This second book focuses on endgames. There are a lot of things to learn “by heart” about them — but they are often difficult to apply at the board, unless you get exactly the same position as you studied. This is why I believe it is an interesting approach to present an endgames book as a series of exercises, with instructive but practical positions.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Chess Calculation Training
In the fifteen chapters and 480 exercises in this book, we will encounter many subjects, for example attack, defense, surprises and hidden moves, while some chapters will be especially dedicated to four great players – Kasparov, Karpov, Fischer and Kramnik – in order to learn about their styles. The last two chapters are also of a very special kind, ‘Extraordinary Wins’, where you will see moves of the kind you won’t meet very often in life, and ‘Special Section’, with exercises requiring special instructions.
After his 2008 book ‘Winning Chess Middlegames’, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov takes us a step further into his dungeon of middlegame skills. In his well known style, Sokolov focuses on the different aspects of the complex middlegame.
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.
How does one achieve the unique ‘sound’ and distinct technique that are absolutely necessary to become successful at the highest level? It can only be done via a deep understanding of the chess player’s personality and the unique talent that distinguishes him from other soloists. It is here that the role of a coach is of the utmost importance. First, it is necessary to understand the nature of your student’s chess talent, and second, it is important to identify the player’s character and personality traits. His style ought to be harmonious, so that the essence of the human being matches the characteristics of his chess talent. Since it is the same emotionless computer that is now in charge of the purely chess component, it falls upon the coach to deal with the chess player’s personality, mysterious and unknowable as it might be. Yes, a lot depends on the number and power of dependable cyber assistants, on the size and quality of various chess databases, on the enthusiasm of the seconds and on the ability to work with modern electronic gadgets, but at the highest level, almost all elite chess players have the same tools at their disposal. Thus, as always, everything is decided — as in the ‘good old days’ — by the player's talent, by his unique ability to create. The coach's task is to help his student develop this unique creative side to the maximum. It has so happened that in recent years I have been able to work closely with great chess talents who were at the same time outstanding personalities. I hope that an inside look at this kind of work will be of interest to both specialists and chess fans. I faced several ethical problems when working on this book. Many of the chess players who appear in these pages are still young; their whole life, including their sports career, lies ahead. That is why I tried to avoid purely personal details and did not reveal any professional secrets. I hope that these players, like me, will be curious to reflect on their own achievements and mistakes, and to take the reader on the difficult journey that allowed them to become prominent chess personalities.
Robert Ris wrote this book especially for club players who want to do more than opening theory.
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.
What does it take to become an expert in opening preparation?
How can we learn the secret methods which allow the top players to dominate everyone else in the opening?
Books can hardly be useful in this regard because modern books on openings, regardless of the level of the author, are very standard and straightforward. The title of this book claims to answer this question. Your author will then back up his claim with proof in the form of analysis from a strong engine. You are then left to decide whether or not to include these ideas in your opening repertoire.
What is missing is some sort of guidance and advice relating to what sorts of tournaments and against what sorts of players this idea should be employed. Moreover, every one of you has likely noticed that even the best opening idea still has a relatively short life span and can hardly be used in more than a few games. So far I have published about 10 books on openings and for me it is not a problem to publish another 10 or even more. However, in the modern era I believe the lifespan of an opening book is incredibly short as new games are constantly being played and new ideas are being found. I feel it would be much more useful to you if I uncover a new approach to opening preparation, which will be more long-lasting and will improve your play as well.
The method of opening preparation I have used throughout my entire chess-playing career (1997 – 2018) allowed me, with relatively little effort, to be unpredictable the re by winning the psychological battle of the opening. Luring my opponents into prepared opening tricks and traps was great fun!
In the method which I will introduce you to in this book, the first and most important aspect is adapting your approach to each individual opponent and perfect prediction of the opponent’s opening choice, to the smallest details.
The book is essential reading for every ambitious chess player.
An effective approach to opening improvement should focus on understanding the logic behind each move, the relationship between moves, and the ability to adapt to different setups without becoming trapped in a theoretical straitjacket. There is little value in memorizing twenty moves of theory if, once your preparation ends, you are left without a clear plan.
Real improvement comes from recognizing strategic patterns, mastering typical pawn structures, and understanding the middlegame positions that arise from your chosen openings. This means studying model games, analyzing key transitions from opening to middlegame, and developing training habits that prioritize understanding over the mere accumulation of variations.
Only through such an approach can you build a reliable opening repertoire—one founded not on the fragile thread of memory, but on the enduring strength of genuine chess understanding.
Yet, when working on our openings, how often do we stop to consider the sustainability of our progress? How frequently do we think about the transfer of knowledge between different phases of study, the practical integration of computer-assisted analysis, or the simple reality that chess learning remains a fundamentally human process, regardless of how many databases, engines, and training modules continue to emerge?
This book seeks to answer those questions. Its goal is not merely to help you learn openings, but to help you understand them, retain them, and apply them successfully in practical play.
This book is definitely not a book full of theoretical lines. Of course, I will give some advice if possible and necessary. But the main purpose is to explain the structures that can result from double fianchettoed positions. The reader will find five chapters with structures from the white side and six chapters with structures from the black side. The last chapter is a mixed one, with games from both sides. The main — and longest — part will be the first chapter, with games and analyses of my own main weapon starting with Nf3, g3 and b3 against the King’s Indian and Grünfeld. I will show the reader a few games of my own and also games from Kramnik and Andersson, two of my favourite players. I have learned a lot from their games myself. I have played those structures for nearly 25 years and one of my sons also now starts with 1.Nf3. During my years of playing chess I tried many possible openings with White and Black, but I was only successful with fianchettoing one, or even better both, bishops. Maybe this was a sign and those structures are really a lifestyle for me? I hope you will enjoy reading this book and maybe these structures will also become part of your lifestyle. ~ Daniel Hausrath
But let me now explain the idea of this second book. I will show you some 18 games with the more or less current trends in the double fianchetto. These games include some openings like the Tarrasch and the King’s Indian, just to name a few. The main part of the book is divided into exercises and solutions, with 110 positions taken from double fianchetto games. I have divided the exercises into chapters, with each chapter featuring games by players who have deployed the double fianchetto quite often. You will find a lot of typical motifs used by these players. The difficulty level ranges from very easy through to very tough, but I won’t give points for the solutions. The ideas vary from tactics to important strategic subtleties. The reader decides how honestly he or she tries to solve these exercises. It is also not necessary to solve all of them, but it is definitely important to think about these positions and take your time. The reader should gain an impression of the many ideas and structures which are possible in the double fianchetto positions.
DragonMasters volume 1 charts the history of the most exciting and dangerous opening known to chess - the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense.
Unlike almost all other books on the Dragon, the focus is not purely on theoretical development. Instead, the author has combined the most historically important games, the famous players who chose to fight either side (sometimes both sides!) of the opening, and the most unexpected and interesting stories featuring the Dragon. World Champions, contenders of the crown, code-breakers, revolutionaries in every sense of the world - all feature in this remarkable and entirely unique look into the history of an opening variation. as the ancient may say: Here be Dragons!
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