IM Bonin offers the answers to practical questions that every chessplayer faces as the clock is ticking.
International Master Jonathan Hawkins was a relatively slow starter in the world of chess.
In the course of a game of chess, questions continually arise that test a player’s reasoning skills. Questions such as: “Who has the better position?”, “Should I resolve the tension in the center?”, “How can I improve the placement of my pieces?”. In this long-awaited extension of the classic Best Lessons of a Chess Coach, the reader is invited to take a seat in the classroom of a renowned chess teacher, and learn how to answer such questions while experiencing the beauty, logic, and artistry of great chess games. When Sunil Weeramantry lectures on the games of top grandmasters, one can imagine making decisions alongside them. When he lectures on his own games, one can also experience the personal excitement, disappointment, and satisfaction of a well-contested game of chess. The cumulative effect of studying these lessons is to give the aspiring player a wide range of tools with which to win.
Have you ever wished for a “formula” to help you decide what move to make in any given chess position?
In this groundbreaking work, award-winning chess coach and author Frisco Del Rosario shines a long-overdue light on this neglected aspect of Capablanca’s record. He illustrates how the Cuban genius used positional concepts to build up irresistible king hunts, embodying the principles of good play advocated by the unequaled teacher, C.J.S. Purdy. The author also identifies an overlooked checkmate pattern – Capablanca’s Mate – that aspiring attackers can add to the standard catalogue in Renaud and Kahn’s The Art of the Checkmate. As Del Rosario shows, Capablanca has inspired not only generations of players, but also many of the classics of chess literature.
The seconds tick down relentlessly toward zero just as your game approaches the critical stage. Your higher-rated opponent is putting your game under severe pressure, so extreme accuracy is needed to hang tough and avoid falling into a losing position. What do you do now – should you exchange pieces to relieve the pressure, lash out with a sacrifice, probe for weaknesses in the opponent's camp, or maybe just give up and get a lesson on how to bring the point home? The answer is... none of these! At such do-or-die moments, says Steve Hrop, the first thing to do is to sit on your hands and take a few deep breaths. In Defending Under Pressure: Managing Your Emotions at the Chessboard, the author uses critical moments from his own tournament games (most of them against players rated above 2200) to describe the difficulties of thinking straight when the enemy is at the gates, and then outlines methods and techniques to clear your head, evaluate the position, and find your way to the best move. Techniques include how to avoid redundant pieces that critically limit your mobility; when visualization is more important than calculation; and “freeze-framing” positions to eliminate blunders. Save the draw – or turn a looming defeat into an astonishing victory – with the tips in this practical training manual!
Acclaimed chess teacher Dan Heisman equips the not-quite-novice with the practical tools and knowledge needed to get started in competitive play: how to develop board vision; what to do when you’re way ahead in material; how to avoid common mistakes in thinking; when to “believe” your opponent; even how to act properly at the chessboard. The author uses examples from inexperienced players to provide a wealth of common-sense advice, topping it off with a collection of illustrative games and practice puzzles
<strong><em>Great Moves: Learning Chess Through History</em></strong> blends the intricacies of chess play with the game’s compelling and colorful history, putting real people at the 64 squares. Much more than a primer for beginning chess players and their teachers, <em>Great Moves </em>shines a light on the lives of famous players of bygone eras, helping experienced players to fill in the gaps in their chess culture
The ability to determine when conditions are suitable for attacking the opposing king is critical to successful chess play. Readers will hone this skill while learning valuable techniques to force the enemy monarch out of his fortress.
Safety first! Success in chess begins with asking yourself the basic question, “Is the move that I’m considering a safe one?”
Learning how to start a game of chess is one of the most daunting tasks facing intermediate adult and young chess players.
Building on the tremendous success of Openings for Amateurs in 2014, Pete Tamburro offers a new collection of practical tips to help club-level and young chessplayers to play the opening on their own terms. Centering the discussion around 67 selected model games, Openings for Amateurs – Next Steps covers troublesome variations commonly seen in amateur play, such as the Smith-Morra Gambit, Grand Prix Attack, Schliemann Defense, Anti-Grünfeld, Two Knights, London System, Stonewall Attack, and the Benko Gambit, among others. As befits an experienced chess teacher, the author gives special attention to promoting positional understanding of the Open Games, isolated queen’s pawn strategies, and plans revolving around the queenside pawn majority. In combination with the original volume, you will enjoy over 600 pages of common-sense explanations for average players and 122 model games, enabling you to cope with your booked-up opponents because you understand what the positions are about once you get out of the opening.