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Jesus de la Villas worldwide bestseller 100 Endgames You Must Know successfully debunked the myth that endgame theory is complex and that endgame books are tedious. Reviewers praised its clarity and completeness and thousands of players dramatically improved their endgame understanding (and their results!). In recent years, De la Villas students sometimes complained that when they had to apply what they had studied in 100 Endgames, they didnt always have the material ready at their fingertips. De la Villa then made an important discovery: most of the errors his students made are being made by others as well, even by strong and sometimes famous chess players! De la Villa started collecting training material and selected those exercises best suited to retain and improve your knowledge and avoid common errors. In this book the Spanish grandmaster presents hundreds of exercises grouped according to the various chapters in 100 Endgames. Solving these puzzles will drive home the most important ideas, refresh your knowledge and improve your technique. This book contains a massive amount of clear, concise and easy-to-follow chess endgame instruction. The advice De la Villa gives in the solutions is practical and useful. Ideal for every post-beginner, club player and candidate master who wishes to win more games.
Pattern recognition is one of the most important mechanisms of chess improvement. This is well known. But what does pattern recognition actually mean? And how can you improve at it?
In this widely acclaimed chess classic, Russian trainer Mikhail Shereshevsky explains how to master the most important endgame principles. Where other endgame manuals focus on the basics and theoretical endgames, this book teaches the ?big ideas' that will help you find the most promising and most practical moves in any endgame.Even in endgames, it helps to think schematically instead of trying to calculate every move. To maximize your winning chances, this invaluable manual will teach you these lessons:Do not hurryCentralize your kingFight for the initiativeExploit two weaknessesExchange the right pieces at the right moment Endgame Strategy is considered to be one of the most important endgame manuals. In comparison with the 1981 publication, this new edition has been thoroughly revised and the author has added dozens of new and inspiring positions.The book is highly recommended by club players, coaches, and grandmasters alike. ?I especially read the chapter "Do not hurry!? with pleasure; not just because I agree with what he says, but more importantly because it defines the playing style of Magnus Carlsen,' said Grandmaster Simen Agdestein, long-time trainer of the Norwegian World Champion.
Even in the Sicilian Defense, one of the most popular and well-developed chess openings, it is possible to surprise your opponent at move four! With the Kalashnikov Variation, Black immediately forces the opponent to make a difficult decision. It all starts with a Black pawn, kicking Whites knight off the central d4-square. This push will lead the game into turbulent waters where your rapid development, attacking options, sound pawn structure and superior preparation will leave your opponent bewildered. Grandmaster Daniel King knows what it takes to play the Sicilian with success, and his articulate explanations and practical approach to playing and learning will help you score your own Sicilian victories. This course is a repertoire for Black, focusing on the most important lines. In addition, there is a selection of well-annotated master games demonstrating key strategic concepts in practical settings. Once you hear about the Bad Bishop Bounce, Liberation Station, and The Trojan Horse, you will be eager to introduce them into your own games. The book also explains how to punish the sidelines you are most likely to face in club and online play, often allowing you to reach a superior position straight out of the opening! This complete repertoire includes answers to all possible alternatives for White after the moves 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 e5.
The Ruy Lopez is arguably the most classic of chess openings. White immediately starts the battle for the centre, fighting for the initiative. This strategic clarity has made the Ruy Lopez, or Spanish Opening, an eternal favourite with chess players at all levels. Inevitably, this popularity has also led to a wealth of opening theory.In this book, Fabiano Caruana takes you by the hand and lays out a complete and practical White repertoire for club players. He avoids complicated chaotic lines, but doesn't shy away from sharp battles. Caruana loves to find and use the tactics to punish Black for risky choices.This one-volume and crystal-clear repertoire covers fifteen main variations, from the classical lines to the anti-Marshall (8.a4), and from the Schliemann (3...f5) to the Modern Steinitz. In an easy-to-grasp manner Caruana explains general characteristics, such as permanent weaknesses long-term goals, and is always looking for an advantage for White.The insights of the World #2 in this classic opening, will not only greatly improve your results in the Ruy Lopez, but also sharpen your general chess knowledge. Inspired by Caruana's ChessBase Series Navigating the Ruy Lopez.
If you want to improve your chess the best place to start is looking how the great champs did it. Grandmaster Joel Benjamin introduces all seventeen World Chess Champions and describes their historical significance He shows what is important about their style of play and what you can learn from them.Benjamin presents two games by each champion, concentrating on verbal instruction rather than variations. Magic names such as Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Tal, Karpov, Kasparov,theyre all there, up to current World Champion Magnus Carlsen. How do they open the game? How do they develop their pieces? How do they conduct an attack or defend when necessary? All this is explained in lessons accessible to every post-beginners.Two Americans are included in this highly instructive manual. Of course the crystal-clear style of Bobby Fischer, the 11th World Chess Champion, guarantees some very memorable lessons. Additionally, Benjamin has also included Paul Morphy. The 19th century master from New Orleans never held and official title, but was clearly the best of the world during his short and dramatic career.Studying World Champion Chess for Juniors will be an extremely rewarding experience for ambitious youngsters. A lot of trainers and coaches will find it worthwhile to include the book in their curriculum. The author provides many suggestions for further study.
Most chess games of beginners and post-beginners are decided by fairly straightforward tactics. Anyone who wants to progress beyond this level and become a strong club player or a candidate master, needs to understand that somewhat mysterious-looking resource, the positional sacrifice. International Master Merijn van Delft has studied and loved positional sacrifices for as long as he can remember. This non-forcing tool is not just a surprising and highly effective way of creating a decisive advantage during a game. Positional sacrifices are also instruments of superior beauty.Van Delft has created a unique thematic structure for all types of positional sacrifices. He shows the early historical examples, explains which long-term goals are typical for each fundamental theme and presents lots of instructive modern examples. He then concentrates on those sacrifices that have become standard features of positional play. Solving the exercises he has added will further enhance your skills.Playing a positional sacrifice will always require courage. Merijn van Delft takes you by the hand and not only teaches the essential technical know-how, he also helps you to recognize the opportunities when to take the plunge. Mastering Positional Sacrifices is bound to become a modern-day classic.
Seven years after his acclaimed and bestselling The Kaufman Repertoire for Black and White, Grandmaster Larry Kaufman is back with his new repertoire book, covering the entire scope of chess openings for both White and Black, in one volume.Two important developments made this new book necessary. Larry Kaufman, who himself routinely plays the lines he advocates to others, discovered that after 1.d4 (the recommendation in his previous book) it became nearly impossible to show a consistent advantage for White, especially against the Grünfeld and Nimzo/Ragozin defenses. The other factor was that chess engines have become so much stronger.Larry Kaufman presents a completely new White repertoire with 1.e4 aiming for an objective advantage in the simplest practical manner. You are presented with two options, while you don't have to play the sharpest lines. The Black repertoire has been thoroughly revised and updated, and three new chapters have been added.Kaufman's New Repertoire for Black and White is the first opening book that is primarily based on Monte Carlo search. The highly original analysis has resulted in loads of improvements on existing theory. This is a lucidly explained, ready-to-go and easy-to-digest repertoire with sound, practical lines that do not outdate rapidly and are suitable for masters while perfectly accessible for amateurs.
Giving up material is one of the most difficult decisions a chess player has to take. But the reality is that winning a game very often requires you to make that choice. The nagging question is always: what about my compensation? The old school used to relate compensation to ';correctness'. A sacrifice was correct if the material was swiftly returned, if possible with interest. Generations of chess players spent lots of time counting, quantifying the static value of their pieces almost by reflex.In this book, Grandmaster Davorin Kuljasevic teaches you how to look beyond the material balance when you evaluate positions. With many instructive fragments he shows how the actual value of your pieces fluctuates during the game, depending on many non-material factors. Some of those factors are space-related, such as mobility, harmony, outposts, weaknesses, structures, squares, files and diagonals. Other factors are related to time, and to the way the moves unfold: tempo, initiative, a threat, an attack.Modern club players need to be able to suppress their need for immediate gratification. In order to gain the upper hand you often have to live with uncertain compensation. With the help of many fascinating examples, Kuljasevic teaches you the essential skill of taking calculated risks. After studying Beyond Material, winning games by sacrificing material will become second nature to you.
One of the greatest rivalries in sports history. On 10 September 1984, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov started their match for the World Chess Championship in Moscow. The clash between the reigning champion and his brazen young challenger was highly anticipated, but no one could have foreseen what was in store. In the next six years they would play five matches for the highest title and create one of the fiercest rivalries in sports history. The matches lasted a staggering total of 14 months, and the two Ks played 5540 moves in 144 games. The first match became front-page news when after five months FIDE President Florencio Campomanes stepped in to stop the match for reasons that still remain mysterious. A new match was staged and 22-year-old Garry Kasparov became the youngest World Chess Champion in history. His win was not only hailed as a triumph of imaginative attacking chess, but also as a political victory. The representative of perestroika had beaten the old champion, a symbol of Soviet stagnation. Kasparov defended his title in three more matches, all of them full of drama. In The Longest Game Jan Timman chronicles the many twists and turns of this fascinating saga. He includes his behind-the scenes impressions and takes a fresh look at the games.
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