the book’s final part describes the slow decline of an ageing pro and his eventual shift to meditation and mindfulness.

The Dutch edition of In Black and White, which contains more than 300 deeply analysed games and fragments, was published in 2011 and has achieved cult status. With this English translation, it will finally get a well-deserved wider audience.

Paul van der Sterren (1956) was a professional chess player for over twenty years. He won the Dutch Championship in 1985 and 1993 and played for the Dutch team at eight Olympiads. Van der Sterren lost to Gata Kamsky after a great fight in a Candidates Match in 1994. He has written several chess books, of which Fundamental Chess Openings (2009) is the best known. In Dutch, he has also written several books on mindfulness.

‘A breathtaking read, full of wonderful stories and instructive chess games.’ - Gert Ligterink, de Volkskrant

In "The Duel", Alessandro Bossi and Claudio Brovelli go deep into the lives of these two legendary World Champions, who have left their mark in an unforgettable manner on their epoch (the first forty years of the 20th century) and who remain – in part, due to their very different personalities and relationship with the game – inimitable examples for all the chess-playing generations to come. The choice to present in parallel the two biographies (in my opinion quite rightly so), shows clearly and effectively similarities and differences, not only in the style of play, but also in the approaches to life of the two protagonists. With very precise historical descriptions and presenting the events in chronological order, the authors accompany us on a journey alongside the lives of these two legends of chess. In this fashion the personalities emerge, in many ways antithetical but equally fascinating: Capablanca, friendly and charming in society, precocious, genial and nearly invincible on the chessboard, and Alekhine, who combined a wonderful talent with a capacity for work, a competitive attitude and an energy which was truly enviable.

Winner of the 2015 Best Book Award of the Chess Journalists of America (CJA)

Shortlisted for the English Chess Federation 2015 Book of the Year Award

THIRD, EXTENDED EDITION

Pawn endings do not arise out of nowhere. Before emerging as endgames with just kings and pawns, they 'pre-existed' in positions that still contained any number of pieces.

Liquidation is the purposeful transition into a pawn ending. It is a vital technique that is seldom taught. Strange, because knowing when and how to liquidate can help you win games or save draws.

In this book, former US Chess Champion Joel Benjamin teaches you all you need to know about successfully liquidating into pawn endgames.

He focuses on the practical aspects: what to aim for and how to get there. When to start trading pieces and how to recognize favorable and unfavorable liquidations.

Enter a fascinating world of tempo play (triangulation, zugzwang and opposition), breakthroughs, king activity, passed pawn dynamics, sacrifices and counter-sacrifices.

Exercises will test your growing skills.

This is a ground-breaking, entertaining and instructive guide.

This New and Extended 3rd edition presents 50 new examples, besides other additions and corrections.

At thirteen years of age Joel Benjamin broke Bobby Fischer's record as the youngest ever US master, and this was followed by countless tournament successes. He won the US Championship three times and was the chess consultant for IBM's Deep Blue computer, which made history by beating World Champion Garry Kasparov in an epic encounter.

IM Frank Zeller, Magazine Schach: 

"Benjamin has managed to create an excellent guide to a difficult theme that has been badly served in chess literature (..) If you are really serious about improving your chess, you should work on your Benjamin!" 

Sean Marsh, CHESS Magazine (UK): 

"Entertainment is never far away (..) The material, which feels very fresh, provides an impressive series of easily digestible lessons."

Schach Magazin 64: 

"Strongly recommended (..) In transitions into pawn endgames a lot can be gained and a lot can be lost."

GM Daniel King, creator of the Power Play DVD series: 

'Well written and thoroughly researched. The selected examples have a strong practical value (..) This is an instructive work for players at any level above beginner - but it's not a dry endgame manual. The games contain some beautiful ideas and overall I found the book very entertaining.

GM Matthew Sadler, former British Champion: 

"The book works quite addictively (..) It's dealing with one of the big moments of uncertainty in practical chess."

IM Gary Lane, Chess Moves Magazine: 

"A labour of love that has produced an outstanding book."

The Judges of the ECF Book of the Year Award: 

"An attractive and entertaining book."

GM Daniel Naroditsky, Chess Life Magazine (US): 

"Benjamin tackles one of the most important (and underappreciated) aspects of endgame practice."

GM Karsten Müller, author of 'Fundamental Chess Endings': 

"An excellent new book. The theme of the right exchange is underrepresented in chess literature and Joel Benjamin manages to highlight its importance by investigating the transition into a pawn endgame in deep detail."

Uwe Bekemann, German Correspondence Chess Federation: 

"Engages itself with a theme on which there is not a lot of literautre (..) It will doubtlessly enrich players with a new aspect of the art of playing chess."

Most chess players dream of winning quickly and stylishly, but few know how to increase their chances of such success. Chess in Miniature: Volume 1 takes on the challenge by presenting the eight key Secrets to winning in 25 moves or fewer, with eight additional vital Secrets to follow in Chess in Miniature: Volume 2.

David LeMoir presents the crucial concepts using illuminating examples, containing an ideal balance of short variations and instructive prose. Learn how to become an Opportunist Tactician and a Canny Investor, while aware that The Queen Rules and Beauty Favours The Strong. A final ‘challenge chapter’ is included to test and reinforce the reader’s newfound understanding.

David LeMoir is an experienced chess player and the author of several successful books, with the canny knack of presenting new ways to look at sacrifices and tactics.