In this volume, Tal sets the stage and explains every one of the 21 games, telling both the on- and off-the-board story of this clash of styles and thought.

    Edward Lasker rates him the game’s supreme inventive genius; Euwe considers him the all-time greatest attacking player. A master of all phases of chess, his games were richly conceived and immensely complex. As Bobby Fischer observes in his writings, “He played gigantic conceptions, full of outrageous and unprecedented ideas.”This unequaled collection reproduces Alekhine’s 220 best games, his own personal accounts of the dazzling victories that made him a legend. Spanning almost thirty years of tournament play, it includes historic matches against Capablanca, Euwe, and Bogoljubov, and chronicles his brilliant ascent to world mastery, his surprising defeat in 1935, and his dramatic return two years later — the first deposed champion to regain his crown.Between 1927 and 1936 his successes in tournaments were unsurpassed by any master at any time in the history of chess. At San Remo 1930 and Bled 1931, in competitions that featured many of the world’s greatest players, Alekhine so outdistanced the field that he was indisputably in a class by himself. In a career including some seventy tournaments, he won first prize forty-one times, tying for first on nine occasions. He won or shared second prize fourteen times.Chess was Alekhine’s life; he lived for it alone. And although the final chapter of his career and his life were tragic, his achievements at the chessboard rank him as one of the game’s true artists. Filled with Alekhine’s own penetrating commentary on strategy and tactics, and enhanced by a revealing memoir, My Best Games is grandmaster chess at its most sublime. This volume belongs in the library of every serious student of the game.

    The first authoritative English translation from the Russian, this volume was written by one of the leading competitors. Its perceptive coverage includes games by Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky, Petrosian and 11 others. Algebraic notation. 352 diagrams.

    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.Artur Yusupov was ranked No. 3 in the world from 1986 to 1992, just behind the legendary Karpov and Kasparov. He has won everything there is to win in chess except for the World Championship. In recent years he has mainly worked as a chess trainer with players ranging from current World Champion Anand to local amateurs in Germany, where he resides.

    José Raúl Capablanca (1888–1942) had no need for isolated artistic theory or compositions — he composed and created chess art as he played. All of his genius — intuitive, tactical, strategic, logical — all of his art shines clearest in his endings, as he himself was proud to declare, advising others to study them carefully. "In order to improve your game," he said, "you must study the endgame before anything else; for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame."The best way to follow Capablanca's advice is through this — the only book devoted to his great endings, 60 complete games emphasizing the grand finale but annotated throughout.Irving Chernev communicates in his notes the mystery and wonder as well as the delight in discovering again and again the original, fertile mind of chess's greatest born player. "Virtuoso," "exquisite," "profound," "inspired," "elegant," and "fiendish ingenuity" describe match and tournament games and endings against Alekhine, Steiner, Marshall, Nimzowitsch, Lasker, Réti, and others, the best in the contemporary chess world. Capablanca's eleventh game in the 1901 Cuban championship (which he won, aged 12) "surpasses any accomplishment by such other prodigies as Morphy, Reshevsky, and Fischer." From age 12 through the last game in the book (nearly four decades later against Reshevsky at Nottingham, 1936), Capablanca fashions endgames in tense tournament atmosphere that seem like delicate, precise instruments dreamt at leisure.Here then is the essence of Capablanca, analyzed for the instruction of players and the pleasure of chess connoisseurs. Included are indexes of openings, themes in the endings, and opponents, as well as a bibliography and record of tournament and match play. Capablanca: for players, the epitome of the endgame; for readers, a classic chess study.

     Endorsed by Chess.com. What chess experts are saying about Chess 101: "The moment I opened Chess 101, I knew Dave had accomplished something great: a truly simple guide to learning and enjoying the game. Many attempt this feat, but few beginner chess manuals really succeed in keeping things simple while highlighting the best parts of the game of chess!" DANIEL RENSCH International Master and Vice-President of Chess.com and ChessKid.com . . . . . . . . . . "Whether you want to know anything from setting up the board and moving the pieces, to the rules and etiquette of the game, to competing in your first tournament, you'll find it all and much more in Chess 101. Dave has given us a delightful introduction to the royal game. Enjoy and learn!" BRUCE PANDOLFINI Chess author and teacher who was portrayed by Ben Kingsley in the film Searching for Bobby Fischer . . . . . . . . . . "Chess 101 stands alone among chess books for beginners because of its clarity and organization. In Chess 101, Dave Schloss moves seamlessly from the board setup and piece description, to the moves and relative values of the pieces, to chess notation, and then on to elements of chess strategy. This work fills a void as the beginner's book of choice, for chess students grade four or older, through adult, who want authoritative information. The reader will also learn all about how to get started in chess tournaments and how to get more involved in the fascinating game of chess." MICHAEL ROHDE Grandmaster and former U.S. High School Champion, U.S. Junior Champion and U.S. Open Champion . . . . . . . . . . "It doesn't seem possible with all of the chess books available today, that a small brief beginner's guide could fill any unmet need, yet this little book is worth a beginner's attention - whether adult or child - either on one's own or in a beginner's class." GEORGIA CHESS MAGAZINE

    Get a taste of the most dazzling chess combinations, devious strategies, and downright cruel blows as world champions throw caution to the wind and risk it all! Readers will delight as the author takes these awe-inspiring and controversial games and makes them enjoyable and easy to understand.

    The chessboard is the ultimate mental battleground and the world champions themselves are supreme intellectual gladiators.These magnificent compilations of chess form the basis of the first two parts of Garry Kasparov's definitive history of the World Chess Championship. Garry Kasparov, who is universally acclaimed as the greatest chessplayer ever, subjects the play of his predecessors to a rigorous analysis.Part one features the play of champions Wilhelm Steinitz (1886-1894), Emanuel Lasker (1894-1921), Jose Capablanca (1921-1927) and Alexander Alekhine (1927-1935 and 1937-1946).Part two features the play of champions Max Euwe (1935-1937) Mikhail Botvinnik (1946-1957, 1958-1961 and 1961-1963), Vassily Smyslov (1957-1958) and Mikhail Tal (1960-1961).These books are more than just a compilation of the games of these champions. Kasparov's biographies place them in a fascinating historical, political and cultural context. Kasparov explains how each champion brought his own distinctive style to the chessboard and enriched the theory of the game with new ideas.All these games have been thoroughly reassessed with the aid of modern software technology and the new light this sheds on these classic masterpieces is fascinating.

    The styles encompass Openings (O); Games Collections ((G); and Training (T). The levels are arranged as follows: Children [C]; Novice (N); Club (C); and Advanced (A).

    Twenty years later, it remains a bestseller in the field and one of the best practical training manuals available.

    By isolating the basic elements and illustrating them through a selection of Master and Grand Master games, Simple Chess breaks down the mystique of strategy into plain, easy-to-understand ideas — only a knowledge of basic chess terminology is assumed.More than a lesson in chess fundamentals, this book illustrates an increasingly prevalent and successful style of play — a method that begins by slowly accumulating small but permanent advantages, saving the outright attack for later in the game. Newly converted into the current algebraic chess notation, this edition of Simple Chess offers a strategic weapon for players at every level of expertise.

    Certainly no man has ever held the world championship longer — 28 years — or kept his powers so long. In his sixties, Lasker began what amounted to a fresh career in chess by playing his first serious game in ten years, and defeating Max Euwe, the man who was the following year to become world champion. The secret behind his extraordinary abilities may perhaps be found in Lasker’s wide knowledge of every phase of the game, and his ability to be independent of schools or fashions.This knowledge is reflected in the Manual of Chess, making it one of the great studies of the game, acclaimed by the chess world almost from the day it appeared. The book is one of the most thorough studies ever written, and though its main appeal is to the intermediate to skilled player, it begins its explanations at a level that can be understood by the beginner. Lasker analyzes basic methods of gaining advantages, exchange value of pieces, combinations, position play, the aesthetics of chess, and almost every other important aspect of the game. He examines dozens of different openings, including the Petroff Defense, the Hungarian Defense, King’s Bishop, Ponziani, Giuoco Piano, and Four Knights’ Game. He constantly illustrates his discussions with games played by the great modern masters. Lasker is always delightful reading, revealing a mind as quick to entertain and philosophize as it is to explain.One of the most rewarding features of the book is Lasker’s illumination and elaboration of the theories of William Steinitz. An interesting sidelight is that although Lasker always thought of himself as a disciple of Steinitz, he was actually an original, more versatile player, inclined to take calculated risks. His exposition of Steinitz’s thought and maxims, his principles of attack and evaluation, however, cannot help but be profitable to any chess player.

    Among the highlights are Kasparov vs. Topalov; Kasparov vs. Wijk aan Zee; the super-computer Deep Blue's historic first win over Kasparov; Boris Spassky's "James Bond" Mating Combination; and Bobby Fischer's "Game of the Century." Study these games and learn about defense and counterattack, logical opening play, endgame strategy, psychological warfare, and how great players think.

    Jesus de la Villa, an international grandmaster and former champion of Spain, presents the endgames that show up most frequently in practice, are easy to learn and contain ideas and concepts that are useful in more difficult positions. He brings you simple rules, guiding ideas at the beginning of each chapter, detailed and lively explanations, many diagrams, clear summaries of the most important themes, recommended exercises that will help you understand the material, and tests, divided in two parts: basic and final. The main thing De la Villa asks of you is to always understand WHY you play a move.

    While it remains a fundamental work on chess strategy, the way chess positions are handled has changed greatly since Nimzowitsch's time - both refinements to existing ideas, and completely new concepts. John Watson's book fulfils the need for a thorough, profound work on the modern handling of chess positions, and how Nimzowitsch's theories - still controversial and revolutionary at the time My System was written - have been refined and used alongside classical concepts.The first section of the book discusses how the understanding of classical themes, such as pawn majorities, the centre, and structural weaknesses, have been refined. Watson then moves on to discuss new concepts, including the willingness of modern players to accept backward pawns in return for dynamic play, the idea of a good 'bad' bishop, knights finding useful roles at the edge of the board and the exchange sacrifice idea that became prevalent with the post-war Soviet champions. This profound yet thoroughly practical work is rounded off with sections on prophylactic thinking, dynamism, modern concepts as they apply to the critical contemporary opening systems, and some thoughts on the future of chess.