This series will be unique by the fact that it will record the greatest chess battles played by the greatest chessplayer of all-time.

    To make sure that this new knowledge sticks, it is then tested by a selection of puzzles.The course is structured in three series with three levels. The Fundamentals level is the easiest one, Beyond the Basics is more challenging, and Mastery is quite difficult, even for stronger players.The various topics – Tactics, Strategy, Positional Play, Endgames, Calculating Variations, and Openings – are spread evenly across the nine volumes, giving readers the chance to improve every area as they work through the books.This book is the third volume at the Fundamentals level.

    This truly outstanding book, first published in Russian in the '70s and regarded as a classic, contains one of the most comprehensive collection of checkmate combinations ever assembled. Available for the first time in English, it also sports an introduction by former world champion Mikhail Tal.

    You will embark on an unforgettable intellectual expedition in the realm of the Royal Game. The beauty, the battle, the culture, the fun, the art and the heroism of chess are the main themes of this fascinating and often surprising journey. Your private guide is Christian Hesse, a Harvard-trained professor of Mathematics and an avid chess player. Hesse has written a sparkling book that will give you many hours of intense joy. With a preface by former world champion of chess Vladimir Kramnik.

    In the glory days of Paul Morphy it was considered almost cowardly to play anything else. Legends such as Spassky and Bronstein kept the flame burning in the 20th century, but its popularity faded as players became distrustful of White’s ultra-aggressive approach. Nevertheless there are honorable exceptions whose games prove that this ancient weapon can still draw blood – Short, Nakamura and Zvjaginsev are world-class players who have used the King’s Gambit successfully. In this groundbreaking work, grandmaster John Shaw shows that the ultimate Romantic chess opening remains relevant and dangerous even in the computer era.

    Volume 1, "The Fundamentals" showed club players the basic ideas they should know. Volume 2, "Beyond the Basics" set off on the road to mastery, and now in Mastery 3 we arrive at our final destination. Yusupov guides the reader towards a higher level of chess understanding using carefully selected positions and advice. This new understanding is then tested by a series of puzzles.

    The ability to spot checkmates is a vital skill - and this easy-to-use book shows you how it is done. With the help of Grandmaster John Nunn, you will be ready to shock your next opponent with a deadly checkmate, whether in a school match, a club tournament - or even a championship game!By focusing exclusively on positions from real games, ranging from junior events to grandmaster encounters, Nunn ensures that the mates featured are those which arise most often in real life. He also highlights themes and ideas that are often missed in practice. While solving these puzzles, your all-important 'mental library' of patterns will grow, leading to an immediate increase in your playing strength.All 1001 puzzle positions have been carefully checked, and are graded by theme and difficulty. Points are awarded for finding the checkmate, so you can measure your skill. Most of the puzzles are suitable for novice and junior players. The last chapter challenges you with 'extreme checkmates', but don't worry: you'll be ready for them!

    To become one of the best chess players in your school you need to be able to think just 1,5 moves ahead, and this book teaches the four basic tricks do so. You will learn how to weed out silly moves and just consider a few important ones. Forget about learning openings and endgames, power moves will help you win in all stages of the game. Charles Hertan introduces the four main characters who will help you to learn these basic skills: Zort (a teenaged computer from the planet Zugszwang), the Dinosaurs, Power Chess Kid and the Chess Professor . The most complete and fun kids book ever on learning how to win games!

    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 opening 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 study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general chess skills and knowledge. In this book, Grandmaster Neil McDonald studies one of the most important openings of all, the Ruy Lopez. This famous opening enjoys a long and distinguished history and is still widely regarded as White’s strongest choice after 1 e4 e5. McDonald shares his experience and knowledge of the Lopez, examines the main ideas for both sides and offers answers to the key questions. *Essential guidance and training in the Ruy Lopez*Important ideas absorbed by continued practice*Covers both mainline and d3 repertoire options for White

    Black's weapons include the Abrahams-Noteboom Variation - a dynamic counter-attack taking White out of his comfort zone and offering Black the chance to dictate the game from the outset. Scherbakov also provides options for Black against the aggressive Semi-Slav Marshall Gambit as well as White's quieter tries, such as the Exchange Variation. The recommendations have been tried and tested successfully at grandmaster level and are specially designed for players who want to challenge White in the opening.

    It is being used by top players like Ivanchuk, Adams, Svidler and Grischuk, as well as by thousands of amateurs all over the world. If you play the Rossolimo you do not need to keep up-to-date with the dazzling theoretical developments in the Open Sicilian and you will get a position in which playing is more important than remembering specific variations. Victor Bologan, one of the strongest grandmasters in the world, presents a complete and durable scheme in which aggressive Sicilian players will be denied any initiative, while White dominates in a position full of strategic ideas and nuances.

    In this second volume of My Best Games, grandmaster Victor Korchnoi presents fifty of his best games with Black, with which he has always excelled as a determined defender, ready, when the opportunity presents itself, to switch to counterattack.

    Now the chess instructor extraordinaire offers an introduction to the fascinating world of chess endings. This book is designed to highlight the key concepts of the most common chess endgames and will prove quite instructive to chessplayers of all levels. Topics include: - The King in the Endgame - Pawn play - Zugzwang - Saving Methods - Tactics in the Endgame - Piece Maneuvering - Piece Exchanges - "Technique" ...and much more! The author has countless practical suggestions for improving your endgame play in this era of rapid-time controls so that you don't end up "drowning" in the ocean of endgame theory. Let Mark Dvoretsky help you win more games as he examines some elementary endgame errors from master play and shows you how to avoid making the same mistakes.

    The match, known at the time as the “Game of the Century,” is now generally considered a battle in the Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Benson’s exclusive photos of the elusive and controversial chess genius give insight into the privateworld of the man Benson calls “the most eccentric and most fascinating person I have ever photographed.”Benson’s intimate access to Fischer was not the easiest of tasks to accomplish. In fact, Fischer barred the door even when his mother arrived from America. Filled with idiosyncrasies and a complete loner, Fischer is still revered by chess fans around the world and is considered the greatest chess player of all time.

    Many of his opponents have been baffled by the profundity of his strategies, but here Karolyi explains Karpov’s genius.This volume features Karpov’s most entertaining and instructive strategic wins from 1961-1985 as the Russian star proved he was a worthy successor to Bobby Fischer’s title. The book starts with Karpov as a precocious youngster and tells the story of the making of a champion.

    The author recommends lines of play against all White's options, including alternatives to 2.Nf3. The book contains 29 chapters of analysis and explanation of Black's strategy. Each chapter finishes with the author's conclusions on the best ideas for both sides.

    It is easy to learn because there is relatively little theory and once White has played 1.e4 he cannot avoid Black uncorking the Scandinavian. This book is the long-awaited translation of a German bestseller considered by many to be the best book ever on the Scandinavian. It does not concentrate on theoretical lines but on the structural ideas that govern this opening. Basic strategic themes, how pawn structures dictate plans of attacks, which tactical motifs you can expect in certain typical positions, that is what this book is about. You will learn how to outplay your opponent with solid and relatively easy-to-learn moves.

    In this second volume, Ippolito and Hilton examine Wojo's handling of the popular King's Indian Defense, focusing on the positional Fianchetto Variation. Over the course of 78 fully annotated complete games, the authors examine Black's various plans, explain the key ideas, offer original analysis, and show the way for White to minimize counterplay and nurse his natural opening edge through to victory. Far more than an opening monograph, Wojo's Weapons 2 is a seminar in how to cash in on small advantages, which players of all strengths - even those who don't play queen's pawn openings - will find instructive

    Many of his opponents have been baffled by the profundity of his strategies, but here Karolyi explains Karpov’s genius.This volume features Karpov’s most entertaining and instructive strategic wins from 1986-2010 when Karpov was battling with his younger rival Garry Kasparov for chess supremacy It was during this period, at Linares in 1994, that Karpov achieved what statistics show to be the finest ever tournament performance.

    Want to learn chess or teach it to your child but are busy with lots of other activities as well? This innovative book is designed for you.You choose the level you want to achieve. Want to go from absolute beginner to neighborhood champ? Complete Level I in an afternoon, play some practice games—and you'll quickly be saying "checkmate"! When you're ready to become a tough tournament competitor, Level II cuts through the mysteries of strategy and tactics to show you just what you need to know. And if you decide that you won't settle for anything less than being an expert, near the top levels of tournament chess, Level III delivers all the essential knowledge!

    With the outstanding clarity for which he is famous, Nunn breaks down complex problems into bite-sized pieces.In the case of attacking play, we are shown how to decide where to attack, and the specific methods that can be used to pursue the enemy king. Positional play is described in terms of the major structural issues, and how the pieces work around and with the pawns. Nunn explains how to assess when certain pieces are better than others, and how we can make use of this understanding at the board. Readers will never be short of a plan, whatever type of position arises.Each lesson features two inspiring examples from modern chess, annotated honestly and with a keen focus on the main instructive points. Both sides' ideas are emphasized, so we get a clear picture of the ways to disrupt typical plans as well as how to form them.

    Sparing no effort to discover best play for both sides, he presents White's most promising plans and breathes new life into variations that - according to theory - had turned the Hedgehog into an endangered species.

    This convenient book provides 300 exercises, with instructive points highlighted in the solutions.There is something here for everyone. The puzzles in the first two chapters are based on a clear-cut tactic or checkmate, such as those explained in Gambit's best-sellers How to Beat Your Dad at Chess and Chess Tactics for Kids. The endgame challenges highlight tactics and principles in action. In practice it is vital to defend resiliently and seek counterattacking chances - there is an innovative chapter on these rarely-covered themes as well as puzzles where the reader must decide how to punch home an attack.Later chapters help readers develop a vital skill: the ability to make tough chessboard decisions. Attack, sacrifice, grab material, defend or simplify - it's for you to decide! Principles and guidelines are emphasized, together with common sources of error. The final section of puzzles will prove a stern challenge even for the best players, with the reader exposed to the full complexity of modern chess - with a few helpful hints along the way.

    How would you make the most of this opportunity? Club players are unaware of the subtleties that exist in grandmaster chess. Great players can analyse chess at a depth that is unfathomable to amateurs. However, having reached such a high level can make it difficult to understand what is lacking in the mind of the amateur. Lessons with a Grandmaster bridges this gap between grandmaster and amateur through a series of conversations between teacher, the renowned Grandmaster Boris Gulko, and student Dr. Joel R. Sneed, a professor of psychology and amateur chess player. The lessons are based on Gulko’s own battles against fellow grandmasters, and there is particular focus on strategy, tactics and the role of psychology in chess competition.Learn from the chess games of Boris GulkoTypical questions you would ask a Grandmater - answered!Improve your understanding of chess strategy and psychology

    By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, Move by Move greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of opening 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 study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general chess skills and knowledge.In this book, Cyrus Lakdawala examines the universally popular Slav Defence which has been his main choice against 1 d4 for many years. Here he shares his experience and knowledge of his favorite opening, presents a repertoire for Black and provides answers to all the key questions.*Essential guidance and training in the Slav*Includes a Slav repertoire for Black*Incorporates an ideal approach to opening study

    By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, 'Move by Move' greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of opening 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 study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general opening skills and knowledge. In this book, Grandmaster John Emms revisits the Nimzo-Indian, an opening which is highly popular at all levels of chess. The Nimzo-Indian has been his favourite defence to 1 d4 for over 30 years. Here he shares his experience and knowledge, examines the opening from both sides of the board and offers answers to the all key questions. *Essential guidance and training in the Nimzo-Indian *Written by a renowned Nimzo-Indian expert *Incorporates an ideal approach to opening study