"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." Abraham Lincoln. There's no escaping the fact: if you want to win chess games, you have to attack at some point. Many players are happy solving combinations in winning positions, when the hard work is already done, but the key to a successful attack undoubtedly comes much earlier. No-one can attack effectively if they haven't prepared properly, and yet planning in chess can be a difficult technique to master, even for experienced players. This book provides a solution. Using an abundance of illustrative games and examples, Gary Lane answers the questions which constantly puzzle players of all levels. How should I plan after the opening? Where are my opponent's weaknesses? Do I have enough pieces in the attack? When should I strike? Do I need to sacrifice? Should I cash in or continue to attack? Read this book, discover the answers and attack with confidence!
Being able to solve puzzles and combinations is one of the principal components of a successful chess player. But how can one improve on such an important skill? How can one acquire combinational vision? The answer lies within the pages of this book! Experienced chess writer Jacob Aagaard explains how tactical intuition and ability develops and uses pattern recognition to improve the readers tactical ammunition. Is also no secret that the continued practice of puzzles and combinations helps to sharpen the chess brain, and here there is a wealth of exercises and problems to solve accompanied by the full solutions and explanations. This book is a must for the serious competitive player.
This book is about the practical approach to the game of chess. It shaped me as a player and now I would like to share my philosophy with you. My objective is to combat several generally accepted misconceptions, such as a) only studying opening theory will make you a better player, b) one should always follow the first or second line shown by Komodo or Stockfish, and finally, c) that “in theory” is equivalent to “over the board”. The last fallacy is especially dangerous because it implies that players will keep on making the best moves over the board, and therefore sidelines should never be played as the opponent will always find a way to retain and convert the advantage. That is in theory. In practice, however, many players will feel like fish out of water once they end up in a position that is objectively better for them but one that they have never analyzed. Overall, based on my experience as a chess professional, I strongly believe that the above-mentioned fallacies do not hold true empirically, The book is divided into four parts. Part I covers sidelines in the mainstream openings where I take a major opening and analyze one or several sidelines. This is the most theoretical part of the book, where I share a significant amount of original thoughts and analyses that constitute my opening repertoire. Part II discusses the concept that I refer to as systems. It still involves theory, but less so in comparison to Part I. What I am trying to convey in this part is the “schematic thinking” – where you think in terms of plans and typical ideas. Part III takes one step further in abstraction – it analyzes notable modern games where one player showed ambition early on in the game and it worked out well for him. Part IV covers the so-called “early surprises” where early on in the game a player implemented a move that shocked his opponent.
300 tactical puzzles from real endgames!
After the opening and the middlegame, Gods have placed the endgame!
This book touches upon an important but rarely covered topic of "tactics in the endgame". Books on this subject are either rare or still not out there!
You are not alone if you have you lost games from winning positions because you did not spot your opponent's tactical shot. Or maybe you missed a tactic of your own? Inspite of your material advantage, you could not bring home the full point in the end? Practice is your only friend and coach.
This book aims to give you ample practice from tactical endgame positions to really convert that loss into a draw or a draw into a win! Watch out for the Knight forks. Check how other players sacrifice their valuable pieces to ensure the pawn promotes. Or the simplification tactics to win a won endgame!
Unlike other books which offer a high number of generic puzzles, this book has carefully chosen and manually selected high quality puzzles from real games.
Chess Masters stuff as many positions and patterns in their head as possible and this book gives you an opportunity to do that!
HIGHLIGHTS
• 300 puzzles from real games! These puzzles are not made up. The themes/patterns can occur in your games too!
• The puzzles are broken into 4 levels and are suited for players of all strength
• Alternative lines are annotated so you are not left wondering why a certain move was not plausible
• The solution is placed immediately after the puzzle and also has a accompanying diagram so you can easily visualize the variation on the board without moving back and forth
• Each solution is marked with an arrow so you can easily scan the first move without having to read the complete notation. This can also be a good way to get a hint for the first move without revealing the complete solution
No matter your skill level, this book is the right practice companion for you!
The diverse set of tactical ideas involving two bishops in the finale will enable them to gain a deeper understanding of how the bishop pair combines.
Chess players are known to be obsessed by openings. However, world champions have recommended that up-and-coming players should actually begin by studying the endgame first. This is because only by studying simplified positions can one fully develop an understanding of how chess pieces work - both in isolation and with each other. It is also the endgame where the true depth and subtlety of chess is revealed. In this instructive and entertaining book, renowned endgame expert Steve Giddins selects 50 of the finest examples of endgame play in the history of chess. Giddins examines each example in great detail and uses them to demonstrate the essential principles of high-quality endgame play. This book is full of essential guidelines and tips which all players should follow if they want to become a successful endgame player. – 50 examples of brilliant endgame play; – Examines key endgame strategies; – Ideal for players of all levels.
Have you ever wished for a “formula” to help you decide what move to make in any given chess position?
The goal of this book is to illustrate how specific pawn structures should be studied for typical themes even if they arise from different openings. The pawn structure with (typically) White’s isolated queen pawn on the ‘d’ file has been known for over a hundred years, and different players have shown best plans for both sides over the years.
Faced with the novel challenges of The Elshad System, your opponent will have to rely on his own resources instead of cranking out deep theory. Avoid those symmetrical drawing variations from unambitious opponents playing White. Play the Elshad and experience once again what it’s like to play fresh, fighting chess!
This exciting defence, which is characterized by the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5, always amazed me. Quite an aggressive setup, Black is aiming to get very dynamic play (even at the cost of some material in many cases) in order to put a lot of pressure on White players as early as possible! No wonder that great, ambitious players such as Anand, Shirov, and Caruana, just to name of a few, like to employ it regularly. The variation also gained some attention at the Carlsen-Karjakin world championship match from 2016.
The Ark has always been considered one of the theoretically-heaviest defences in meeting the Ruy Lopez, though also the most exciting and definitely the most beautiful of all. It requires tactical vision, good calculation and memory, but not just from us – from the White side too. Let’s not forget that! I also must say that no good lines are absent of theory, so if we’ve decided to learn something “finally”, I argue that it can very well be an ambitious, double-edged line too!
I should also mention that this book is a complete Black repertoire starting from 3.Bb5 a6, the exchange variation being the first chapter. The publisher and me agreed on offering a full package, one that should prove useful for many years to come!
GM Matthieu Cornette shares his insights about one of the most popular openings nowadays – The Ragozin defense.
The book proposes a White repertoire against all variants of the Dutch in the spirit of the London System with 1.d4 f5 2.Bf4.
Georgiev also covers the tricky move orders 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4, 1.c4 e6 2.d4 f5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 (4...Bb4 5.Bd2) 5.Bf4, 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4 to offer a complete repertoire with Bf4.
It is in no way worse than the standard fianchetto lines, and has the huge advantage of being unexplored and barely mentioned in the books on the Dutch. The f4-bishop often proves to be White's most important and active piece, especially when he carries out the thematic break c4-c5. At the same time it defends White's castling position. In contrast to the worn-out fianchetto lines, White always has clear plans in the middlegame, which range from pawn advance on the queenside against set-ups with ...Be7, to h4, Qf3 and long castling against the Leningrad. Play is intuitive, and Black cannot easily prepare at home as the engines consistently show a fair advantage for White while top GM games are scarce. If it comes to that, they are even misleading.
On the White side we can see grandmasters as Carlsen, Aronian, Topalov, Grischuk, Morozevich, Praggnanandhaa, Nihal, Najer, Grandelius and many others. The Bf4-System against the Dutch is not a tricky, one-game opening. It can stand deep analysis with the latest versions of Leela AI and Stockfish. That makes it perfect for a long-term repertoire.
Grandmaster Kiril Georgiev has been the strongest Bulgarian player for many years. He was a Junior World Champion and a bronze medalist in Europe. He has played in 15 Olympiads and also coached Bulgarian national team. His peak rating was in the world's top ten. Kiril wrote the books Fighting the London System, Attacking 1...d5, The Modern English, The Sharpest Sicilian, Squeezing the Gambits.