The vast majority of chess games witness familiar strategies and well known tactical motifs. These are the games that you will find in the anthologies and opening repertoires. Sometimes however, games appear that seem to have been played on a different planet.
Conventional strategies go out of the window. Familiar tactical themes are nowhere to be seen. Chaos has broken out. The pieces appear to be in open rebellion and are steadfastly refusing to do the natural jobs that they were designed for.
Having to navigate a path in such a game can be a nightmare. Do you rely purely on calculation? Is it better to trust your instincts? Can you assess the position using “normal” criteria?
In order to answer these questions, prolific chess author and coach Cyrus Lakdawala has assembled a collection of brilliantly unconventional and irrational games. The positions in these games appear almost random. Kings have gone walkabout, pieces are on bizarre squares, huge pawn rollers are sweeping all before them.
Irrational chess is like nothing you’ve seen before. As well as being highly instructive this is a hugely entertaining book.
Do not adjust your set. It’s chess, Jim, but not as we know it.
A complete black repertoire with 1.e4 e5 against everything except the Ruy Lopez by Igor Lysyj and Roman Ovetchkin
Aron Nimzowitsch is one of the most important figures in chess history. He was one of the World's strongest players and contributed enormously to the development of chess both through his games and his writings, which influenced many grandmasters who followed him. Nimzowitsch was a leader of the Hypermodern School, which formed revolutionary ideas on chess strategy to challenge previously held beliefs and created many new opening systems.
In this book, Steve Giddins selects and studies his favourite games by Nimzowitsch and examines Nimzowitsch's skills in the vital areas of attack, defence, strategy and endgame play. He demonstrates how we can all improve by learning from Nimzowitsch's masterpieces.
Move by Move provides an ideal platform to study chess. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, the Move by Move format greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to improve your chess skills and knowledge.
Grivas Opening Laboratory Bundle
Is the Grob/Basman a con artist's bogus-operandi, or is the line actually sound? The truthful answer is that the opening is a bit of both! And we can call 1.g4 a "good opening," the same way a mob member calls a hitman colleague "a stand-up guy." The engine already prefers Black's chances after 1.g4, so nobody can honestly claim it is White's optimal first move from an empirical standpoint. But is it refuted? The answer is "no," and what we nearly always get is a disorienting mess by the early middlegame.
In this volume, experienced authors Lakdawala & Hansen take the Basmanic plunge and examine some of International Master Michael Basman's most remarkable victories with 1.g4 or 1...g5, along with some of his less successful tries, as well as some games by other occasional adherents, like Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.
This should not become a cornerstone of your repertoire, but you are guaranteed a bunch of fun and entertaining games.
In this revealing self-portrait of Abhimanyu Mishra, he tells the story of a highly ambitious family project. Supported by his father, mother and sister, Abhi sets out to beat a nineteen-year-old world record. He wants to become the Youngest Chess Grandmaster in the World.
In June 2021, at the height of the Covid pandemic, he succeeds against all odds.
Abhi was born on February 5, 2009. On June 30, 2021, he became the youngest grandmaster in the world at 12 years 4 months and 25 days.
In this book, he explains the extraordinary training methods of his father, who not only helped Abhi develop his talents and fighting spirit but also selected his professional chess coaches to constantly improve his skills. Together they travelled from New Jersey to Budapest, Hungary, for the last part of the journey – a non-stop barrage of chess games to secure the necessary results.
‘The pressure was immense both for me and my opponent. It was a dead equal game and I decided to sacrifice my Knight for a pawn. It was right at this moment that my opponent gave in to the severe time pressure and ended up making a mistake. After a few moves, GM Leon resigned. I had won the game. I went out and saw Bapu waiting for me. I rushed to him and gave him a big hug. I had become the youngest Grandmaster in the entire world. I had beaten a nineteen-year-old world record. I should have been jumping with excitement, but my heart was so full that I ended up teary-eyed in the arms of my father.’
Abhimanyu Mishra (born February 5, 2009) is an American chess prodigy from New Jersey. On June 30, 2021, he became the youngest grandmaster in the world at the of 12 years 4 months and 25 days, beating a nineteen year old record.
CHESS INFORMANT’S 137th ADVENTURE
The Quest for the Golden Fleece
CONTENTS:
FORWARD, ALWAYS FORWARD GM Aleksandar Inđić
USEFUL TRICKS AND TRAPS IN FAST TIME CONTROLS GM Pentala Harikrishna
EXCHANGING QUEENS DURING A SACRIFICIAL ATTACK GM Mihail Marin
A MODERN TREATMENT OF 4.f3 NIMZO-INDIAN GM Ferenc Berkes
DOMESTICATING THE KING’S INDIAN DEFENCE! GM Markus Ragger
THE SEMI-SLAV DEFENCE – PART II GM Aleksander Delchev
THE ARMENIAN VARIATION GM Robert Markuš
THE FRENCH COMBATS GM Miloš Perunović
THE BEST OF CHESS INFORMANT – Hikaru Nakamura
Traditional sections: games, combinations, endings, correspondence chess, endgame blunders, Tournaments review, the best game from the preceding volume and the most important theoretical novelty from the preceding volume.
The periodical that pros use with pleasure is at the same time a must have publication for all serious chess students!
A completely updated edition which presents a Black repertoire based on the French.