An Essential Guide to Pawn Structures

Unchanged reprint of the 2nd edition 210; only cover page changed!

Ever wondered why grandmasters take only seconds to see what's really going on in a chess position? It's all about structures, as Ivan Sokolov explains in this groundbreaking book.

Life is too short to play boring chess!

That’s the mantra of the two young authors of this book, and as you read their energetic and insightful words, you may find yourself caught up in their enthusiasm for direct attacking play.

Das Buch Zentrumsformen ist ein Strategielehrbuch für erfahrene Schachspieler. In jeder Partie ist die Kontrolle des Zentrums von hoher Bedeutung. Vor allem in den Partiephasen Eröffnung und Mittelspiel steht der Schachspieler vor der Frage, wie er das Zentrum kontrollieren, schließen oder öffnen kann.
Im Buch werden typische Formationen der Bauernstrukturen wie auch typische Verhaltensweisen behandelt.
Hauptgliederungspunkte sind hierbei:

Im Schach strategisch spielen bedeutet, langfristige Ziele zu planen und diese möglichst auch innerhalb einer begrenzten Partiephase zu erreichen. Das strategische Spiel unterscheidet sich damit im Wesen vom Kombinationsspiel, das die Umsetzung kurzfristiger Zielsetzungen mit taktischen Mitteln betreibt. Es liegt in der Natur der Sache, dass eine Strategie in kleinen Schritten, die meist taktischer Natur sind, zum Erfolg geführt wird. Strategisches und taktisches Vorgehen sind daher eng mit- einander verwoben und nicht scharf voneinander zu trennen. Bekanntlich gilt: Alle guten Züge haben einen strategischen Zweck, und überwiegend weisen sie zugleich taktische Elemente auf.

Practical Chess Exercises: Tactics, Strategy ..

Viktor Moskalenko is one of the leading chess instructors of our time. Not only has he coached Masters and Grandmasters, including Ukrainian star Vassily Ivanchuk, he has also taught hundreds of classes for amateurs and his best-selling books have inspired thousands of ambitious club players all over the world.

Every chess player loves to attack the enemy King. Your goal is clear, your thinking is concrete, your creativity is flowing and direct victory is just around the corner. Few things in life are better than successfully conducting a blistering attack on your opponent’s King!

A Surprise Weapon for Black 

An opening idea that will knock many White players off their feet!

Former Russian Chess Champion Alexey Bezgodov provides a complete repertoire for Black against 1.d4, starting with the cheeky move 2…c5! against both 2.c4 and 2.Nf3.
In this opening, the Double Queen’s Gambit, Black’s approach is as active and ambitious as White’s is in the Queen’s Gambit.

Every chess player loves to win with a devastating attack. But even beginners know the importance of early castling, so the most significant attacking strategies are those against a castled king. Danny Gormally sheds light on this vital area of the game, arguing that pattern recognition is key to improvement.

In Attack & Defence Jacob Aagaard presents the main principles of how to attack and defend in chess. By carving dynamic chess into separate areas of ability, he gives the reader a clear way to expand his understanding of this vital part of the game.

"Playing the violin and learning languages are similar activities - the brain needs a special map for these kinds of activities, so it has to be learned at an early age - due to some brain chemistry stuff, I guess. That explains why so many players get stuck at a certain level - their map is done! Depressing, eh? But that's where Aagaard (and other heavyweights like Dvoretsky and Yusupov) come to the rescue! The books in this series are designed to change the ‘chess map' in your brain! Jacob wants to transform that narrow path of finding good moves into a freeway where good moves flow!"
From the foreword by Sune Berg Hansen

Unlock your chess potential

Any man in the street knows how to increase his physical strength, but among most chess players confusion reigns when it comes to improving their playing strength. 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.

Voraussetzungen, Ziel und Durchführung des Opfers im Schachspiel

Der österreichische Berufsschachmeister Rudolf Spielmann (1883-1942) pflegte einen wagemutigen Angriffsstil, der in zahlreichen brillanten, mit einfallsreichen Opfern gewürzten Partien zu Tage trat. Als "letzter Ritter des Königsgambits“ (so seinerzeit apostrophiert von Tartakower) sah Spielmann die Schönheit des Schachs im Kombinationsspiel verwirklicht, vor allem im intuitiven, nicht vollständig berechenbaren Opfer, das beim Schachpublikum durchweg Bewunderung auslöst. Schach mit Kunst gleichzusetzen gehörte zu Spielmanns Credo, und auch wenn er aufgrund seines aggressiv-riskanten Stils manch herbe Niederlage einstecken musste, im Zenit seiner Schachlaufbahn der zweiten Hälfte der 1920er Jahre zählte er zur Elite der 10 weltbesten Spieler.
 

Many of the classics of Soviet chess literature have struggled to see the light of day, but none more so than Soviet Middlegame Technique by Peter Romanovsky. The original version of this famous guide to the middlegame was published in 1929 when Romanovsky was Soviet Champion. Romanovsky later decided to update and improve his work.

As he finished his work in 1942, World War II was underway and Romanovsky was trapped in the notorious siege of Leningrad. The author barely survived and his manuscript was lost.

If only life was as straightforward as a book of chess exercises! If only someone would tap you on the shoulder every time the moment to show your tactical skills has arrived!

However, the reality is that during a game you are on your own. Nobody will whisper in your ear when you have reached a position that is, in fact, a tactical puzzle and all you have to do is solve it.

Emmanuel Neiman offers help. He has identified a number of signals that tell you that somewhere in the position you are looking at there is a tactical blow just waiting to be found. What you need is a way to read those signals. What you need, and what Neiman helps you to acquire, is a Chess Tactics Antenna.