Play Stronger Chess by Examining Chess960

Our examinations of chess960 (or Fischer Random Chess) led to the realization that some so called principles of chess are merely principles of the one traditional setup, not of chess in general. When we rearrange the pieces behind the pawns, some principles fail or must be changed. This has implications for everything from hypermodern centers and castling decisions to piece development, endgame foresight, and pawn storm attacks. This book penetrates into chess960 by treating it as an academic field of study. New ideas and new perspectives were found in abundance just waiting to be discovered. Some judgments about optimal chess strategy began to improve in the era of Botvinnik, and each decade has brought ongoing refinements. We find these improvements would have occurred earlier had chess960 been part of the chess scene. Many of the world's top 25 grandmasters are accumulating victories in annual chess960 tournaments. It is time to examine chess960 in depth to discover the strategies, tactics, and enjoyable variety it adds to chess in general. Visit http: //CastleLong.com/