From openings, middlegames to endgames, it covers important methods in solving tactical positions. It also shines focus on sacrifices, tactical motifs, calculation techniques, work plan, competing skills, and much more. All types and levels of chess players can learn from this book. Perfect for anyone who wants to improve in their spare time without needing a lot of time to sit down and study, "Chess - From Beginner to Grandmaster" will propel your knowledge to the next level through curated improvement techniques. About the authors GM Alexander Beliavsky The four co-authors are led by Grandmaster Alexander Beliavsky - a 4-time USSR champion who reached 3rd in the world chess ranking at his peak. Beliavsky competed in countless super Grandmaster events and successfully reached the final stages of the candidates matches on numerous occasions. Known for his relentless fighting spirit and analytical stamina, he has coached chess monsters such as Garry Kasparov, Vachiere Lagrave, Morozevich, Jobava and Anna and Maria Muzichuk. GM Adrian Mikhalchishin As Grandmaster and Chairman of the FIDE Trainer’s Commission, Adrian Mikhalchishin is regarded as one of the best chess coaches in the world. He has coached chess champions such as Anatoly Karpov, Maya Chiburdanidze, Vasily Ivanchuk, Marta Litinska, Alisa Maric and Aleksander Beliavsky. He previously served as the trainer of the USSR team, who were winners of the European and World championships in 1989. He is also the author of more than 20 chess books. Before his career as a chess trainer, he won many international tournaments and was a strong and feared competitor. GM Luka Lenic Luka Lenic is a Slovenian Grandmaster, youth world champion of 2002, and a four-time Slovenian Champion. He was on the first board of the national team and is currently the highest rated player in Slovenia. He also serves as a member of the Chess Grandmaster Team and is the youngest player on the team. He still competes regularly and successfully. His current rating is 2661. GM Dusko Pavasovic Dusko Pavasovic is a Grandmaster and 3-time Slovenian champion who qualified twice for the World Cup. He finished 4th in the European chess championship in 2009. He is also a high stakes poker regular as well as a poker coach. Dusko and Luka are co-founders of the Chess Raiders mobile application, which comes recommended by the Fide Trainer’s Commission for chess improvement.

    This is not true. In fact, chess is accessible and can be played by anyone with a brain, a pair of eyes, and imagination. The ultimate guide for beginnersIf you've never played the game of chess or are still discovering it, this book is for you. It is a basic and comprehensive guide that will introduce you to the game and teach you everything you need to know, from the setup of a chess board to the delivery of checkmate. It is filled with advice for beginners, basic tactics, strategies, and diagrams to help you visualize every step of your progress. The start of a lifelong King's huntThe objective of this book is not to make you a chess master. That is an accomplishment that takes decades of research, regular practice, and an insane amount of talent. The goal here is for you to become a decent chess player. After reading this book, you will be able to play games with anyone, practice regularly, and sharpen your chess muscles until you reach a decent level of play. The more you'll play, the better you'll get. But it all starts with the basics which you will acquire in this book. So don't hesitate. If you've always wanted to learn to play chess, now is the time. Just scroll up and grab your copy now!

    In Thinking Inside the Box Jacob Aagaard describes his chess improvement philosophy, developed over more than twenty years of thinking about one question: How do we make better decisions at the chess board? As the final volume in the award-winning Grandmaster Preparation series, this book unifies the concepts of the previous five books and delves into such topics as: Chess psychology The four types of decisions we take at the board How to play simple positions What is calculation? How to analyse your games And many more

    Black wants to start an early attack on his opponent’s king, relying on the dynamic potential of his position. The KID has been a favourite of legendary attacking players such as Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov, and remains highly popular at club level.Victor Bologan presents a complete King’s Indian repertoire for Black that is much more than just a lucidly explained and very playable set of responses. In many lines he presents two options to handle the Black position. Bologan’s explanations are accessible for a wide range of players and he provides the reader with a thorough grounding in the strategic and tactical motifs. White players can benefit from this book as well, since the author looks at all the lines from both sides.During his research, Bologan has found many new ideas and resources. He has also included several offbeat sidelines that will enable you to surprise your opponent. With this book under your belt you can go to your next tournament with confidence. You will win many exciting games with Bologan’s King’s Indian!

    Ramesh also impressed in his stellar commentary for the 2013 World Chess Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand. In this published book, Ramesh instructs the reader on how to use logical reasoning to guide decision making. Through a combination of thoughtful prose and instructive examples of principled chess play, the reader will develop an intuitive sense for finding the correct path in any position.

    Compare Bent Larsen, the epitome of dynamic, offbeat, risky chess, with Sergei Tiviakov, who claimed in an interview recently that his style has been shaped most by Petrosian (who was a great Accelerated Dragon devotee himself), Smyslov, and Karpov - both these players have championed the Accelerated Dragon as their main weapon against 1.e4 and yet their styles are in many ways polar opposites of each other! In this book International Master Raja Panjwani presents a repertoire for Black. He demonstrates from the second move on a dynamic way to fight 1. e4. He covers all of White's main variations and sidelines and even the most critical 'Maroczy bind' gets a new treatment. Raja's book is recommended for all players that are eager to enter the critical lines in this exiting Sicilian.

    Its popularity among club players is not difficult to understand: by advancing the e-pawn to e5 on the third move, White not only gains space but also blocks in Black s c8 Bishop and hampers Black s kingside development by taking away the f6-square. The closed nature of the positions arising from the Advance Variation leads to strategic play where positional understanding is much more important than studying the latest theoretical developments. White can use the advantage in space by building up an attack against the Black king. Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov has played the Advance Variation in countless games with excellent results and is, as former World Champion Anatoly Karpov puts it, the world expert in this variation. Together with his son, International Master Vladimir Sveshnikov, he has thoroughly updated and expanded his earlier investigations that he presented in his first book on the French Advance in 2003. The Sveshnikovs know that when you are teaching new patterns it is much more productive to use illustrative games than to show stand-alone, concrete variations. That is why they present many annotated grandmaster games in which they clearly explain the ideas and plans for both sides. They also provide exercises and test positions in order to reinforce what has been learned. After reading and studying this book, White players, from amateurs to Grandmasters, will make their opponents lives even more difficult."

    You’ll learn chess tactics and strategies from the best players in the world, as a top team of writers—including a former world champion--explains the moves.

    The evolution of strategic board games, especially in India, China and Japan, is discussed in detail. Many more recent chess variants (board sizes, new pieces, 3-D, etc.) are fully covered. Instructions for play are provided, with historical context, for every game presented.

    Because studying well-annotated master games is the best way to learn the skills that really matter, acclaimed chess author Steve Giddins has revisited the New In Chess vault and assembled the clearest and most didactic examples.Giddins’ selection includes masterclasses by no fewer than eight World Champions: Kasparov, Tal, Smyslov, Karpov, Kramnik, Topalov, Anand and Carlsen. But also chess legends such as Larsen, Kortchnoi, Timman, Ivanchuk, Short, Aronian and Shirov have contributed.The New In Chess Book of Chess Improvement is a treasure trove of study material and has chapters on attack and defence, sacrifices, material imbalances, pawn structures, endgames and various positional themes. It provides the high standard of instructional material that today’s club player, much stronger than his equivalent 25 or more years ago, needs.

    One of its great attractions is flexibility and diversity: White can play either aggressively or quietly, and the resultant middlegame positions are rich in both strategy and tactics. In this book, International Master David Cummings presents the reader with a complete English repertoire. The English is, by its nature, highly transpositional. Black can opt for a King’s Indian-type set-up, a Queen’s Gambit Declined-type set-up or aim for a reversed Sicilian position. David identifies promising methods to meet all Black’s main options and efficient methods to deal with awkward sidelines. The English often leads to situations where there are opportunities to employ tricky move orders. David explains how to navigate through these successfully and avoid any unfortunate pitfalls. This book tells you everything you need to know about playing the English. * How to play 1 c4 with confidence * Emphasis on plans and strategies * Written by an English expert

    After this move, the majority of games steer for the Ruy Lopez. A perfectly fine choice for White, but one that requires you to study the countless different setups and follow the continuously evolving theory in that opening.Karsten Müller and Georgios Souleidis present an alternative that is ideal for the average club player: a complete repertoire for White in the Italian Opening. This modern version of the age-old ‘Giuoco Piano', with the innocent-looking pawn moves c3 and d3, is not only popular at the club level, but is also regularly adopted by many strong Grandmasters including the very best, such as Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri.The set-up is easy to learn and understand, and theoretical novelties are much less important than the sound principles it is based on, such as the pawn push d3-d4 or bringing the b1 knight over to the kingside and into the attack.The Slow Italian may look innocent but is actually full of venom because White has a lot of options to create aggressive play by making natural looking moves with his pieces. Müller and Souleidis have created a solid weapon that every amateur chess player will delight in playing. With a foreword by Anish Giri.

    But where do you start? The risk of drowning in the turbulent sea of chess opening theory is only too real for beginning amateurs.Often your goals and ambitions will be misguided. If you are trying to win in 20 moves, copy what's in fashion among top-GM's or memorize variations, you are wasting your time. Most likely you will never get to play your ‘preparation' and end up aimlessly switching from one opening to the other. After the success of his volume for White, experienced French chess trainer Vincent Moret now provides a complete, ready-to-go chess opening repertoire for Black. It consists of a sound set of lines that do not outdate rapidly, do not require memorization and are easy to digest for beginners and post-beginners.To show the typical plans and the underlying ideas in the various lines of his repertoire, Moret not only selected games of Grandmasters. He also uses games of young, improving players to highlight the errors they tend to make.

    He won the championship of his native country Hungary as a teenager and achieved remarkable results against the leading players of his day. But first and foremost, Breyer was a revolutionary in his chess thinking. He promoted the idea of dynamic chess and formulated many of the Hypermodern concepts, long before others started their investigations. After his death, however, he was omitted from most of the chess history books, or relegated to a one line reference. Today he is only known for the Breyer variation, an ever popular defence against the Ruy Lopez. Jimmy Adams has unlocked Breyer s legacy from the archives and made it accessible to the chess world at large, with translations from Hungarian into English. This monumental book presents 242 of his games, annotated by Breyer himself and many others. It features a large number of articles, columns and fragments from newspapers, magazines and books, sparkling with chess and literary wit. The majority appear in English for the first time and indeed in any language other than Hungarian. By piecing together this material in chronological order, Jimmy Adams has constructed a mesmerizing biography, covering Gyula Breyer s intense, unconventional and ultimately tragic life. Also included is a collection of his chess problems, some of which are truly amazing."

    Through the study of the games in this volume, you will improve your opening play, opening repertoire, strategies and tactical ability. The chess opening variations in this volume are all the openings after 1.e4 e5, such as: 1) Scotch Game 2) Italian Game & Evans Gambit 3) Two Knights 4) Ruy Lopez 5) Three & Four Knights 6) King's Gambit 7) The Petroff 8) Philidor & Minor Defenses 9) Minor Openings 9) Minor Gambits

     With the exception of three studies, there are no more than six moves in any solution, so experienced chess players can analyze the positions directly from the diagrams. Newbies to chess problems will also find analyzing these studies useful. The diverse set of tactical ideas involving a single pawn in the finale will enable them to gain a deeper understanding of the pawn's resourcefulness. Some of these studies are classics from bygone ages. Others were originally published in the Soviet Union.

     Their over-the-board successes are not based on mere bravado or trickery, but on a profound understanding of the chessboard struggle and thought process. Song and Preotu consider the role of manoeuvring and prophylactic thought, and examine attacks in the endgame, as well as more standard topics such as play on colour complexes and when and how to launch the pawns in an all-out assault. And because life’s too short to read a boring chess book, the text is packed with advice, study suggestions and anecdotes as well as quotes and references to philosophy and other ‘real-world’ topics. Their examples are drawn from their own practice and their supergrandmaster trainer, as well as modern classics and older gems. Most of their material you will not have seen before; the rest you will not have seen explained this way before. The authors are the two highest-rated Canadian juniors. Razvan Preotu earned the Grandmaster title in 2016 at the age of 17. The most notable result during his meteoric rise was at the 2016 Calgary International, which he won outright ahead of a strong international field including five GMs. Michael Song became an International Master by winning the North American Under-18 Championship. He has represented Canada many times, winning a bronze medal at the 2011 World Youth Championship. His trainer is super-grandmaster Evgeny Bareev.

    They don't have time and energy to study hundreds of pages of chess opening theory. And why would they? Amateur games are rarely decided in the opening. Understanding structures and finding tactics are much more important. Renowned German chess trainers Erik Zude and Jorg Hickl have created an ideal club player's repertoire for Black. This compact manual presents a set of lines that is conveniently limited in scope, yet varied, solid and complete. The core repertoire is based on lines that the authors have successfully played at (grand)master level for decades: the Antoshin variation of the Philidor Defence against 1.e4 and the Old-Indian Defence against 1.d4. There is only a limited number of plans, ideas and structures that you need to learn, and very few forcing variations. After an initial phase in which Black may at first sight look slightly passive, you will develop your position with a sequence of strong standard moves and start your highly effective counterplay. Zude and Hickl provide common sense guidance, explain all typical characteristics and give practical examples. If you have an Elo rating between 1400 and 2200, you don't need to look further because you can Play 1..d6 Against Everything!

    The Ruy Lopez, or Spanish Opening if you like, is one of the oldest openings, named after a Spanish priest who first played it back in the 16th century. Needless to say, it has been played a few times since and remains a popular opening at all levels of play. Some of the lines are incredibly theoretical, but rather than burden you with a ton of theory in lines you will have limited chance of using in your own games, the emphasis is on the lines that are more likely to occur in your games. Those lines will be in chapters 3 and 4, the two longest chapters of the book. This book is by no means an all-encompassing theory work, which means that there is a lot of theory that is not discussed in the notes. This is of course intentional. The book is written to entertain and inspire. If you find some lines that you like, you are encouraged to dive deeper into those lines before using them in your own games. As for the games, they are typically between players with a rating of at least 2350 and often well more than that; you will find games between players rated above 2700 in this book. However, I have made some exceptions when a lower rated player beats a player rated above the magical 2350 number. To show the relative strength of the players, I have included the ELO rating of the players involved in the miniatures. A few games are of older date, but are otherwise as recent as 2015.

    Drawing on her experiences as a woman in a male-dominated field, immigrant, and lessons learned on her path to a corporate litigator, Alisa Melekhina, Esq. (internationally-ranked chess master) offers an intimate insight into the thought process of a chess master, and converts that thought process into a framework for success. Without the typical dumbing down of self-help books, Reality Check introduces a sophisticated, philosophical discussion of high-level existential questions, paired with concrete, strategic advice. The over-arching theme of Reality Check is awareness of our role in a given community or "world." The chapters focus on strategies for selecting a fulfilling community, and thriving in it by eliminating mental impediments as they appear in different stages of our lives -childhood influences, the junction at which we choose a career, and decision-making -in order to optimize our present goals. The book provides validation for alternative views, while at the same time offering concrete advice on how to succeed within a chosen path.Reality Check is intended for both chess-playing and non-chess-playing audiences. The chess diagrams are used as visual aids to support the discussed principles, and the underlying chess concepts are explained in simple terms. An appendix of select annotated chess games, demonstrating key strategies in action, is available for experienced players. Readers of all skill levels will benefit from the keen psychological insight into competitive play woven throughout the book.Reviews"I didn't know what to expect when I first opened this remarkable book. I soon found out that I had entered the realm of an innovative thinker. While playing off the elements of chess in a way anyone could understand, Alisa Melekhina limns higher principles applying to business, science, art, and life itself. I read it one time to explore, a second time to understand, and a third time to learn and think some more. It's that kind of book."-Bruce Pandolfini, World-Renowned Chess Teacher and Author, author of Every Move Must Have a Purpose: Strategies from Chess for Business and Life"Drawing on her unique perspective as someone who has achieved an objective level of "mastery" in more than one field, Alisa Melekhina has produced an important expose of the absurdity of many of the "moves" that we make and the cultural/societal and cognitive biases that all people - "players" - are subject to. Chess players and non-chess players alike will benefit from her thought-provoking insights and be able to raise their playing level in the ultimate game - life itself - if they really reflect upon her thoughts and change their strategy accordingly."-Martin C. Glass, Corporate Partner at Jenner & Block LLP"Alisa's debut book serves as much more than a guide on how to solve efficiently and effectively problems across the various spectra of business, life, and, of course, chess; for me, it served as a reminder of the interconnected nature of earnest pursuits. I honestly can't remember the last time I read a book so densely interspersed with nuggets of timeless wisdom. A must-read for those on the journey of success-oriented life!"-Schuster Tanger, Managing Member of Lucus Advisors LLC"Alisa's insight into what it takes to succeed at an early age will be interesting to educators, parents as well as ambitious kids themselves. Her precocious and simultaneous success in chess, academics and entrepreneurship should be especially inspiring to young people and women."-WGM Jennifer Shahade, 2-time U.S. Women's Chess Champion, top female poker player, author of Chess Bitch

    The Complete Manual of Positional Chess, probably the most thorough grounding in the history of teaching chess, was recently created for chess teachers at the DYSS, the special sports school for young talents in Moscow.Konstantin Sakaev and Konstantin Landa present a complete set of instructions and tips for trainers and self-improvers. You will learn not only how to enhance your fundamental knowledge and technical skills, but also how to work on your physical and psychological conditioning.In VOLUME 2 you are again handed basic and advanced tools to improve in a wide array of areas: assessing and handling pawn structures, employing positional and tactical means to improve your position, identifying weak spots, mastering attacking dynamics and more.If you complete Sakaev and Landa’s course you will be able to assess virtually any chess position you are confronted with. With its all-encompassing approach this ground-breaking book allows everyone to reap the fruits of the long tradition of instructive excellence in Russia.

    It introduces the most important checkmate and material-winning tactics, as well as defensive techniques to the new chess player. Each of the five volumes will consist of over 500 puzzles. Volume 4 is all about exercises where you have to make a "sacrifice" for a material gain or even checkmate. In each of the first five chapters, a certain piece is being sacrificed to checkmate the enemy King (in chapter 1 --The Queen, in chapter 2 -- The Rook, and so on). In chapters 6-10, you will get no hint about which piece should be sacrificed. However, you will know what the target is, to win a Queen, or Rook etc. In chapter 11, there will be no hints whatsoever. The goal is simple: sacrifice one of your pieces to either checkmate or gain material. Many of the examples are built on skills (such as forks, discoveries or pins) learned in volumes 1 and 2 of this series. In most of the puzzles, you will need to think 2-3 pairs of moves ahead in order to find the correct solution. With over 40 years of experience as a world-class player and coach, international grandmaster Susan Polgar has developed the most effective way to help young players and beginners “Learn Chess the Right Way. Let her show you the way to understanding the most common and critical patterns and let her show you the way to becoming a better player. SUSAN POLGAR is a winner of four Women's World Championships and the top-ranked woman chess player in the United States. She became the #1 woman player in the world at 15 and remained in the top 3 for over 20 years. In 2013, she received the U.S. Coach of the Year Award and the following year, she was named the Chess Trainer of the Year by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). She thus became the first person in history to be accorded both honors. Under her guidance, SPICE chess teams at both Texas Tech University and Webster University have won a combined six consecutive National Division I Collegiate Chess Championships.

    In the Scotch Gambit, White immediately strikes in the center and attacks the f7-pawn, provoking concessions from Black. An imbalance typically results, where White has attacking chances on the kingside. The Scotch Gambit will help you develop a finer feeling for the initiative and improve your combinational vision. You will also better understand strategic concepts, such as weak squares of one color and pawn structure nuances. Fishbein, an experienced player and author, takes you into a modern grandmaster’s research lab. Here, all ideas are scrutinized and prepared for use against an opponent who is similarly armed with the latest theory and technology. The most critical responses for Black receive special emphasis. Alex Fishbein is an American grandmaster. His peak world ranking was #150. He was competitive in each of his four U.S. Championship appearances, including in 2004 when he won the Bent Larsen prize for the most uncompromising chess. A lifelong 1.e4 player, Fishbein is known for interesting and creative play.

    A favourite of both Fischer and Kasparov, it remains a popular weapon at all levels of play. In this, the fifth and final volume of the epic Kotronias on the King's Indian series, Grandmaster Vassilios Kotronias completes his masterpiece by tackling all major variations after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 which were not covered in the previous volumes. Starting with 3.f3 and working through numerous set-ups including the Smyslov, Sokolov and Seirawan Systems, followed by the Four Pawns Attack and culminating in the mighty Samisch System, Kotronias has produced perhaps the finest book of his career. As in previous volumes, the author supplements the hard analysis by sharing his expert knowledge of typical manoeuvres and positional motifs. Once again, a selection of test positions has been provided, enabling the reader to sharpen his tactical skills and improve his middlegame understanding.

     This book features both composed studies and real-game positions. Composed positions distil tactics into their purest form: nothing irrelevant is present on the board. We can focus purely on the key ideas, which makes them an ideal learning tool. As one of the world’s greatest experts on chess composition, Yochanan Afek is the perfect man to select the best studies for this purpose. In over-the-board chess (in which Afek is also highly accomplished), the tactical ideas tend to be less complex, but they may prove harder to identify – unless they are already familiar to you. Afek provides a case in point in his introduction, where the stunning final move of the 2016 world championship could not possibly have been missed by those familiar with an earlier game. All the real-game positions in this book are taken from games by world champions (male or female). Following the structure of John Nunn’s best-selling Learn Chess Tactics, in each chapter a theme is introduced and a number of examples are explained. Then the reader immediately gets to use this knowledge in a series of carefully selected exercises. Yochanan Afek is both a Grandmaster of Composition and an over-the-board International Master. This unique combination of talents makes him a highly insightful writer, noted for his work on the factors that make moves hard to see. He grew up in Tel-Aviv and now lives in Amsterdam. His greatest over-the-board success was winning the Paris Championship in 2002.

    It introduces the most important checkmate and material-winning tactics, as well as defensive techniques to the new chess player. Each of the five volumes consist of over 500 puzzles. Book 5 focuses on learning how to find the right continuation in critical positions of a chess game. The first part of the book includes learning about “quiet” but powerful moves, including ones that result in “Zugzwang.” Building on the knowledge acquired throughout the entire series, in the second part of this volume, in the “Grand Test,” the reader can practice on familiar patterns with real-game-like situations emphasizing how to gain a significant material advantage or checkmate. With over 40 years of experience as a world-class player and coach, international grandmaster Susan Polgar has developed the most effective way to help young players and beginners – Learn Chess the Right Way. Let her show you the way to understanding the most common and critical patterns and let her show you the way to becoming a better player. SUSAN POLGAR is a winner of four Women’s World Championships and the top-ranked woman chess player in the United States. She became the #1 woman player in the world at 15 and remained in the top 3 for over 20 years. In 2013, she received the U.S. Coach of the Year Award and the following year, she was named the Chess Trainer of the Year by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). She thus became the first person in history to be accorded both honors. Under her guidance, SPICE chess teams at both Texas Tech University and Webster University have won a combined seven consecutive National Division I Collegiate Chess Championships.

    From Castling to Zugzwang, from Underpromotion to Zwischenzug. Written in a clear and informative style, the book features a large section with Illustrative games from past chess masters and grandmasters which show the relevant chess definition in action. Plus there are exercises that illustrate the tactic defined – these test you on your ability to recognize the tactics learned, as that is how they will appear in a match. The exercises teach you how to seize the opportunities before they disappear as well as avoiding traps your opponent may leave. Useful for all chess players, this is an essential read for those looking to improve and understand the game better.

    The backbone of this repertoire is the Caro-Kann versus 1 e4 and the Semi-Slav (via a Slav move order) versus 1 d4. In general these systems aim to neutralise White's early initiative. They aim for success by the gradual accumulation of small advantages, rather than by emerging victorious from an early tactical melee (which is rather problematic with the black pieces at the best of times). The book is co-authored by Cyrus Lakdawala and Keaton Kiewra and takes a teacher/student format. The -student- Keaton Kiewra is a very strong international master with two grandmaster norms. He normally specialises in razor-sharp defences such as the Sicilian Dragon and King's Indian. Now he wants to broaden his style and develop his skills at handling more sedate positions. His -teacher- is Cyrus Lakdawala, an extremely experienced player, coach and author, who guides Keaton along the learning path. -Everything you need to know to defend with Black systems based on ...c6. -The Q and A approach emphasizes plans and strategies. -Written by an expert on the Caro-Kann and Semi-Slav Defences