Axel Smith's training methods have guided his friends, teammates and pupils to grandmaster norms and titles. Hard work will be required, but Axel Smith knows how you can Pump Up Your Rating.Every area of chess is covered - opening preparation, through middlegame play, to endgame technique. Smith delves into both the technical and psychological sides of chess, and shows how best to practise and improve.

    No one has yet surpassed his extraordinary tactical ability. This exceptional manual, first published in the early 1980s, is based on diaries kept by Tal's coach and includes a fully revised algebraic version of the classic text. It shows how Tal achieved his greatness and gives modern readers a glimpse of the development of a true chess genius.

    Written in lively, conversational style by two prolific and popular chess authors, it is aimed at players who have gone past the beginner stage and want to take their game to a whole new level. Its imaginative themes and instructional method are timeless, and the whole book is shot through with fun and humour.

    It remains his favourite opening and has featured in some of his greatest individual results, including a win over World Championship finalist Boris Gelfand. In this book, Williams examines the Classical Dutch in great depth. He also presents a complete repertoire for Black with the Dutch Defense, which is based on his own repertoire he has used successfully at grandmaster level for many years. As well as presenting the latest theory and revealing his new ideas in the key lines, Williams highlights the main tactical and strategic ideas for both sides and covers important issues such as move orders. Each chapter includes a series of tests at the end, so that readers are able to assess how well they have understood the main concepts. This books tells you everything you need to know about successfully playing the Classical Dutch. A Dutch repertoire against 1 d4, 1 c4 and 1 Nf3 Written by a world-renowned Classical Dutch expert Packed with new ideas and critical analysis"

    Books on this subject are either rare or still not out there!You are not alone if you have you lost games from winning positions because you did not spot the opponent's tactical shot. Or maybe you missed a tactic of your own? Inspite of your material advantage, you could not bring home the full point in the end? Practice is your only friend and coach.This book aims to give you ample practice from tactical endgame positions to really convert that lost into a draw or a draw into a win! Watch out for the Knight forks. Check how other players sacrifice their valuable pieces to ensure the pawn promotes. Or the simplification tactics to win a won endgame!Unlike other books which offer high number of generic puzzles, this book has carefully chosen and manually selected high quality puzzles from games played in year 2011-2013.Chess Masters stuff as many positions and patterns in their head as possible and this book gives you an opportunity to do that!HIGHLIGHTS300 puzzles from real games of 2011-13! These puzzles are not made up. The themes/patterns can occur in your games too!The puzzles are broken into 4 levels and are suited for players of all strengthAlternative lines are annotated so you are not left wondering why a certain move was not plausibleThe solution is placed immediately after the puzzle and also has a accompanying diagram so you can easily visualize the variation on the board without moving back and forthEach solution is marked with an arrow so you can easily scan the first move without having to read the complete notation. This can also be a good way to get a hint for the first move without revealing the complete solutionNo matter your skill level, this book is the right practice companion for you!May Caissa be with you!

    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 Mastery level.

    Practice brings perfection. Following his highly acclaimed Mastering Chess Strategy and Mastering Opening Strategy, this book completes a trilogy of strategy books by Grandmaster and renowned chess teacher Johan Hellsten. In his new work Hellsten focuses exclusively on endgame play and covers every type of endgame: pawn, minor piece, rook and queen endgames. He examines not only the many fundamental positions that everyone needs to know, but also the key themes and characteristics of successful endgame play, including activity, creating and exploiting weaknesses, active and passive defence, fortresses and technique. Just like his previous two books, Mastering Endgame Strategy is a product of Hellsten’s many years’ work as a full-time chess teacher and is specifically designed as part of a structured training programme to improve strategic thinking. In addition to the many examples there’s an abundance of carefully selected exercises which allow readers to monitor their progress and put into practice what they have just learned. Following such a course is an ideal way for players of all standards to improve. Although designed mainly for students, this book is also an excellent resource for chess teachers and trainers. * An essential course in endgame strategy * Includes 500 examples and 240 exercises * Ideal for both chess study and practice

    The games and exercises in this book transcend regular chess skills, such as pattern recognition, calculation and positional analysis. Building on the two previous books in the Grandmaster Preparation series, this book challenges the reader to explore the complexities of chess, offering clarity and understanding through Aagaard’s straightforward approach.The Grandmaster Preparation series is aimed at ambitious players.

    His books My System (1925) and Chess Praxis (1928) had tremendous impact and continue to be printed, sold and read to this day. Every chess player who is serious about improving his game, studies the lessons of this great Russian-born innovator. During several decades of research German chess historian Rudolf Reinhardt compiled, from an immense variety of sources, all the games Nimzowitsch played after 1928. They are presented with notes by Nimzowitsch himself and, in some cases, by his contemporaries. In addition to the games Reinhardt also collected the articles and essays that Nimzowitsch wrote during the last seven years of his life. Reinhardt s collection offers a unique view of the chess world of the late 1920s and 1930s, its top tournaments and the state of theory. More importantly, it portrays Nimzowitsch the chess player and author in the last seven years of his short life. It is all there: the fights, the competitors and the polemics, all in the incomparable style of the master: pointed, elegant, precise and highly original. The book starts where Nimzowitsch s second volume Chess Praxis ends. Richard Reinhardt, who died unexpectedly when writing the preface to his monumental collection, did not exaggerate when he called it the unauthorized sequel to the classics Nimzowitsch himself published during his lifetime."

    The move order is an effective Anti-Grunfeld weapon, but it also allows an alternative approach to the King's Indian. While Svetushkin's main repertoire against 3...Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nc3 transposes to the Saemisch, the author also discusses the original set-up with postponed Nbc3. It brings about fresh unexplored positions.

    He was the first - and still the only - champion to die while holding the title. To select a new champion, a powerful quintuple round-robin was held in The Hague and in Moscow. The 5 strongest players of the era took part in a grueling two-month, 25-round tournament, one of the most important events in the history of chess. It produced a new world champion, Mikhail Botvinnik, and was the start of a new FIDE regulated era. This splendid account of an epic championship includes a review of all previous encounters between the participants, background information, as well as all the games of the tournament, deeply annotated by Euwe. You are invited to follow Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, Sam Reshevsky, Paul Keres and Max Euwe as they battle for the title and the chess world starts its journey through the post-World War II era and the beginning of the Soviet hegemony.

    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, International Master Cyrus Lakdawala invites you to join him in studying the Scandinavian Defence. In recent years this opening has become a very popular choice for club and tournament players. Lakdawala focuses on the modern lines with 3...Qd6 – an approach championed by grandmasters and Scandinavian experts such as Sergei Tiviakov. Lakdawala outlines a reliable repertoire for Black, examines the major positional and tactical ideas, answers all the key questions and tells you everything you need to know about playing the Scandinavian.* Essential guidance and training in the Scandinavian* Important ideas absorbed by continued practice* Utilizes an ideal approach to chess study.

    But little has been written about Botvinnik himself. This book explores his unusual dual career--as a highly regarded scientist as well as the first truly professional chess player--as well as his complex relations with Soviet leaders, including Josef Stalin, his bitter rivalries, and his doomed effort to create the perfect chess-playing computer program. The book has more than 85 games, 127 diagrams, twelve photographs, a chronology of his life and career, a bibliography, an index of openings, an index of opponents, and a general index.

    Hunt covers all the vital components, including development, king safety, attack and defence, initiative, pawn play and much more.

    

    For teaching players rated up to 1900. Chess-Steps was developed in 1987 by Rob Brunia and Cor van Wijgerden in order to teach children to play chess. Embraced by the Royal Dutch Chess Federation Chess-Steps became the single most popular method in The Netherlands. It spread throughout Europe and is now available world wide. This step by step method consists of six steps. Each step has a workbook with exercises and summaries for the student and an accompanying manual for the teacher / trainer / parent. The manuals contain complete scripted lessons for the teacher, as well as aids that address the learning stages and development of children. The answers of the workbook exercises can be found within the manuals too. The books are written in such a way that the actual level of the teachers chess knowledge is of lesser importance. See also 'Learning Chess - Workbook Step 5'.

    Focusing on his own personal journey and taking up the mission statement of his bestselling book “Chess Patzer to Master - How an Everyday Joe Does it” he continues the battle to help the average player become a chess master. What’s truly unique about these sixty games is they are the games he came back to over and over as a young man studying the games of Bobby Fischer and they are presented with the be wonderment and lessons that he learned on the road from Patzer to Master. The author’s goal is to instruct, entertain and deliver the tools that you can use to grow into a future chess master.Features:A fresh look at Fischer's gamesCharacter illustrations of famous chess playersOver 90 additional games from Fischer’s opponentsGeared towards helping you think about chess not memorize itConcepts to challenge your perceptions Theory of “Diminishing and Increasing Values”And more...

    As well as giving specific information on the opening moves, practical advice is provided on typical middlegame themes, both positional and tactical.In Volume One of this series the author provides Black with full coverage on how to meet the widely popular g3-system.

    Now is YOUR time to take it!

    Sosonko's riveting portrait of Mikhail Tal, the inimitable Magician from Riga who to this day mesmerizes chess fans all over the world, bears all the hallmarks of the author's writing. Few if any knew 'Misha' Tal as well as his good friend and training partner. Here you get, for the first time, Tal in full: the nonchalant genius, the charming wit, the womanizer, the cult hero and the drug addict. Mikhail Tal is only one of the chess greats that Sosonko portrays in this book that brings together his best writings on the World Champions of chess. Two of them he could not possibly have met; his story of Alexander Alekhine is based on new research and his essay on Jose Raul Capablanca on unforgettable meetings with Capa's widow Olga. The other champions Sosonko got to know closely during his wide travels as a chess pro. Countless hours of private conversation as well as research in recently opened KGB archives form the basis of unique portraits of Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov and Tigran Petrosian.