The essential guide to the use of tactics, the watchdogs of strategy that take advantage of short-term opportunities to trap or ambush an opponent and change the course of a game in a single move.

    . . as it reinforces strategic lessons gleaned from chess titans. Illustrates effective middle-game plans.”— Library Journal Having learned the basic moves, how exactly should a player improve? In this popular classic, the author explains 33 complete games, in detail, move by move, including the reason for each one. Playing through these games and explanations gives real insight into the power of the pieces and how to post them most effectively.

    In his trademark witty, accessible style, Soltis provides tips on everything from the need for memorization to the use of computers-and even how to develop that indefinable thing called intuition.

    This book teaches the students what they need to know at their current rating level, and builds on that knowledge for each subsequent phase of the player's development.

    Organized by problem type, each combination, or game is keyed to an easy-to-follow solution at the back of the book.. More than 6,000 illustrations make it easy to see the possibilities regardless of where your pieces are on the board. The book also includes the basic rules of the game and an international bibliography. Chess is the ultimate book on winning the game.

    The proper use of pawns — of paramount importance in chess strategy — sometimes even puzzles experienced players. This profoundly original and stimulating book by an International Master and prolific chess writer offers superb instruction in pawn play by isolating its elements and elaborating on various aspects. After a lucid exposition of the fundamentals and the basic formations of one or two pawns that virtually constitute the keys to winning chess strategy, the reader is shown a multitude of examples demonstrating the paramount significance of elements of pawn manipulation. The author’s masterly explanation makes it perfectly clear to the beginner as well as the advanced player how the fate of a game depends on pawn formation and how pawn power holds the proceedings under its remote control. Over 180 games and diagrams illustrate the author’s theory and make it easy to follow the points made in the text.Hans Kmoch played with distinction in several international tournaments and is the author of a number of books and columns on chess and chess tournaments.“We consider it the best publication on chess strategy since the end of World War II.” — Die Welt.

    He shows the strategic considerations, the tactics, and sometimes the blunders, that occur during the pressure of tournament play. He assesses his opponents’ thinking as well. Each game has, in addition to Fischer's own annotations, an analytical introduction by International Grandmaster Larry Evans.

    In this exciting volume, he presents a complete overview of the entire game and its culture. Structured as a dialogue between a beginning student and an expert teacher, Pandolfini's Ultimate Guide to Chess takes the student step-by-step from fundamentals to advanced, highly strategic play. Combining easy-to-follow diagrams with trenchant and up-to-date analysis, Pandolfini puts a new twist on accepted chess theory, offering a seamless beginning-to-end approach, including: • a short introductory history of the game • the moves, rules, and contemporary notation forms • the basic principles of chess • how to develop an opening repertoire • the art of tactical play • pattern recognition and memory aids • traps and pitfalls to be avoided • middlegame play, strategy, and planning • defense and counterattack • transitions to the endgame and the endgame itself • computers and the future of chess • the best websites for playing chess online With Pandolfini's expert insight into the history and modern world of chess, as well as several appendices to enhance play and appreciation, Pandolfini's Ultimate Guide to Chess makes the perfect gift for players of all ages and will be the benchmark title for chess players for years to come.

    But there are so many complicated variations -- how can you memorize them all?You can't -- and you don't have to! If you understand the basic goals of the opening you're playing, you will know which moves fit logically into its overall scheme. This classic, best-selling volume, now completely reset in modern algebraic notation, explains everything you need to know to play the opening sensibly and successfully.Reuben Fine, an International Grandmaster, is one of the world's top players and a leading theoretician of chess. He is the author of over half a dozen books, including the definitive Basic Chess Endings.

    In this revised edition of the great classic, the author expounds both the basic principles and the most complex forms of attack on the king. A study of this masterpiece will add power and brilliance to any chess enthusiast's play. (5 3/4' X 8 1/4', 352 pages, illustrations, index)

    The key to successful opening play is not simply learning lines off by heart; instead it's the understanding of the basic principles, and here the reader is guided through the vital themes: swift development, central control and king safety.

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

    Such combinations do not come into being by themselves, however; they appear only as the result of proper chess strategy. It is therefore surprising that so few books deal with this highly important subject, and understandable that Pachman's modern classic has been so enthusiastically received by chessplayers at all levels.Ludĕk Pachman, a Czech grandmaster, has long had an international reputation as a chess theorist, but until now his work has not been available in English. This present volume, which condenses his great Modern Schachstrategie, presents his ideas and theories in a form that the English-speaking world can assimilate easily. Beginning with basic concepts and the rules of the minor and major pieces, it covers the use of the Queen, the active King, exchanges, various kinds of Pawns, the center and its use, superiority on the wings, minority attack, strategical points and weak squares, methods of attack and defense, and similar topics. Pachman elaborates the various kinds of strategy that can be employed, and shows how each leads to tactical opportunities. It has been said that his section on the Rook alone make his book indispensable to the serious chess player, since the Rook is so important in both middle and endgames.Pachman presents his method in the form of a thorough, systematic, analytical text, which draws upon scores of great games for exemplification. Both classical and very recent masters are included, although stress is on the moderns: Capablanca, Alekhine, Dr. Lasker, Rubinstein, Nimzovich, Botvinnik, Reshevsky, Bronstein, Smyslov, and Spasski.

    Today, his profound theories of positional chess are accepted as a matter of course, and a knowledge of them is essential to every player who wants to improve his game.My System describes a theory of chess; it also describes the character and genius of its author. It is a very readable book, for Nimzovich's methods sparkle with humor, pungent originality, and witty explanations.

    The third edition, revised and enlarged - now over 400 pages - covers all the most important concepts required for endgame mastery."I am sure that those who study this work carefully will not only play the endgame better, but overall, their play will improve. One of the secrets of the Russian chess school is now before you, dear reader!” - From the Foreword to the First Edition by Grandmaster Artur Yusupov"Going through this book will certainly improve your endgame knowledge, but just as important, it will also greatly improve your ability to calculate variations, What really impresses me is the deep level of analysis in the book, All I can say is: This is a great book. I hope it will bring you as much pleasure as it has me.” - From the Preface to the First Edition by International Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard Here's what they had to say about the First Edition: "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual ... may well be the chess book of the year... [It] comes close to an ultimate one-volume manual on the endgame.” - Lubomir Kavalek in his chess column of December 1, 2003 in the Washington Post."Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual is quite simply a masterpiece of research and insight. It is a tremendous contribution to endgame literature, certainly the most important one in many years, and destined to be a classic of the literature (if it isn't already one). The famous trainer Mark Dvoretsky has put together a vast number of examples that he has not only collected, but analysed and tested with some of the world's strongest players. This is a particularly important book from the standpoint of clarifying, correcting, and extending the theory of endings. Most of all, Dvoretsky's analysis is staggering in its depth and accuracy.” - John Watson, reviewing DEM at The Week In Chess2003 Book of the Year - JeremySilman.com2003 Book of the Year - Seagaard Chess Reviews: "This is an extraordinary good chess book. To call this the best book on endgames ever written seems to be an opinion shared by almost all reviewers and commentators. And I must say that I am not to disagree." - Erik Sobjerg