How often have you seen a game like this?
The hero has no advantage whatsoever but somehow manages to keep setting the opponent problems. Their opponent goes slightly astray and suddenly hero has a tiny advantage. It’s not much but now that they have a little something to work with, they are in their element. They play accurately and remorselessly and make life incredibly difficult for their opponent. Suddenly, and almost imperceptibly, their advantage increases. Further tiny inaccuracies follow, hero turns the screw and bags the full point. Their opponent is left shaking their head, wondering where on earth they went wrong.
This is the squeeze and the great champions have been capable of squeezing opponents to death. José Capablanca, Tigran Petrosian, Anatoly Karpov and, in the current era, Magnus Carlsen are legendary in this respect.
How do they do it? How do they set problems in apparently sterile positions? How can they continuously manage to defeat world class opposition from positions that others would simply give up as drawn?
In this book, Cyrus Lakdawala explains the mechanisms commonly used in squeeze plays. Using examples from the world’s greatest strategic masters he unpicks the secrets of the squeeze.
The Sveshnikovs clearly explain the ideas and plans for both sides and provide exercises and test positions. After reading and studying this book, White players, from amateurs to Grandmasters, will make their opponents’ lives even more difficult.
What exactly makes the greatest players of all time, such as Magnus Carlsen, Bobby Fischer, and Garry Kasparov stand out from the rest? The basic aspects of chess (calculation, study of opening theory, and technical endgame ability) are of course of great importance. However, the more mysterious part of chess ability lies within the thought process.
In particular:
• How does one evaluate certain moves to be better than others?
• How does one improve their feel of the game?
This book will tackle this woefully underexplored aspect of chess: the logic behind the game. It will explain how chess works at a fundamental level.
Topics include:
• What to think about when evaluating a position.
• How to formulate and execute plans.
• How to generate and make use of the initiative.
The reader also has plenty of opportunities to test their decision-making by attempting 270 practical exercises. These are mostly designed to develop understanding, as the justification of the moves is more important than the actual correct answer.
The Polar Bear System starts after 1.f4 (the Bird opening) and then fianchetto of the King’s bishop.The system is for players who like interesting and original positions and want to avoid memorizing a lot of theory..
A good start is half the battle. Experienced American chess coach Dean Ippolito has trained thousands beginners and adult improvers and knows exactly how you should build your opening knowledge.
Each chapter focuses on a concrete tactical theme. Those will allow you to set traps, and play tricks, but will also develop your general understanding of opening play with concepts as development and the importance of the center.
In this first book of a series of three, Ippolito gives you the tools you need to start your chess games with confidence. Delve into the exciting world of the Center Fork Trick, the Fried Liver Attack, and many more powerful openings tips and tactics.
Dean Ippolito has been considered one of the best coaches in the United States for more than two decades. By the age of 25, he had already coached three of the five youngest national champions in American history. A former prodigy himself, International Master Ippolito understands what is needed to climb the rankings of scholastic chess players. Ippolito has written five well-regarded chess books, including the successful Wojo's Weapons series.
The readers will see many complex endgames with dozens of useful and beautiful ideas, which could be used in our own practical games.
This hefty book offers the results of S. Soloviov’s ten-year-long investigation of a nearly virgin territory of chess theory.
The Tarrasch Defence is one of the most ambitious ways to play against 1.d4. Black immediately fights for the centre, gets a lot of space and develops his pieces without many problems. Former Russian Champion Alexey Bezgodov has more than 30 years of experience with the Tarrasch and is one of the world’s greatest experts. The Art of the Tarrasch Defence is a deeply researched journey into the positional structures, the key moments in the fight for the initiative, the players and the variations.