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British Chess Magazine (February 2025)
Excellent Ennui!
Chess, so the theory goes, takes 10,000 hours of practice to master. Clearly not all of those hours will be enjoyable and studying 80 endgames featuring a specific isolated pawn is definitely not in the fun category. This is where The World’s Most Boring Chess Book comes in.
What The World’s Most Boring Chess Book lacks in entertainment, it makes up in examples explaining how to push for a win in an endgame where one side is saddled with an isolated pawn, and how to defend against such efforts. The commentary which accompanies the deep analysis, makes the subject accessible but never easy: even the endgames with just kings and pawns are surprisingly challenging.
Isolated pawns are one major type of technical position. One can find oneself in such a position from many different openings, or at the end of a middlegame or endgame battle. Hundreds of fascinating games have been played with an isolated pawn and Rogers and Hazai deeply analyse 80 of them in this book... [A] reader will learn which pieces it is better to exchange, when one can wait patiently, and when one needs to look for active counterplay... If you are not shy about working diligently and want to improve your technique, then this book is for you! – From the Foreword by Boris Gelfand
Many chessplayers are uncomfortable in positions which have an isolated d-pawn. With the help of the authors, you will come to embrace these positions, whether on offence or defence. What excellent ennui!
Hungarian International Master Laszlo Hazai is a noted trainer and theoretician who has worked with elite Grandmasters such as Judit Polgar and Boris Gelfand and multiple World Junior Champions. Hazai is also a gold medal winning Olympic captain for Hungary. This is his first book for Russell Enterprises.
Ian Rogers is an Australian Grandmaster. He is commentator, trainer, and author who has tried to make the book accessible for players below a 2700 rating. His previous works for Russell Enterprises include two immensely enjoyable books, Oops! I Resigned Again! and Oops! I Resigned One More Time!.
This book gives Black a full repertoire grounded in answering 1...e6 against everything. The answer against 1.d4 is the Stonewall, while the answer against 1.e4 is the French. The repertoire is geared towards all levels due to its flexibility. While I am known for my extreme attention to detail, I have streamlined the text so that it is not as terse as, say, a 1500-page textbook on neurology.
Both an instruction book and an engaging meditation on the joys of chess, this is the final work by one of the most successful chess writers of all time. Irving Chernev blends anecdotes with his observations on inspiring moves and combinations by well- and lesser-known players, including Troitzky, Réti, Kasparyan, Benko, Kubbel, Rinck, Grigoriev, and many others.
Each example is introduced with a cue ("White to play and win") and includes the composer's name, the date of its original publication if available, a clear diagram with an algebraic grid, and the winning variation presented in algebraic notion. Chernev's sparkling text is complemented by introductions by national Master Bruce Pandolfini and Adam Hart-Davis, an editor who worked with Chernev and who helped assemble this posthumous publication.
Appropriate for players at every level, 200 Brilliant Endgames promises to assist chess enthusiasts in sharpening their endgame skills and to enhance their pleasure and satisfaction in the game.
We all love the dynamics of chess. Spectacular sacrifices, combinations and attacks on the king never fail to enchant us. But how do we improve our understanding of dynamics? How can we recognize the ‘dynamic energy’ in a position? When can we turn 2+2 into 5, as the legendary tactician Mikhail Tal could? The answers can be found in the Hidden Laws of Chess.
In the first volume of this series, International Master Nick Maatman explored the deeper patterns behind pawn structures. In this second volume, he explains the dynamics of chess by discussing themes such as material imbalance, calculation, and quality versus quantity. He also introduces concepts such as field of vision, the impact of error and the price of a move. These original and well-thought-out ideas are illustrated by a wealth of games from top players past and present, as well as from Maatman's own experience.
Maatman is an experienced chess coach and a graduate in business and philosophy. His books are a rich blend of science, philosophy and practicality. The Hidden Laws of Chess Volume 2: Mastering Dynamics contains plenty of useful advice, instructive chess and carefully selected exercises.
Nick Maatman (1995) is an International Master, an experienced chess coach, and a training partner of former Tata Steel winner GM Jorden van Foreest. Maatman became Dutch U20 champion in 2013 and is very active in tournaments, where he has beaten many grandmasters. He is also an acclaimed chess commentator and columnist.
Beating Unusual Chess Openings is a godsend to those chess players fed up with struggling against all opening moves other than White's main two: 1 e4 and 1 d4. From the respectable (English Opening, Réti and King's Indian Attack) through to theoffbeat (Nimzo-Larsen Attack, Bird's Opening) and the totally bizarre (Orang-utan, Grob); everything Black needs to know about facing unusual openings is covered within these pages. Richard Palliser gets to grips with all of White's possibilities, examining their strengths and weaknesses and in turn organizing a reliable and practical repertoire for Black.
Who is the greatest chess player of all time, the GOAT? Who is in the top ten? Let the debate ensue!
How do you measure greatness? Is Morphy "greater" than Carlsen? Can such judgements be made, and do they mean anything?
This fascinating topic is tackled head on in The Greatest by prolific chess author Cyrus Lakdawala. Avoiding presentism with carefully established criteria, Lakdawala considers "pure strength factors", such as dominance over peers, longevity, and tournament wins, as well as other categories such as: Who was most ahead of their time? Who advanced chess theory most?
All these factors are discussed at length alongside 80 fully annotated and instructive games from every era to back up the author’s arguments. A fascinating read on a fascinating topic.
Cyrus Lakdawala is an International Master, a former National Open and American Open Champion, and six-time State Champion. He has been teaching chess for over 40 years, and coaches top US juniors.
I have returned to my book from a few years ago, to an opening that at the time was a rare guest among books as a topic – and not only among books, but also in tournament practice. In the intervening years it has become very popular to use this old and somewhat forgotten method of playing and I have found lots of interesting new games.
This time though I have focused mainly on Colle-Zukertort type positions, plus some transpositions to Queen’s Indian-type play, so this is not a repertoire book like the previous one, but rather you can look at it as an opening book. Of course, Slav reactions with ...c6 are covered as well, and also early and quick ...c5 and ...g6 reactions.
Due to increased popularity, I have dived into specifics which we can consider now as a renaissance of this old line.
Another important thing, and it is indeed an especially important detail, is the organization of material into logical sections, because this system is often transpositional. Therefore, it is important to do this because reading this book should be an easy and joyful experience.
There are positions in this book that have stood the test of time, but I have also focused on the most recent ideas as I didn’t want to simply repeat the same ideas as before – I wanted to include as much as possible new plans. I also tested these ideas numerous times in my own practice.
So, what you have here is a completely redesigned and modernized system compared to only a few years ago, when this system was virtually forgotten.
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).
The astounding success of How To Study Chess on Your Own made clear that thousands of chess players want to improve their game — and like to work on their training at least partially by themselves.
The bestselling book by GM Kuljasevic offered a structured approach and training plans. Due to popular demand, Kuljasevic has created a series of accompanying Workbooks with exercises and tools a chess student can use to start his training immediately.
Most workbooks offer puzzles and puzzles only. But Kuljasevic has used his coaching experience to create a broader and more exciting training schedule. Tasks like these will challenge you:
– Solve deep visualization puzzles
– Find a ‘hidden tactic’ – and a mini-plan
– Playing a sharp tactical position – against a friend or an engine, carefully set an appropriate level
– Simulation – study and replay a strategic model game
– Analyze – try to understand a thematic endgame position
Volume 2 is optimized for chess players with an Elo rating between 1500 and 1800 but is helpful for anyone between 1200 and 2000. Volume 1 is for 1800-2100 Elo, and Volume 3 will serve the needs of more advanced club players.
Davorin Kuljasevic is an International Grandmaster born in Croatia. He graduated from Texas Tech University and is an experienced coach. His bestselling book Beyond Material: Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces was a finalist for the Boleslavsky-Averbakh Award, the best book prize of FIDE, the International Chess Federation.
British Chess Magazine (January 2025)
The book about defense is created as an endeavor to help players who struggle with issues that are rarely written about. Namely:
– How to organize a proper defense?
– How to perry opponent’s threats and thwart his plans?
– How to create a strong counter-attack?
After a careful study of interesting and instructive examples we decided to divide the material into several logical chapters:
1. Good Defense. Learn and draw conclusions about how the best players think when solving the problems of defense in practical play.
2. Poor Defense. Examples of incorrect defense can be found at practically all levels. We believe these examples show exactly how demanding defense is.
3. The King. Modern ways of king evacuation, or keeping the king in the center. Also, we explain how the king "thinks" and takes care of himself in dangerous situations.
4. Critical moments in the game. Games and game fragments that tackle with the moments when the fate of the game is decided and how the best players react in those situations.
5. Defense in inferior endgames. Defense is not only about the king that is threatened in a game, and it is not just about thinking of the king’s safety. It is highly instructive and practical to apply defensive principles in endgames as well.
6. Openings. Presentation of modern openings and typical defensive reactions in the Italian, the Ruy Lopez and the Grunfeld Defense.
Finally, the book ends with 50 demanding exercises that should reenforce the knowledge you have gathered after a careful study of all examples.
We hope you will enjoy studying the presented material and successfully pro gress in this extremely demanding area of chess.
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