Meet Magdalena as she prepares for the birth of her first child, knowing her family are in another country - but will her fiancé surprise her for Christmas? Share memories of treasured tree decorations and the stories they hold. Delight as Irene remembers her husband on Valentine's Day and fate finds a way to remind her of the love they shared. Cheer along with Sophie as she finally finds the courage to deal with a fairweather friend, and laugh as a grandmother receives a visit from her granddaughter - only to turn the tables on her and show her who is boss! Lose yourself in sublime storytelling - the perfect gift for readers everywhere.

    Pull up a chair and watch the world's most exciting chess endings. Then become an endgame master!Winning Chess Endings explains how to:*Relentlessly find checkmates, from easy to hard, in all basic endgame patterns*Master the intricacies of King and Pawn Endings*Win consistently in the most common endgame--the Rook ending*Master the pros and cons of Bishop vs. Knight Endgames*Seize the advantage in Rook Pawn and Queen Pawn endings*Play like a grandmaster in solitaire endings

    What better way could the amateur have of learning to exploit the weak play of fellow amateurs than to study how a master would handle such situations? Selected by former World Chess Champion Max Euwe and Walter Meiden, a typical amateur player, the games point out graphically how the chess master takes advantage of characteristic errors of the amateur.In general, the games have been presented in order of the degree of skill of the amateur. The early games were played against beginners; later games, against "coffeehouse" players of various skill levels; the last games, against amateur "book" players. Each game, with commentary by Dr. Euwe, was chosen to illustrate a specific aspect of chess, from various openings to a number of typical chess situations. By carefully studying these games, the amateur player will learn how to recognize and avoid a variety of weak strategic and tactical moves.Dr. Euwe's helpful and informative commentary on each contest consists of a discussion of significant moves in the game, an analysis of the opening used and explanations of important chess concepts as they arise. Often, he includes a detailed analysis of tactical variations that might have been played as alternatives. The result is an indispensable aid for amateurs seeking to raise the quality of their games as well as a book that can be read with profit by chess players at every level of expertise.

    They knew what they wanted too. It wasn’t like school, where kids pretended they were masters of the teachers’ game. The adults didn’t know anything anyway. The real world was a big push to nothing. But Lisa escaped from all that. She found Igor Ivanov. He taught her how to play.

    But on her way to style one of her infamously diva-esque clients, she discovers her first Dead Guy in a Range Rover parked next to her. And this isn’t just any dead guy. It’s the guy with a Russian mob connection, who her former client, Ponzi-scheming King Bernard McCall, hired to knock her off. Bond, James Bond-style Double Agent Roman Bellesconi is hell-bent on bringing down Ponzi-scheming King Bernard McCall. Why? Because (1) that’s his job. But also because (2) he’s got a lot more at stake than job security. If he doesn’t bring down Bernie, his family’s monarchy will be destroyed.As the dead guys keep piling-up around ‘em, Zoey may be damn sick of Roman’s deep and very dark secrets, but, she’s also convinced that perhaps, like Roman’s been reiterating, it’s only because he’s keeping those secrets, they’re both still alive. But is there a way for their cover to be blown, Roman’s secrets thus revealed, and each of ‘em live to tell about it?

    They couldn’t survive apart.It was fate, forever destined to come to this: from birth to death, two halves of the same whole. Twins Calida and Teresita Santiago have never known a world without each other…until Teresita is wrenched from their Argentinian home to be adopted by world-famous actress Simone Geddes.Now, while Teresita is provided with all that money can buy, Calida must fight her way to the top – her only chance of reuniting with her twin.But no one can predict the explosive events which will finally bring the Santiago sisters into the spotlight together…

    So, she’s surprised to discover that her husband has found the time to have an exciting affair while she’s been bringing up their family.Suddenly, Rachel is left wrangling with a child who will only eat crackers and a 35-week bump. She knows even Mumsnet isn’t going to solve this.What Rachel needs is a handsome, good-with-children, single man. But she can barely leave the house without a stain on her top and child on her hip. How on earth can she claim her life back, let alone thinking about dating?

    Stephen Moss sets out to master its mysteries, and unlock the secret of its enduring appeal. What, he asks, is the essence of chess? And what will it reveal about his own character along the way?In a witty, accessible style that will delight newcomers and irritate purists, Moss imagines the world as a board and marches across it, offering a mordant report on the world of chess in 64 chapters--64 of course being the number of squares on the chessboard. He alternates between "black" chapters--where he plays, largely uncomprehendingly, in tournaments--and "white" chapters, where he seeks advice from the current crop of grandmasters and delves into the lives of great players of the past.It is both a history of the game and a kind of "Zen and the Art of Chess"; a practical guide and a self-help book: Moss's quest to understand chess and become a better player is really an attempt to escape a lifetime of dilettantism. He wants to become an expert at one thing. What will be the consequences when he realizes he is doomed to fail?Moss travels to Russia and the US--hotbeds of chess throughout the 20th century; meets people who knew Bobby Fischer when he was growing up and tries to unravel the enigma of that tortured genius who died in 2008 at the inevitable age of 64; meets Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen, world champions past and present; and keeps bumping into Armenian superstar Levon Aronian in the gents at tournaments.He becomes champion of Surrey, wins tournaments in Chester and Bury St Edmunds, and holds his own at the famous event in the Dutch seaside resort of Wijk aan Zee (until a last-round meltdown), but too often he is beaten by precocious 10-year-olds and finds it hard to resist the urge to punch them. He looks for spiritual fulfilment in the game, but mostly finds mental torture.

    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.

    Daisy Ronaldson’s whole life is turned upside-down when her husband dies from cancer. So when she discovers that he left her a wish: to turn their big English country house into a guest house, she’s in shock... At first it seems like just too big a challenge, but in the rush of making beds, painting rooms and preparing breakfasts, with her helpful (and handsome) friend James, Daisy realizes that her heart is beginning to heal. In fact, she might even be falling in love again!

    April, a single mother, has been doing any work she can get to survive. Until one day, in lieu of payment, she is given Cair Paravel, allegedly a champion greyhound. Soon, the two women, and the men they are involved with, will meet . . .

    Her use of tactics, combinations, and strategy during her games gave her the critical advantage she needed against her opponents. In Chess Tactics for Champions, Polgar gives insight into the kind of thinking that chess champions rely on while playing the game, specifically the ability to recognize patterns and combinations. With coauthor Paul Truong, Susan Polgar teaches the tactics she learned from her father, Laszlo Polgar, one of the world's best chess coaches.• Teaches players how to calculate the effect of a move in order to gain an edge over an opponent• For intermediate to advanced chess players of all ages

    Coming home was never going to be easy ...With a failed marriage behind her, and her career dreams in tatters, Sarah returns home to Lord Howe Island to run the family store. Paradise to most, Lord Howe is the last place Sarah wants to be, trapped on an island with her two ex-best friends, Floss and Jules.Floss has the life she always wanted: married to her high school sweetheart, Andy, with five gorgeous children. But something is missing from her marriage. And now she has a secret that threatens to tear her happy family apart, and the only person she can talk to is the woman who pushed her away.For Jules, forgetting the past is impossible. Her four-year-old daughter is an everyday reminder of the friendships she has lost. But when a discovery turns her life upside down, she knows this is an opportunity to set things right.This summer, can these women overcome the pain of the past and find their way back to the friendship they once had?

    When her job doing the traffic news on the radio in London is relocated to Sunshine FM in Mumbles, she jumps at the chance for a new start in Wales. But when she arrives she discovers that she's not there to do the travel news - she's there to front the graveyard evening show. And she's not sure she can do it.Thrust into the limelight, she must find her voice and a way to cope. And soon she realises that she's not the only person who finds life hard - out there her listeners are lonely too. And her show is the one keeping them going.Can Charlotte seize the day and make the most of her new home? And will she be able to breathe new life into the tiny radio station too...?

    Freddy taught her to love again after the death of her father. But then Freddy becomes tense, snappy and distracted. Is he having an affair? The truth turns out to be much worse...Freddy is addicted to gambling. He owes hundreds of thousands of pounds to loan companies; he's been helping himself to money from his own company, which has now gone bust; and worst of all, his wife's money - given to him to invest - is gone. Devastated, Lily leaves him, and moves to stay with her sister in Oxford. There, among the dreaming spires, she will clear her head of Freddy and try to figure out how to move on.But being away from Freddy is far harder than she'd thought. He promises to get help, but can he really ever be cured of his addiction? How can Lily trust him again - surely, after the heartache he's caused her, she would be far better off walking away and starting again? The truth is, she is as addicted to Freddy as he is to gambling - and she's not sure she even wants to be free.