General Strategy Books

Every chessplayer, from beginner to world champion, loves to win a game with a brilliant attacking display. However many, if not most, attacks that end in victory do so due to inaccurate defence. This may be due to simple tactical miscalculation or perhaps a more fundamental misunderstanding of the important principles of defence. Furthermore, many attacks that are launched are simply unsound but succeed because many players feel uncomfortable when forced to defend, get flustered and make mistakes. In this book, highly experienced chess author and coach, Neil McDonald addresses these issues.

Defensive skill is crucial in chess. Good, accurate defence can win a game just as well as a fine attacking display can, so expertise in this department is essential for any player wishing to improve their game. With thorough explanations, questions, and exercises, this book provides fascinating material to enable you to hone your defensive skill and not feel intimidated when your opponent hurls pieces at your king.

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Sun Tzu

Mostly basing my chess work on this statement of the great Chinese military theoretician, I have managed throughout my chess coaching career to implement many of his principles, and even establish them as being valid for the game of chess. I think the statement above should be taken as an axiom. Thus, strategy must be the leading chess topic, and definitely based on logic. Moreover, strategy must tower over all other chess topics and sub-topics; strategy is the ultimate chess idea and it sublimates and determines other principles. 

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.

My idea is to throw light on all the strategic concepts in these volumes. To help you navigate more simply, I 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.

The possession of the bishop pair (vs. bishop & knight, or knight pair) is an important strategic element that may guarantee superiority and even determine the outcome of the game. In modern chess, the bishop pair has been established as a positional advantage in the majority of cases, and it’s very common nowadays to hear teachers tell their students ‘keep your bishops’ or ‘capture that bishop’.

In today’s chess, the importance given to this element has increased to the point that in some of the most popular opening variations, the main goal has become to gain the bishop pair. That is because the bishop pair can be a powerful advantage in any phase of the game. For example, it’s a lethal weapon in an attack against the king. It can also be very efficient in attacking weaknesses: one bishop can put pressure on the target, while the other attacks the defending piece. However, it is the endgame where it is particularly strong.

The publisher's foreword describes this as "Puzzle book meets The Master Game meets Science" — a reference to the 1970s BBC television series where grandmasters narrated their thought processes out loud as games were replayed. That comparison is accurate.

Philip Hurtado, a researcher with no prior chess book to his name, contacted Michael Adams via his website with an idea: present the same 40 positions to chess players ranging from complete beginners to Super-GM, record not just the moves they chose but their full reasoning as they worked through each problem, and use the resulting data to analyse scientifically what actually separates strong players from everyone else.

Adams — who left school at sixteen to pursue professional chess and became one of the world's top ten players — signed on, and his involvement grew considerably as the project developed. The format is straightforward: solve the puzzle yourself, then read the recorded thought processes of each solver, from club level up to Adams himself. What emerges is not a theoretical framework but observed reality: you see exactly where a 1500-rated player and a Super-GM diverge, in their own words.

The book ends with data-driven conclusions: candidate move selection, the art of falsification, and — the question Adams says he'd been asked a thousand times with no good answer — how many moves ahead a grandmaster actually calculates. An Eyetracker experiment, tracking where players of different strengths actually look on the board, adds a final dimension that no conventional chess book has attempted.

464 pages. Suitable for intermediate players and above.

“Secrets of Positional Sacrifice” is the second book, created within the premises of the Nestorović family chess workshop. I would like to mention that the whole family contributed to this book. We are also extremely thankful to our friends, who, thanks to their previous experience, have introduced us to the process of creating chess books, with their invaluable advice and ideas.

Considering the abundance of material regarding this topic that was gathered, we decided to make this book only the first, lower level of the “Positional sacrifice” edition. My father and I worked hard to make sure that the new book will be as interesting as the first one, but also more adapted to the wider audience.

Although the book mostly covers the more recent games, we could not help but include the beautiful creations of “old masters”, that we consider classical today. When it comes to dividing the book into chapters, there were multiple, interesting possibilities, but we opted for sectioning it based on a subject of sacrifice. Hence, there are five chapters within the book: positional pawn sacrifice, exchange sacrifice, piece sacrifice, queen sacrifice and finally, the unavoidable section dedicated to the classics.

There are a lot of interesting ideas presented in the book, applied by world class players, as well as by the less known ones. We kept the analysis of their games simple and easy to follow, and we made sure to include plenty of diagrams and explanations within the text.

Also, the addition to the book are exercises, given at the end of each chapter, which are meant to test the reader’s newly acquired knowledge. Exercises are mainly based on the correct assessment of asymmetric positions, and of course on accurate calculation.

We hope you will enjoy the book, at least as much as my father and I enjoyed writing it, and we have no doubt that our book will improve your chess knowledge and the feeling for positional sacrifice. ~ GM Nikola Nestorović

The material is divided into four chapters, and two parts, depending if we have an endgame with queens or rooks on the board. I have decided to keep the focus on endgames because in middlegames, some other factors may simply prevail. In endgames, the importance of having a knight against a bishop just increases! For easier understanding, I suggest that before studying any example, you should determine which side will prevail and you can find the solutions yourself. Of course, you can work directly from the book and even skip some examples, and you can analyze them in random order. 

In the book, you will find Capablanca’s famous postulate about the queen and knight cooperating better than the queen and bishop, and some exceptions as well. For first time, you will hear of my audacious “postulate” that a rook and knight will “more often” prevail over a rook and bishop combination. I know this may sound absurd. I know Tal and Fischer would have disagreed and probably would have been indignant to hear this. I know many strong players would rather have a rook and bishop combination, basing their approach on the past masterpieces of these giants. But what about Rubinstein, and especially Karpov and Andersson – these masters had a great influence on my style and my coaching methods. Furthermore, I have based my “postulate” on statistics that I obtained after deeply searching for examples for this book. I hope it will reopen a debate about this material balance. My opinion is made, and I would like to apologize to all “bishop fans”.

I have decided to use actual words instead of symbols to explain my ideas, methods and plans. I think that it should be right in this computer era that is full of numbers, digits, etc. that words and sentences from the coach are simply irreplaceable to explain strategy and endgames. 

I am sure that this book will demystify that “eternal battle” and help you to broaden your horizons. I am sure you will find a lot for yourself in this book. 

Attacking your opponent’s king is not just a shortcut to victory, it’s also one of the most enjoyable and gratifying experiences in chess. If you want to win more games you should become a better attacker. Studying typical attacking motifs and ideas easily brings dividends while you are having a good time. Michael Prusikin presents the prerequisites and the rules for a King attack in a lucid and attractive manner. In 15 thematic chapters he teaches you how to assess the nature of the position, identify the appropriate offensive patterns, find the preliminary moves and conduct your attack in a clear and effective way. Battering rams, obstructive sacrifices, pawn storms, striking at the castled position, sacrificing a knight on f5, Prusikin demonstrates the most important patterns of attack with lots of clear and well chosen examples. Next, Prusikin tests your newly acquired insights and your attacking intuition with exercises covering all the themes and motifs. You will find that studying Attacking Strategies for Club Players is both entertaining and rewarding.

Matthew Sadler presents a unique set of methods to work out using an engine. Preparing openings and training early middlegame play, the conversion of advantages, positional play,and defense. And of course: how to analyze one’s own games. These generic training methods Sadler supplements with concrete middlegame and opening tools (techniques, ideas) developed by various top engines. Sadler illustrates his lessons with a collection of fantastic games, explained with his trademark enthusiasm. For the first time the superhuman powers of the chess engine have been decoded to the benefit of all players, in a rich and highly instructive book. Ten thousands of players own a chess engine, but they mostly just use it to check and calculate variations. Matthew Sadler presents unique methods to work out with a chess engine and shows specific middlegame tools and opening strategies developed by engines. For the first time, the superhuman powers of the chess engine have been decoded to the benefit of all chess players.

“To be passive... is fatal to the beginner or medium player – such players must be aggressive. He must attack, because only in that way can he develop his imagination, which is a very important thing.” This quote comes, perhaps surprisingly, from José Capablanca, a world champion far better known for his brilliant strategic and positional play than his attacking prowess. This emphasizes the fundamental importance of having a clear understanding of how to build up and execute an attack. Every chess player loves to attack. Directing one’s forces towards the enemy king, probing to create weaknesses and ultimately crashing through with a brilliant sacrifice is always a thrilling experience. However, attacking play must always be based on sound principles and carried out in a forceful and logical manner. This is not always a straightforward task. In this book, the highly experienced author and grandmaster Neil McDonald guides the reader through all the complexities of attacking play. Topics include: – Attacking a king trapped in the centre; – Exploiting weaknesses to develop an attack; – Preventing reinforcements from rescuing the king.

Bishop or knight? An eternal dilemma! The legendary Bobby Fischer would likely vote for the bishop. Other authorities like Nimzowitsch would prefer the knight. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Of course, it is clear a bishop usually dominates in open positions while the knight should be preferred in blocked positions. But what does that “usually” mean? Are there exceptions? Sure, a bishop can dominate even in a blocked position if the controlled diagonal is important. Further, the knight can dominate in open positions if there is a good outpost or influential place for it. The pawn structure definitely determines the minor pieces’ prospects, and it is extremely important to predict the future properties of the pawn structure early in the game. Nowadays it is not enough to start thinking about the endgame in the middlegame. Today’s masters begin their opening strategy based on the arising endgames! Knowing the arising endings may give you some advantage even if the opponent obtained some initiative as was Petrosian’s manner. By studying this book you should discover many properties regarding the combat between the bishop and knight which will open new horizons in your chess understanding. In this book (Volume 1) I will present direct combat between the bishop and the knight. You may consider this a prelude to Volume 2 where the story will develop with more complex battles as other pieces will be added. There will be sections with rooks and queens added where either the knight or bishop will be superior. I have no doubts that if you carefully analyze the material in both volumes, you will master both the basic and advanced endgames where one of the key factors will be the material imbalance between having either the bishop or the knight.

AlphaZero benötigte nur wenige Stunden des Selbstlernens, um zu dem Schachspieler zu werden, der die Welt erschütterte. Das System Künstlicher Intelligenz wurde mit nichts anderem als den Regeln des Königlichen Spiels gefüttert, bevor es das weltbeste Schachprogramm in einem langen Match besiegte. Die im Dezember 2017 veröffentlichte Auswahl von zehn Partien sorgte für weltweites Aufsehen: Wie war es möglich, gegen einen Gegner von übermenschlicher Stärke derart brillant und riskant zu spielen, ohne auch nur eine einzige Partie zu verlieren? Für Zeitenwende im Schach haben Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan mehr als zweitausend zuvor unveröffentlichte Partien von AlphaZero untersucht. Zugleich hatten sie exklusiven Zugang zum Forschungsteam von DeepMind und konnten einen einzigartigen “Blick unter die Haube” werfen, um so die Tiefe und Breite von AlphaZeros Suchfunktion ermessen zu können. Zeitenwende im Schach präsentiert zugleich eine Sammlung einprägsam erläuterter Schachpartien außergewöhnlicher Qualität. Die erstaunlichen Entdeckungen von AlphaZero in jedem relevanten Bereich lassen die Spielstärke von Profi- wie auch Vereinsspielern wachsen: Eröffnungsvorbereitung, Figurenbeweglichkeit, Initiative, Angriffstechniken, langfristige Opfer und vieles mehr. Dieses Buch bietet faszinierende Einblicke in die Perspektiven und Möglichkeiten der Künstlichen Intelligenz. Wobei sich der Radius keineswegs auf die Bewältigung von Spielen beschränkt, sondern ebenso auf verschiedenartigste gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen gerichtet ist.

The first volume dealt with the Najdorf and Scheveningen variations, and it is now time to pay attention to three other extremely popular systems: the Taimanov, Kan and Richter-Rauzer variations. After careful consideration within the Thinkers Publishing team, we decided that it made sense to group these variations together. In particular, the first two are closely related and share the feature that, in both cases, Black plays ...e7-e6 and ...a7-a6 at an early stage. They typically have the idea of retaining more options for their king’s bishop by postponing ...d7-d6 (or even omitting it entirely.) The bishop may go to b4 or c5 in different lines. The Richter-Rauzer is, in theory, just one of the possible developments from a Classical Sicilian. We have already dealt with a few games that started with the Classical and where Black shortly played ...e7-e6; and 6.Bc4 (the Sozin variation) was rightly treated within the Scheveningen pages. However, it is clear that White’s most popular counter, the Richter-Rauzer variation (6.Bg5) deserves separate attention.