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. This book strips away the mystique surrounding successful attacking play, and identifies several recurring motifs which can be applied to specific pawn structures and scenarios. Well-chosen model examples and test positions are complemented by the author's lively writing style and original terminology. Clobber your opponents with motifs such as the "Shotgun" and the "Tower of Terror"!
Opening preparation is useful, but understanding the middlegame is much more important. This book, an improved edition of a Russian classic, teaches amateur chess players 45 extremely effective skills in a crystal-clear manner. Quite a few of the ideas presented here will surprise the reader, because they offer solutions for problems the club player is only subconsciously aware. How do you activate your rook pawn? How do you prevent your opponent from opening a file? How do you restrict the efficacy of your opponents pieces? Which rook belongs on the c-, d- or e-file? What is the best way to exchange a piece? How do you castle artificially? In most cases the techniques are easy to understand and memorize. Bronznik and Terekhin do not burden the reader with deep analysis and only present those variations that are really necessary to get the point. There is a special training section at the end of the book where you can test your skills. ,
Chess might seem a complex and mysterious game, but the ultimate goal is simple: checkmate. Checkmate can occur in all stages of the game, from snap mates in the opening, through middlegame attacks to simplified endgames. Learning how to use our pieces together to corner the enemy king is a fundamental skill that all chess-players must constantly practise, sharpen and develop. This book lays out, in systematic and thorough fashion, a wide range of mating patterns and techniques, in particular showing how each piece-pair can combine to deliver mate. A working knowledge of these ideas enables players to move on to mating combinations, where pieces lay down their lives so that the remaining forces can deliver mate. Gude explains an amazing variety of tactical devices, and illustrates them in unforgettable style with some of the most brilliant mating attacks from practice, new and old. There are chapters on how to attack kings in the centre, as well as standard (and other!) attacks against the castled position. This is a true textbook of checkmate; readers will never be short of mating ideas, and will instinctively know when there is a possibility to launch an attack, or when they must parry the opponent's threats. Fundamental Checkmates also features more than 300 exercises with full solutions. Antonio Gude is an extremely experienced chess writer and teacher from Spain. Several of his books on tactics and for beginners are long-standing best-sellers in Spanish language. Gude has also translated a great many books, including some of the classics of chess literature.
One of the finest chess books ever written Vukovic expounds both the basic principles and the most complex forms of attack on the king. A study of this masterpiece will add new power and brilliance to any player's game.
Attacking Manuals 1 & 2 comprise the first thorough examination of the nature of dynamics in chess, and the principles explained in this book are relevant to every chess game played. In lively no-nonsense language, Aagaard explains how the best players in the world attack. The rules of attack (the exploitation of a dynamic advantage) are explained in an accessible and entertaining style. This groundbreaking work is well balanced between easily understandable examples, exercises and deep analysis.Volume 2 covers what to do once the attack is up and running, and deals with weak kings, intuitive sacrifices, opposite castling, king hunts, and enduring initiative. Attacking Manuals 1 & 2 were chosen as the English Chess Federation's Book of the Year 2010.
In the first completely instructional book ever written on chess openings, National Master and game strategist for Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit Bruce Pandolfini teaches players how to take charge of the game's crucial opening phase. Of the three traditional phases of chess play—the opening, the middle-game and the endgame—the opening is the phase average players confront most often. Unfortunately, though, many openings are not completed successfully, partly because until now most opening instruction has consisted of tables of tournament level moves that offer no explanations for the reasons behind them. Consequently, these classical opening patterns can serve as little more than references to the average player. In Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps, Bruce Pandolfini uses his unique "crime and punishment" approach to provide all the previously missing explanation, instruction, practical analyses, and much, much more. The book consists of 202 short "openers" typical of average players, arranged according to the classical opening variations and by level of difficulty. Each example includes: -the name of the overriding tactic -the name of the opening -a scenario that sets up the tactic to be learned -an interpretation that explains why the loser went wrong, how he could have avoided the trap, and what he should have done instead -a review of important principles and useful guidelines to reinforce each lesson Also included are a glossary of openings that lists all the classical "textbook" variations for comparison and reference and a tactical index. Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps is a powerful, pragmatic entry into a heretofore remote area of chess theory that will have a profound influence on every player's game.
Checkmating the enemy king is the ultimate goal in chess. In this book Simon Williams helps readers to practice and improve their skills in this vital area of practical chess. A mating attack typically involves a build-up of forces, followed by an opening of lines, often involving a sacrifice. Once the enemy king is exposed, it is either checkmated, or only saved at a great cost in material. The puzzles in this book are pertinent to all these phases, and involve questions of where to attack and what pieces to use. Topics include: Attacking the king caught in the centre; Central breakthrough; Standard sacrifices against the castled king; Chasing the king; Endgame mates; Combinative themes.
Let's Play SHESS is written to inspire and shake up women of all ages and backgrounds to take a chance, learn something new and believe in their abilities. This book provides a fresh entertaining approach to exploring every woman's inquisitive mind and entrepreneurial passion by playing chess. The fascinating and realistic correlation between transferring the chess-playing skills into your real life is revealed, as well as the invaluable rewards and benefits you gain as a result. SHESS is an all-encompassing term which represents "your game of life." All of the circumstances which exist in your life, including challenges relevant to business development represent your individual "battlefield." Whether on a personal or professional level, SHESS relates how you think, react, analyze and solve problems, and make decisions. While this book is dedicated to women, everyone is certainly welcome to explore this wisdom.
• Learn the calculation secrets of the world's best attacking players • First book from one of the UK's biggest chess stars • Illustrated with a wealth of examples from top-level chess games This first book from one of the UK's top grandmasters is a penetrating and detailed (though engaging and friendly) study of typical games played by the most exciting chess players of the modern era, those that are renowned as 'attacking' players, from Mikhail Tal, pioneering hero of the ultra-modern attacking style, to Magnus Carlsen, teenage leader of the 'new wave' of deadly attackers, via the immortal Bobby Fischer, 'boa constrictor' Anatoly Karpov and 'King Garry' Kasparov. The author has tried to get into the heads of these stellar players, revealing the secrets of how they choose their decisive moves and succeed in delivering such awesome attacks. This inspiring book encourages you to play more imaginatively and copy the grandmasters' thought processes in your own game.
The 21st Century Edition of Spielmann’s Classic Work Austrian Grandmaster Rudolf Spielmann’s The Art of Sacrifice in Chess first appeared in the mid-1930s. It was immediately recognized as a classic, a masterpiece that examined the nature of chess sacrifices. In this modernized, 21st century edition, all of Spielmann’s original work has been preserved. The antiquated English Descriptive Notation has been replaced with modern Figurine Algebraic, and German grandmaster Karsten Müller has added his own notes to Spielmann’s original text. But the German grandmaster has gone far beyond simply inserting clarifying commentary. Müller has virtually doubled the size of the original work by adding eleven new chapters, including: The Greek Gift Sacrifice Bxh2/7+; Disaster on g7; The Achilles’ Heel f7; Strike at the Edge; Destroying the King’s Shelter; Sacrifices on f6; Sacrifices on e6; The Magic of Mikhail Tal; Shirov’s Sacrifices; and The Fine Art of Defense. There are exercises at the end of each new chapter to help you hone your skill of sacrificing. “Grandmaster Karsten Müller’s notes to the original text, along with the new material, brilliantly complements Spielmann’s classic work. A welcome addition to any chessplayer’s library...” – Garry Kasparov
