This exceptional book continues the unique project where one of the greatest players of our time transforms her personal journey to the top into a roadmap for everyone who ever wanted to better themselves in the game of chess.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Polgar Bundle
Notions of chess have been shattered by a teen-age Hungarian girl – some call her modest and soft-spoken, but many opponents know her as a ferocious tiger over the board.
Seven years after his acclaimed and bestselling The Kaufman Repertoire for Black and White, Grandmaster Larry Kaufman is back and presents a completely new White repertoire with 1.e4 aiming for an objective advantage in the simplest practical manner. The Black repertoire from his previous book has been thoroughly revised and updated, with some crucial chapters replaced. This is the first opening book that is primarily based on Monte Carlo Search, a revolutionary algorithm that has made chess engines much stronger and more geared towards practical, human chess. The highly original analysis has resulted in many improvements on existing theory.
Sielecki has created a reliable set of opening lines for chess players of almost all levels. The major objective is to dominate Black from the opening, by simple means. You don’t need to sacrifice anything or memorize long tactical lines. His main concept is for White to play 1.d4, 2.Nf3, 3.g3, 4.Bg2, 5.0-0 and in most cases 6.c4. Sielecki developed this repertoire while working with students who were looking for something that was easy to understand and easy to learn. This new 1.d4 repertoire may be even easier to master than his 1.e4 recommendations, because it is such a coherent system. Sielecki always clearly explains the plans and counterplans and keeps you focussed on what the position requires. Ambitious players rated 1500 or higher will get great value out of studying this extremely accessible book.
Sielecki always clearly explains the plans and counterplans and keeps you focussed on what the position requires. Ambitious players rated 1500 or higher will get great value out of studying this extremely accessible book.
This is the first volume of the new series "Key Concepts of Chess". The idea is to deal with middlegames in which a certain structure or essential theme becomes central. The idea of starting this series is in line with the "Understanding before Moving" series because the aim, is to improve the understanding of club chess players. According to the author, playing an opening should be 'hung up' on stereotypical ideas and concepts belonging to this structure. The thorough exploration of middlegame structures is beyond the scope of opening books, hence it makes more sense to expose it in this complementary series. In this first volume, the "Hedgehog System" is discussed in detail. Apart from being part of the author's repertoire, this typical set-up deserves to be widely highlighted. Although in the second part of the trilogy on the Sicilian, the Hedgehog has already made its appearance, in this book the seemingly fragile, but oh so treacherous creature can reconsider its spines in an extensive way.
Do you want a simple and practical method to counter Black’s kingside fianchetto defences after 1 d4? A line that takes the initiative from a very early stage and creates difficult practical problems? If so, then The Harry Attack (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 h4!) is for you.
At first this looks like some sort of joke or, at the very least, a weird outlandish line. Aren’t we all taught to focus on development and control of the centre in the early stages? What’s 3 h4 got to do with that?
Perhaps surprisingly, this is a very difficult line for Black to counter effectively. This applies not just in practical play but also theoretically, where it is far from straightforward for Black even to find a route to equality. And when Black gets it wrong they are often on the receiving end of a very unpleasant miniature.
You may be thinking that surely the best chess engines can show how to counter this line? No! One of the unexpected features of leading engine play is their enthusiasm for shoving the h-pawn up the board and they fully concur that 3 h4! is a very decent move for White. Many leading players have taken the hint and 3 h4 is frequently seen at elite level.
Richard Palliser and Simon Williams (the GingerGM) provide a thorough guide to this fascinating line. They show how to adapt when Black chooses a King’s Indian set-up, a Grünfeld set-up, a Benoni set-up or even plays in Benko style.
The Harry Attack is easy to learn and is perfect for unsettling players steeped in the theory of their favourite Indian defences.
Every winter, the world's strongest chess players and most promising chess prodigies travel to a small seaside village in the Netherlands to immerse themselves for two weeks in chess and chess only. Usually, the World Champion is there, vying for victory. Garry Kasparov won three times, Vishy Anand won five times, and Magnus Carlsen won a record eight times.
The tournament is a gift of the local steel company to their neighbours, the shops, restaurants and B&Bs, and the global community of chess lovers. Hundreds of amateur chess players come to Wijk aan Zee and play in the same hall as the elite grandmasters. Fans all around the world can follow the games with expert commentary during the online live broadcasts.
In 2023, the Tata Steel Chess tournament celebrates its 85th edition. This book captures the uniqueness of the festival in 160 pages. It tells the stories of the winners, the amateurs and their favourite restaurants. Dozens of pictures highlight how photogenic the event is. And, of course, the book includes magnificent chess games annotated by the winners. Wijk aan Zee and the Tata Steel Chess Tournament bring out the best in chess...
Erwin l'Ami is a Dutch Grandmaster and a regular participant in Wijk aan Zee.
Peter Doggers is Chess.com's Director of News and Events.
Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam is editor-in-chief of New In Chess magazine.
Peter Boel is the managing editor of New In Chess books.