Board games: Chess Books

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Book SynopsisNew Chessable imprint! The Open Sicilian is not a phonebook crammed with computer lines but a textbook full of 21st-century chess wisdom. Saric covers the entire range of Sicilians, from obscure sidelines to the main lines: the Najdorf, the Taimanov, the Rauzer, the Kan, the Sveshnikov, and the various Dragons. His approach, firmly based on the ideas of the English Attack, is very ambitious, and he supports his claims with deep analysis and illuminating and elaborate verbal explanation.

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Book SynopsisHalf a century ago I left a country, the red color of which dominated a large portion of the world map. One way or another, the fate of almost every single person described in this book is forever linked with that now none-existent empire. Many of them ended up beyond its borders too. Cultures and traditions, and certainly not least of all a Soviet mentality, couldn’t have just left them without a trace. Having been transplanted into a different environment, they had to play the role of themselves apart from certain corrections with regard to the tastes and customs of a new society. Nevertheless, every one of them, both those who left the Soviet Union, and those who stayed behind, were forever linked by one common united phenomenon: they all belonged to the Soviet school of chess. This school of chess was born in the 20’s, but only began to count its true years starting in 1945, when the representatives of the Soviet Union dominated an American squad in a team match. Led by Mikhail Botvinnik, Soviet Grandmasters conquered and ruled the world, save for a short Fischer period, over the course of that same half century. In chess as well as ballet, or music, the word “Soviet” was actually a synonym for the highest quality interpretation of the discipline. The Soviet Union provided unheard of conditions for their players, which were the sort of which their colleagues in the West dare not even dream. Grandmasters and even Masters received a regular salary just for their professional qualifications, thereby raising the prestige of a chess player to what were unbelievable heights. It was a time when any finish in an international tournament, aside from first, was almost considered a failure when it came to Soviet players, and upon their return to Moscow they had to write an official explanation to the Chess Federation or the Sports Committee. The isolation of the country, separated from the rest of the world by an Iron Curtain, was another reason why, talent and energy often manifested themselves in relatively neutral fields. Still if with music, cinematography, philosophy, or history, the Soviet people were raised on a strict diet, that contained multiple restrictions, this did not apply to chess. Grandmasters, and Masters, all varied in terms of their upbringing, education, and mentality and were judged solely on their talent and mastery at the end of the day. Maybe that’s why the Soviet school of chess was full of such improbable variety not only in terms of the style of play of its representatives, but also their different personality types. Built was a gigantic chess pyramid, at the base of which were school championships, which were closely followed by district ones. Later city championships, regions, republics, and finally-the ultimate cherry on top-the national event itself. The Championships of the Soviet Union were in no way inferior to the strongest international tournaments, and collections of the games played there came out as separate publications in the West. That huge brotherhood of chess contained its very own hierarchy within. Among the millions, and multitudes of parishioners-fans of the game-there were the priests-candidate masters. Highly respected were the cardinals-masters. As for Grandmasters though well…they were true Gods. Every person in the USSR knew their names, and those names sounded with just as much adoration, and admiration as those of the nation’s other darlings-the country’s best hockey players. In those days the coming of the American genius only served to strengthen the interest and attention of society towards chess, never mind the fact that by that point it had already been fully saturated by it. The presence of tons of spectators at a chess tournament in Moscow as shown in the series “The Queen’s Gambit” is in no way an exaggeration. That there truly was the golden age of chess. Under the constant eye, and control of the government, chess in the USSR was closely interwoven with politics, much like everything else in that vanished country. Concurrently, the closed, and isolated society in which it was born only served to enable its development, creating its very own type of culture-the giant world of Soviet chess. I was never indifferent to the past. Today, when there is that much more of it then the future, this feeling has become all the sharper. The faster the twentieth century sprints away from us, and the thicker the grass of forgetting grows, soon enough, and under the verified power of the most powerful engines that world of chess will be gone as well. It was an intriguing, and colorful world, and I saw it as my duty to not let it disappear into that empty abyss. Genna Sosonko - May 2021Trade ReviewGenna Remembers, Thinkers Publishing, is the latest effort by the Dutch Grandmaster to preserve the memory of the many different individuals who were part of the Soviet chess dynasty, the greatest the game has ever seen. In previous books Sosonko has primarily focused on the Soviet World Champions (Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov and Kasparov). Some of them, principally Kasparov, get a mention here, but the emphasis is on others including Grandmasters Leonid Shamkovich (aka “The Prince”) and Igor Ivanov and the ill-fated International Master Sergey Nikolaev who was tragically murdered by a bunch of teenage neo-Nazis in Moscow. "Genna Remembers" will not improve your chess but it will improve your chess culture. Any chess player with an interest in the history of the game will find this book fascinating reading. IM John Donaldson, US Chess, 09.2021.

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Book SynopsisThe Barry Attack is somewhat defensive-looking from the start. It tempts Black forward, provocatively. The Barry Attack is, after all, a little rebellious, flouting, as it does, all those common sense development rules. Perhaps your game needs a good shot of tactics to boost your results – it’s one of the fastest ways to improve and this is true not only for young players. If your opponent plays an early move order that’s not in this book such as 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c5 or 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 for example, the good news is that Black will be forced to transpose back into the mass of material. This super repertoire keeps Black under pressure. Any reasonable opening set-up can work wonders for White or Black if they know it well.

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Book SynopsisThe book you have just started reading is about a very interesting and difficult concept: the exchange sacrifice. This is the moment in chess when basic mathematics breaks down, the moment when 3 counts equal to or even more than 5. So let us leave the mathematics aside and try to figure out why this simple calculation is so difficult to understand. The answer is largely hidden in psychology, as the ninth World Champion, Tigran Petrosian, has often told us, as the man who brought this strategic-tactical chess concept to its first peak. Chess beginners were taught the value of pieces by their teachers (parents, grandparents, perhaps at school or even later in the beginners’ sections of chess clubs). We explain the difference between piece values to children in the simplest way possible, with the help of a unit of measurement, and in chess those units are the pawns. They tell us that a rook is worth five pawns (units) and a knight and a bishop are worth about three each. They also tell us to always be careful, especially during exchanges, to ensure we take at least as much from our opponent as he or she took from us. So, one rook at a time, perhaps for a bishop and a knight next to two pawns. This “chess thinking” is done quickly and very strongly subconsciously in most, one could even say all. Therefore, when choosing moves, we will automatically reject unfavorable exchanges. But who trades a queen for a knight, a bishop for a pawn, and the like? We know from our own life experience that it is better to have ten coins in our pocket than three, and I prefer three to one! This psychological barrier is the most difficult step in making the decision to sacrifice. And so it is with the sacrifice of an exchange. Five for three, that is! Even five for four, if we get a pawn for the rook along with the knight or the bishop. “I am not stupid,” you think. The Exchange Sacrifice Unleashed brings different games or coaches try to explain this and that to us, we see that a material advantage is not always something to celebrate about.

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Book SynopsisBy going through the chapters, you will get acquainted with my way of grandmaster type thinking. I can assure you of one thing: there are better and weaker grandmasters, but you won’t find a GM who is playing without ideas or, let’s say, without his way of thinking! As you will find out, I am basically trying to detect the problem or goal of the position and then I am starting to scan factors which can lead to the solution. That process you will find in many examples in the book. GM Alojzije Jankovic, April 2020.

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Book SynopsisThis opening manual, which could double as a positional middlegame manual, explains how White can beat the Hedgehog System, a personal favourite of many club players. White will learn to use the space advantage in this chess opening with maximum results. Included are fifteen model games and thirty strategy and tactics exercises. Co-author Laszlo Hazai, who coached the Polgar Sisters in Hungary, is a famous chess opening expert.

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Book SynopsisThree Moves Ahead shows how classic chess strategies address the #1 problem of Information Age executives: how to move quickly in the face of incalculable complexities and unexpected change. This witty and novel guide, written for non-players, is packed with scores of real-world examples showing how top CEOs use Grandmaster techniques to win on Wall Street. Readers will see how a strong square strategy drove Adobe's rise from niche player to industry giant, as well as Western Union's success through a hundred years of technology changes. They'll learn how AOL has played a crucial exchange sacrifice to revive its fortunes, and how Google is taking turf from Microsoft with a minority attack. Most importantly these days, they'll find out what to do when you don''t know what to do, and avoid the fate of companies like Polaroid, Gateway, and our dearly departed Ma Bell. A fun ride from Apprentice to Business Grandmaster. Grab it!Donald Trump Bob Rice (Short Hills, NJ) was Trade Review"In his thought-provoking, chess-themed book on business strategizing, Rice asserts that beginning and intermediate players tend to focus on which pieces are positioned to take or be taken, but when grandmasters examine the board they look at the squares. Rice makes fitting comparisons between chess pieces and actors in the corporate world. Lowest-level workers are compared to pawns, middle managers to knights, director-level executives to bishops and vice presidents to rooks. The central them of this book is that you have to have a plan, event if it's a bad one, to succeed in both chess and business. The idea is to adjust your plan as the game proceeds in response to the moves of the opposition."--McClatchy-Tribune News Service, April 26, 2008Table of ContentsPreface ix 1 The Wall Street Chess Club 1 2 Three Moves Ahead? 9 3 First Mover 19 4 On the Clock 53 5 Bad Bishops 75 6 Lucky or Good? 95 7 Strong Squares 119 8 Sac the Exchange! 137 9 Classic Tactics 151 10 Decisions, Decisions 175 A Postgame Recap 189 Notes 193 About the Author 195 Index 197

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Book SynopsisThe game of chess reached western Europe by the year 1000, and within several generations it had become one of the most popular pastimes ever. Both men and women, and even priests played the game despite the Catholic Church''s repeated prohibitions. Characters in countless romances, chansons de geste, and moral tales of the eleventh through twelfth centuries also played chess, which often symbolized romantic attraction or sexual consummation.In Power Play, Jenny Adams looks to medieval literary representations to ask what they can tell us both about the ways the game changed as it was naturalized in the West and about the society these changes reflected. In its Western form, chess featured a queen rather than a counselor, a judge or bishop rather than an elephant, a knight rather than a horse; in some manifestations, even the pawns were differentiated into artisans, farmers, and tradespeople with discrete identities.Power Play is the first book to as

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Book SynopsisChess Rules of Thumb gives you the winning principles of chess in clear, short statements. Three-time US Champion Lev Alburt and World Chess Hall of Fame Curator Al Lawrence have put together three centuries of insights from the masters. Fun to browse or to read from cover-to-cover, it's a book that all chess playersfrom beginners to grandmasterslwiull enjoy for a lifetime. Like life, chess has its rules. The difference that your parents probably didn't tell you about chess. Never cross the street before looking both ways. Never discuss portable explosives in the airport security line. Never overthrow the cut-off man. Never download email from someone you don't know. Never take the queen's knight pawn. Save hours of head-scratching and uncertainty in your own games and understand why the masters make the moves they do: The worst square for a White knight is b.2. With rook vs. two knights, exchanging queens is worth a pawn. Never capture the b.2 pawn with the queen. Rooks united on the seventh are blind pigs. The winner is the one who commits the next-to-last mistake. Backed up with diagrams and illustrations to help you remember key principles, a glossary of essential chess terms and a rundown on all major openings, Chess Rules of Thumb will improve your chess play. And it's great fun to read! Never buy a chess book that isn't fun!

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Book SynopsisNothing more clearly separates chess master from chess wannabe than winning endgame play. For most chess players, victory is the real finish line. And the endgame is the last lap of the race. This revised, updated edition of Just the Facts! brings English readers the once strictly guarded and time-tested Soviet training methods, the key to the 50-year Russian dominance of the chess world. Winning Chess Endgames can take you from beginner to master.

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Book SynopsisTwo of the most renowned chess trainers in the world, introduce and explain the revolutionary ideas of their old friend and mentor, Igor Platonov. Platonov was one of the most profound thinkers and theoreticians in the old Soviet Union, which held a grip on the world chess championship for decades, as the title passed from one of its stars to another. For intermediate players to grandmasters, Platonov’s visionary insights, examined and explained here for the first time, provide you with the keys to understanding the foundational concepts of the game, strengthening your chess understanding and giving you effective methods to help you find the most powerful moves in the game.

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Book SynopsisThe dramatic 2016 World Championship match in New York City stunned the chess world, as Sergey Karjakin fought champ Magnus Carlsen to a tie until matters had to be settled in a rapid-play shootout. You’ll learn chess tactics and strategies from the best players in the world, as a top team of writers—including a former world champion--explains the moves.Trade Review"The tradition of producing books on World Championship matches goes way back in time. Many have been written, some published shortly after the last handshake of the match, a few were immediately forgettable, others have become classics, including Tal-Botvinnik 1960 by Mikhail Tal which is still in print. In fact my first "own" (not passed to me by my dad) chess book, was the one on the 1978 match. Do books on World Championship matches still have a place in today's world? After all, with top commentary online and instant analysis by dozens, if not hundreds of experts it might seem unnecessary, especially when such a book might only appear a year or more after the match. Yet, in the case of the present book, I most definitely feel it was worth the wait as it makes for excellent reading. Not only were the authors present throughout the match, but former world champion Vladimir Kramnik has also made a significant input of both analytical and psychological material. This makes the book so much more valuable than the average contribution to the category of tournament and match books. An important feature in this book is that it is not all analysis and long variations, but also includes a great deal of prose and explanations of the ideas behind the moves. Average players are therefore able to understand why the moves were played rather than having an engine spitting out numerical assessments. No doubt this was one of the reasons why the book won the award for Best Instructional Book at the recent CJA awards. An important work that deserves a broad readership. " -- Carsten Hansen - ACM"A masterful job – probably the best book on a championship that I have ever seen." -- Dylan Loeb McClain, Editor-in-chief for the Organizers of the 2016 WC match, and former New York Times chess columnist"Lev Alburt and Jon Crumiller have combined forces with former world champion Vladimir Kramnik to produce a deeply considered account of Magnus Carlsen’s narrowly successful title defence against Sergei Karjakin in New York last year. The analysis produces the last word on what both did and should have transpired in every game while color photos convey a vivid impression of the visual aspects of the competition." -- Grandmaster Raymond Keene OBE - New York Times"Vladimir Kramnik [provides] the most candid analysis of a championship match ever made by a former champ." -- Grandmaster Andy Soltis - New York Post

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Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Who was Bobby Fischer? In this “nuanced perspective of the chess genius” (Los Angeles Times), an acclaimed biographer chronicles his meteoric rise and confounding fall, with an afterword containing newly discovered details about Fischer’s life. Possessing an IQ of 181 and remarkable powers of concentration, Bobby Fischer memorized hundreds of chess books in several languages, and he was only thirteen when he became the youngest chess master in U.S. history. But his strange behavior started early. In 1972, at the historic Cold War showdown in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he faced Soviet champion Boris Spassky, Fischer made headlines with hundreds of petty demands that nearly ended the competition. It was merely a prelude to what was to come. Arriving back in the United States to a hero’s welcome, Bobby

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Book Synopsis Which member of the Piece Patrol is the most powerful? Can you tell a pin from a fork? Who is the greatest chess player of all time?Basher's Chess has the answers to these questions and more. Get to know the major players on the chessboard and find out the different moves they make to try and capture King. See how a game of chess unfolds from Opening to Endgame and pick up some top tips and strategies along the way. Meet the world's greatest chess playersincluding Abhimanyu Mishra, Magnus Carlsen, and Judit Polgárand discover how you, too, can become a master of the game!Perfect for home or school, Basher''s highly original books make difficult concepts tangible, understandable, and even lovable. Chatty first-person text and stylish, contemporary character illustrations give a voice, personality, and story to each topica brilliant way to communicate science, history, and geography. .

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Book SynopsisStop playing like a pawn and start playing like the kingYou already know just how enjoyable--and and challenging--the game of chess can be. For those who play, chess leads to a lifetime of fun. But how do you make the first move to learn the rules and transform from a pawn to a king?The path to a perfect checkmate is in your hands! In the pages of this book, you'll find an introduction to all the chess pieces including their strengths and weaknesses, tips on how to protect your pieces and prevent their capture, and guidance on when to attack and defend like a boss. You'll also find a bonus tear-out card to take your new tactics on the go!

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Book SynopsisAn indispensable reference book of chess moves, perfect for any chess player, beginner or club player. This A to Z of chess tactics provides an explanation of all the key terms and jargon used in chess so you can understand them and put them into practice in your own game. From Castling to Zugzwang, from Underpromotion to Zwischenzug. Written in a clear and informative style, the book features a large section with Illustrative games from past chess masters and grandmasters which show the relevant chess definition in action. Plus there are exercises that illustrate the tactic defined – these test you on your ability to recognize the tactics learned, as that is how they will appear in a match. The exercises teach you how to seize the opportunities before they disappear as well as avoiding traps your opponent may leave. Useful for all chess players, this is an essential read for those looking to improve and understand the game better.

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Book SynopsisThree Days with Bobby Fischer and Other Chess Essays: How to Meet Champions & Choose Your Openings is a chess book you can sit back comfortably in your armchair and just read. Or, when you feel like getting the pieces out of the box and learning from some great games, tactics and strategiesthat's all here as well. Nearly everyone with an interest in chess shares the same two questions: What were the great champions like? How can I choose opening moves that give me a good game? Chess Hall-of-Famer and three-time US Champion Lev Alburt teams up with World Chess Hall of Fame Executive Director and Chess Journalist of the Year Award winner Al Lawrence to answer these questions and tell the intriguing, inspiring and sometimes downright bizarre behind-the-scenes stories of the chess greats and near-greats, and how, above all else, they were men of their times. Steinitz, who codified the rules of good playbefore going berserk Lasker, the chessboard Freudian who wielded psychological weapons Capablanca, dashingly handsome and to whom everything came easy Alekhine, a dsiplaced person who gave up drink to win Under-rated Euwe, the last amateur to become world champion Botvinnik, who refrained from sex to preserve his phosphorus Smyslov, an amateur opera singer who brought chess and artist' touch Tal, whose gaze and red-hot sacrifices wilted even the toughest wills Petrosian, who through chess became a paradoxa Soviet bourgeois Spassky, irreverent attacker who bowed to enigmatic Bobby Fischer Karpov, the positional boa constrictor of the board Kasparov, the char8smatic boxer-chess-player who's still at the top. And many more great players of the past and present who never made it to the very top, but nevertheless left their indelible mark on the game.

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Book SynopsisLev Alburt, Grandmaster of Chess and three-time US chess champion, presents and analyzes the attack and defense of the king, with hundreds of game illustrations, dozens of problems and exercises, and instructive explanations and solutions. These practical exercises take the reader from beginner to tournament-strength chess player.

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