Books published by Gambit Publications Ltd

* The perfect survival guide to the chess openings* All openings covered* Detailed verbal explanations of plans for both sides* Up-to-date and featuring many tips and recommendations* Insights into the 'character' of each opening* Written by one of the world's foremost opening expertsThe first moves of a chess game define the nature of the whole struggle, as both players stake their claim to the critical squares and start to develop their plans. It is essential to play purposefully and to avoid falling into traps or reaching a position that you don't understand.This is not a book that provides masses of variations to memorize. Paul van der Sterren instead offers a wealth of ideas and explanation, together with the basic variations of each and every opening. This knowledge will equip players to succeed in the opening up to good club level, and provide a superb grounding in opening play on which to build a more sophisticated repertoire. The strategies he explains will, unlike ever-changing chess opening theory, remain valid as long as chess is played, and so the time spent studying this book will be rewarded many times over.Grandmaster Paul van der Sterren has won the Dutch Championship on two occasions, and in 1993 reached the Candidates stage of the World Chess Championship. He is an internationally renowned chess writer and editor: he was one of the founding editors of New in Chess, for whose Yearbooks he has contributed more than 150 opening surveys.

The Caro-Kann is a rare beast among chess openings. While respected as a sound and safe way to start the game, it also avoids symmetry or simplification. This allows Black many ways to keep the game unbalanced and play for a win.Two Norwegian opening experts provide a set of options that take full advantage of this flexibility. In the main line, you are given a choice between the 4...Bf5 and the 5...exf6 systems - but both strictly in their modern dynamic forms! In the latter, Hansen is a world-leading authority, with a wealth of experience to explain the typical mistakes White makes when facing this deceptively tricky line. By studying his material, you will be well ahead of the game in this rapidly-evolving system. For instance, the critical improvements over the Duda-Carlsen game in 2020 were already in Hansen's files from two years earlier.The other recommended systems for Black are also aggressive and very much the '21st-century Caro-Kann'. It's 3...c5 against the Advance, in which Hansen is also an outstanding specialist. The Panov Attack is answered with ...g6 lines - strategically ideal, and nowadays backed up by amazing modern computer analysis. Against the Two Knights, we are offered an ...exf6 option as well as the ...Bg4 approach. The repertoire is completed with good sensible recommendations against almost every other conceivable move White can throw at the Caro-Kann. This extremely up-to-date book has an innovative structure, with 'lessons', model games and theory 'magnifiers'.Sverre Johnsen is a chess analyst, researcher, organizer, trainer and writer from Norway. He is co-author of Win with the London System and Win with the Stonewall Dutch, two of the best-selling openings books of recent years. Grandmaster Torbjorn Ringdal Hansen is also from Norway. He is one of the founders of the chess retail business Sjakkhuset and works full-time as a chess trainer. He was the first coach of Magnus Carlsen (in 1999) and has worked with three other players who went on to become grandmasters.

Assuming no specialized endgame knowledge, John Nunn presents 100 key endgame concepts, and explains how they are used to win games or save difficult positions. He covers all the main types of endgames and typical thinking methods, and so equips readers with all the skills needed to excel in this vital phase of the game up to good club level and beyond. The endgame is the stage of the game where precision is most important, and where errors are punished most drastically. It is also deceptive: many endgame positions look too simple to require prior knowledge, but yet contain fiendish concealed pitfalls that can reverse the result of the game on the spot. Some key positions simply have to be memorized, as they can hardly be worked out at the board, especially when playing with today's faster time-controls. In such perilous terrain, an expert guide is necessary. John Nunn could not be better qualified: he is a battle-hardened grandmaster of top-level over-the-board chess and a solving world champion. From his wealth of endgame expertise, he has distilled a course of fundamental knowledge that is highly targeted on practical success for all levels of players.

This is a book for those who want to start their chess games purposefully and take full advantage of their opponents' mistakes.It is vital to start a chess game well. Each move needs to be useful and precise. The best way to develop the necessary know-how is by experience and practice, rather than rote learning of 'rules' and principles. It's all about the specifics and being alert to what the opponent is doing, and pouncing on any errors.Chess Opening Workbook for Kids is the second in a new series of books that help players gain chess skills by tackling hundreds of carefully chosen exercises. The themes are similar to those in Gambit's best-selling 'Chess for Kids' series, but the focus is on getting hands-on experience. Many positions build on ones given earlier, showing how advanced ideas are normally made up of simpler ones that we can all grasp.Each chapter is focused on a particular theme and features dozens of exercises, with solutions that highlight the main strategic and tactical points. Each chapter offers tips on opening play, such as how to detect weaknesses and poorly-placed pieces. Later chapters address key aspects of opening strategy such as the centre, development and castling. The book ends with a series of seven graded tests where you are given few clues about the themes involved.Award-winning author Graham Burgess has written 27 chess books, including two on opening play for the 'Chess for Kids' series. He is a FIDE Master and a former champion of the Danish region of Funen. In 1994 he set a world record for marathon blitz chess playing and won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award in 1997.

Tired of being surprised in the opening? Horrified by studying many hours each week to keep on top of the latest developments in main-line openings? Then this is the book for you!For here is a repertoire of opening lines based on 1 e4 that are slightly off the beaten track, but full of practical sting and cunning traps for unwary opponents. All are based on rapid, healthy development, central control and play against the enemy king. You go straight from the opening into a sharp, little-explored middlegame where you will be better prepared than your opponent.This new edition brings the repertoire completely up to date. The basic choice of main lines is unchanged, but each move has been re-examined and new ideas from practice and analysis incorporated at every turn.Teeming with dangerous new ideas never published anywhere else beforeMakes use of the new generation of neural-network based engines inspired by AlphaZeroUpdated by an openings expert and editor with a wealth of experience creating repertoiresEmphasis on lines that are hard to meet in practice with the clock ticking!Future-proofed: recommendations against rare and untried ideas for BlackChris Baker is an international master from England with a vast wealth of experience of chess at club and weekend tournament level. The first edition of A Startling Chess Opening Repertoire established his reputation as a writer and proved extremely popular, reprinting several times. Award-winning author Graham Burgess is a FIDE Master and a former champion of the Danish region of Funen. In 1994 he set a world record for marathon blitz chess playing and won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award in 1997.

Chess-players understand that it is vital to play logically, but often lack the methods needed to do so. In this book, renowned trainer Erik Kislik presents a wide range of specific concepts that will help them succeed. These include positional techniques, thinking methods, and modes of play to adopt when either better or worse.Just the list of chapter titles shows how original Kislik's presentation is. They include:Painfully Slow MovesFocal PointsReciprocal LogicFighting against Centralized PiecesWhen Playing a Bad Move Wins a Good GameA Chronically Weak KingThroughout, the discussion is illustrated by a mass of examples from both recent elite chess and the play of Kislik and his students, showing how his themes cut across all levels of chess. After the book's two main sections - Thinking Concepts and Positional Concepts - comes a section of exercises, again with a strikingly original theme: our task is simply to assess each position.Erik Kislik is an International Master originally from California who lives in Budapest. He is an expert in computer chess and one of the most in-demand chess trainers on ICC. He has coached many grandmasters and assisted a number of elite players with their opening preparation. His previous book for Gambit, Applying Logic in Chess, was shortlisted for FIDE Book of the Year.

This is a book for those who know the rules of chess and are keen to start winning games.The quickest way to improve your chess is to learn tactics. But not just knowing the themes - you need to get used to using them in real positions. Master tactician John Nunn has thoughtfully crafted a course that gives you the basic nuggets of knowledge and immediately invites you to start finding tactical ideas for yourself.Chess Tactics Workbook for Kids is the first in a new series of books that help players gain chess skills by tackling hundreds of carefully chosen exercises. The themes are similar to those in Gambit's best-selling 'Chess for Kids' series, but the focus is on getting vital hands-on experience. Many positions build on ones given earlier, showing how advanced ideas are normally made up of simpler ones that we can all grasp.Each chapter introduces a basic theme and features dozens of exercises, with solutions that highlight the key points. In each chapter there are tips on what to look out for to help spot tactical ideas. As the chapters progress, we increasingly see how tactical ideas are combined together, with ideas from previous sections repeatedly appearing as part of a deadly one-two punch. The book ends with a series of six test papers where you are given no clues about the themes involved.Dr John Nunn is one of the best-respected figures in world chess. He was among the world's leading grandmasters for nearly twenty years and won four gold medals in chess Olympiads. In 2004, 2007 and 2010, Nunn was crowned World Chess Solving Champion, ahead of many former champions.

Chess becomes fun when we learn how to survive the opening and stop falling into our opponents' cheap tactical tricks.And that's what this book is about! By understanding opening play and how to exploit tactical ideas, we turn the tables on our opponents. Now they will be the ones getting outmanoeuvred, tricked, trapped and pushed off the board!Chess Opening Traps for Kids is a serious course on how to play the opening, illustrated with memorable and entertaining examples. By focusing on 100 key themes, Graham Burgess explains how to use opening tricks to our advantage. Every opening features hidden dangers for both players, so we need to avoid pitfalls while making full use of tactics to achieve the opening goals of purposeful development and central control.Most of the 100 sections feature a basic example followed by a more complex one. Some of the traps have claimed grandmaster victims, while others are more likely to arise in junior chess. Either way, the aim is to learn the theme so well that you can use it when similar opportunities arise in your own games. A series of exercises at the end of the book allows you to check that you have grasped the main points. Throughout the book there are tips on how to spot tactics in advance and advice on opening strategy.Award-winning author Graham Burgess has written 25 chess books, ranging from general guides to works on specific openings. He is a FIDE Master and a former champion of the Danish region of Funen. In 1994 he set a world record for marathon blitz chess playing and in 1997 won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award. Nowadays he lives in Minnesota.

Is chess a logical game? What constitutes an advantage in chess? How can we set problems and create psychologically difficult situations for the opponent? These are big questions, and Erik Kislik tackles them and others head-on in this thought-provoking, thoroughly modern, and original work.He answers the first of those questions with a resounding 'yes!'. His assessments focus on concrete points: pawn-structure, material imbalance and compensation. Even though the analytical proofs may be complex, he repeatedly shows that these elements are the keys to evaluating positions and forming plans.As the trainer of players ranging from high-level grandmasters to average club-players, Kislik is very strong on providing practical guidance on topics such as how best to use chess software, choosing hardware, getting psychologically ready for a game and preparing for specific opponents. He is always willing to boldly state his views, even when they run contrary to conventional chess wisdom."I was excited by this book because of the way all of the ideas are intertwined and you get very concrete advice ... Everything is applicable and it is easy to see how it applies to the real world." - from the Foreword by GM Hjörvar Steinn Gretarsson.Erik Kislik is an International Master originally from California who lives in Budapest. He is an expert in computer chess and one of the most in-demand chess trainers on ICC. He has coached many grandmasters and assisted a number of elite players with their opening preparation.