Books published by Gambit Publications Ltd

Provides a course that will help you understand the potential of your pieces and play more purposefully in your games; chess will stop feeling like a series of random events as you take command of your forces and direct them like a general in charge of an army.

Warning: this book is not just entertainment. The author wants to teach you a lot about chess and improve the quality of your play!He has selected 50 miniatures from throughout chess history - the earliest are from the 1850s, while the most recent are from grandmaster events just a few months ago! A miniature is a decisive game, won in 25 moves or fewer. Most of these 50 games feature brilliant tactics, attacks on the king, and even a few outrageous king-hunts. In many, the winner had to overcome cunning defensive ploys and inventive counterattacks.But our aim in this book is not just to admire the players' skill, but to learn how we can play like this in our own games. Chess coach Ataman is keenly focused on the instructive points, explaining which features of the position justified the attacks, and what prompted the critical decisions. Where analysis is given, it is restricted to what it would be realistic for a human to work out at the board.But why are miniatures so instructive, especially for younger players? It's because we get to see an idea or plan implemented successfully, in full. Once we understand what players are trying to achieve, we can then appreciate how to oppose these ideas, and the cut-and-thrust typical in modern grandmaster play will make a lot more sense.Alper Efe Ataman is a FIDE Master from Turkey. He is a chess publisher, author and an experienced trainer, especially at the scholastic level.

The three-times World Chess Solving Champion distils the most useful middlegame concepts and knowledge into 100 lessons that everyone can understand.Following on from his successful Understanding Chess Endgames, John Nunn turns his attention to the middlegame - the phase of the chess battle where most games are decided, yet the one that has received the least systematic treatment from chess writers. With the outstanding clarity for which he is famous, Nunn breaks down complex problems into bite-sized pieces.In the case of attacking play, we are shown how to decide where to attack, and the specific methods that can be used to pursue the enemy king. Positional play is described in terms of the major structural issues, and how the pieces work around and with the pawns. Nunn explains how to assess when certain pieces are better than others, and how we can make use of this understanding at the board. Readers will never be short of a plan, whatever type of position arises.Each lesson features two inspiring examples from modern chess, annotated honestly and with a keen focus on the main instructive points. Both sides' ideas are emphasized, so we get a clear picture of the ways to disrupt typical plans as well as how to form them.

Superb defensive technique is a hallmark of all great chess-players. With a few deft counterstrokes, they not only deflect what looked like an overwhelming offensive, but also expose the darker side of their opponent's build-up. Is this sheer black magic, or are these skills that ordinary players can develop?While some of the key defensive skills follow well-established principles, modern players ally this with an appreciation of chess dynamics that is a good deal more subtle. Zenon Franco provides a wide-ranging course in how to handle difficult positions, seeking not only to hold them together but to go on the counteroffensive, exploiting to the full the commitments and concessions the opponent has made to launch his attack. The methods he advocates are varied: often a countersacrifice is the key, while simplification can also employed as a subtler, but equally deadly weapon.Chapters include:* Lasker, the Master of Defence and Counter-Attack* Refuting Premature Attacks* Fighting Blow by Blow* Regrouping* Prophylactic Thinking* Simplification