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“Secrets of Positional Sacrifice” is the second book, created within the premises of the Nestorović family chess workshop. I would like to mention that the whole family contributed to this book. We are also extremely thankful to our friends, who, thanks to their previous experience, have introduced us to the process of creating chess books, with their invaluable advice and ideas.
Considering the abundance of material regarding this topic that was gathered, we decided to make this book only the first, lower level of the “Positional sacrifice” edition. My father and I worked hard to make sure that the new book will be as interesting as the first one, but also more adapted to the wider audience.
Although the book mostly covers the more recent games, we could not help but include the beautiful creations of “old masters”, that we consider classical today. When it comes to dividing the book into chapters, there were multiple, interesting possibilities, but we opted for sectioning it based on a subject of sacrifice. Hence, there are five chapters within the book: positional pawn sacrifice, exchange sacrifice, piece sacrifice, queen sacrifice and finally, the unavoidable section dedicated to the classics.
There are a lot of interesting ideas presented in the book, applied by world class players, as well as by the less known ones. We kept the analysis of their games simple and easy to follow, and we made sure to include plenty of diagrams and explanations within the text.
Also, the addition to the book are exercises, given at the end of each chapter, which are meant to test the reader’s newly acquired knowledge. Exercises are mainly based on the correct assessment of asymmetric positions, and of course on accurate calculation.
We hope you will enjoy the book, at least as much as my father and I enjoyed writing it, and we have no doubt that our book will improve your chess knowledge and the feeling for positional sacrifice. ~ GM Nikola Nestorović
This book is a Black repertoire against the Ruy López. We will be focusing on the Arkhangelsk (Möller) Defence.
In the modern world where computers keep getting stronger and stronger, openings need to be updated on a daily basis. After the emergence of NNUE engines, the style of play has changed drastically. Players started to sacrifice material for long term compensation/initiative trying to pose as many practical problems as possible so that it becomes difficult for opponents to solve all the problems over-the-board in the given time control.
So let me explain what I have done in the book you are holding in your hands, dear readers. Please, do not get carried away with the computer’s assessment all the time! We should not forget that we are not playing correspondence chess where the opponent has lots of time to ponder and refute our lines! In a tournament game, it is a different scenario! I believe it is important to choose the openings/positions where we feel comfortable. It is equally important to choose and study some model games in the openings we play.
I would like to quote one of my favourite sayings that had been on my mind ever since I have signed this project. One individual may die for an idea, but that idea will, after his death, incarnate itself in a thousand lives - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The same way, ideas suggested in this book may die at some point or the other. However, I hope that the approach behind the moves may not die! Dear readers, I hope you will enjoy my work and if you like you can also adapt the modern-day approach of working on openings. Good luck on your chess journey!
CHESS INFORMANT proudly presents the book about the most famous team match in history of our royal game: 2 outstanding teams; 20 best chess-players in the World; 4 rounds of epic battle; 40 thrilling, hard-fought games. The match between the USSR and the Rest of the World was an epoch-defining event that featured many of the greatest names in the history of chess. Five World Champions, and all of the world’s highest-rated players – without exception – took part. Not for nothing was it billed as the “Match of the Century”. On the 50th anniversary of that great event in the Serbian capital, we invite the reader to take a step back to those years and to re-live the match as it was experienced at the time, in the words of its participants and some of the leading journalists of the day... This edition is revised, extended, and compiled by Douglas Griffin, chess historian and connoisseur and Igor Žveglić, Chess Informant commissioning editor.