Starting Out: Closed Sicilian

Starting Out: Closed Sicilian (Richard Palliser)
208 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
185-74-44140

The Closed Sicilian is an ideal weapon for players who wish for an aggressive way to attack the Sicilian but have neither the time nor the inclination to learn the seemingly endless mountains of opening theory associated with Open Sicilians. In the Closed Sicilian an awareness of the typical themes is far more important than memorising variations. White's play is logical and the basic strategies are simple to master, while the deliberate and slow burning attack on the black king appeals to many.

In "Starting Out: Closed Sicilian" Richard Palliser takes a fresh look at this famous opening. The early moves and ideas are introduced and care is taken to explain the reasoning behind them - something that is often neglected or taken for granted.

As with previous works in the popular "Everyman Chess Starting Out" series, the reader is helped throughout with a plethora of notes, tips and warnings highlighting the vital characteristics of the Closed Sicilian and of opening play in general. With a user-friendly design to help readers absorb ideas, this book concentrates on the key principles of the Closed Sicilian that is ideal for the improving player.

(click to enlarge)


SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Chess Tactics For Champions

Chess Tactics For Champions (Susan Polgar)
360 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
0-8129-3671-X

Chess Tactics for Champions reveals the tactics that made Susan Polgar a four-time World Champion. For intermediate to advanced players, this book includes:

-Powerful combinations designed to win material and lead to checkmate
-Simple and effective tactics, including one-move checkmates
-Instruction on trapping pieces and setting up decoys
-Training on how to maneuver a mate in four moves

(click to enlarge)



SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Complete Endgame Course

Complete Endgame Course (Jeremy Silman)
530 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
189-008-5103

For more than 100 years, the world's leading chess players and teachers have told their students to study the endgame. Now, for the first time, a revolutionary, richly instructive endgame book has been designed for players of all levels. Silman's Complete Endgame Course, by famed writer and player Jeremy Silman, is the one and only endgame book you'll need as you move up the ladder from beginner to strong tournament player and finally to master.

Designed to "speak" to a player in a very personal way, Silman's book teaches the student everything he or she needs to know at his or her current rating level, and builds on that knowledge for each subsequent phase of the player's development. Starting at the beginner's level, all basic mates are clearly and painstakingly explained. After that, the critical building blocks that form the endgame foundation for all tournament hopefuls and experienced tournament competitors are explored in detail. Finally, advanced endgame secrets based on concepts rather than memorization are presented in a way that makes them easy to master.

The basic keys to a well-rounded endgame education--Opposition, the Lucena and Philidor Positions, Cat and Mouse, Trebuchet, Fox in the Chicken Coup, Triangulation, Building a Box, Square of a Pawn, Outflanking, the Principle of Two Weaknesses--are vital. But equally important is creating a love of the endgame, which is addressed at the end of the book with a look at chess tactics, minor piece domination, and a discussion of the five greatest endgame players of all time--all things that every fan of chess at every level can enjoy.

If you have found the endgame to be a mystery, if you have found that your confidence plummets once you reach an endgame, if you have searched for an instructive endgame book that will turn your weakest link--your endgame--into your personal field of power, your search is over. Silman's Complete Endgame Course is the key to a world of essential ideas, startling beauty, and stunning creativity.

(click to enlarge)



SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Mastering Chess Tactics

Mastering Chess Tactics (Neil McDonald)
192 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
0-71-348-7720

A chessplayer must continually be alert to tactics, which effectively decide the outcome of all chess games. Part one of this book introduces you to the various tactical themes such as forks, double attacks, pins, skewers, line opening and clearing, deflections, and destroying the guard, explaining them with practical examples from modern chess play.

Part two goes one step further, showing you how to discover combinations and also how to instigate them - guided by the specific features of the position. Tests are then given to enable you to practise your new-found tactical awareness.

A self-instructor that will not only enable you to deliver telling tactical blows but also to side-step threats coming your way. For Club and tournament players.

(click to enlarge)



SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Starting Out: The French

Starting Out: The French (Byron Jacobs)
176 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
185-7-442296

The French is one of Black's soundest defences to 1 e4 and is very popular at all levels of chess. Club players enjoy its super-solid structure, while at the top it's played by famous grandmasters such as Vishy Anand and the young Russian star Alexander Morozevich. With his first two moves Black obtains a substantial foothold in the centre, and a structure that is incredibly difficult to break down.

In this user-friendly book, International Master Byron Jacobs revisits the basic principles behind the French Defence and all of its variations. Throughout the reader is helped along by a wealth of notes, tips, warnings and exercises. This book is ideal for the improving player.

(click to enlarge)


SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames

Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames (John Emms)
200 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
18-57-4435-94

Endgames with kings, bishops, knights, and pawns are generally considered among the most complex and can seem quite bewildering to improving players. This is hardly surprising given that even Grandmasters have been known to struggle in some areas of these endgames, with some examples resulting in embarrassing failure to deliver elementary checkmates!

In this user-friendly book, Grandmaster and notable endgame authority John Emms begins with the absolute fundamentals of minor piece endings. This slowly but surely arms readers with the essential knowledge and confidence to move onto slightly trickier positions. Using examples from practical play, Emms highlights the correct procedures as well as the typical mistakes made by both attacker and defender.

As is normal with the famed Starting Out series, there are an abundance of notes, tips, and warnings throughout the book to help improving players.

Key features:
*Covers all crucial minor piece endings
*Easy step-by-step guide to better endgame play
*Ideal for improving players
*User-friendly layout to help readers absorb the key ideas

(click to enlarge)



SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Kasparov's Chess Openings

Kasparov's Chess Openings (Otto Borik)
127 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
0-9439-5539-4

Kasparov, a former World Champion, is known for his bold and imaginative style of play. Through detailed analyses of many of his most successful matches and other supplementary games, Kasparov's Chess Openings explains how chess players of every ability can build effective opening repertoires from Kasparov's adaptable opening strategies.

Special emphasis is given to playing as White against the Queen's Gambit Declined and Nimzo-Indian, and as Black with the King's Indian and Sicilian Defences. Each analysis and commentary is accompanied by full-board diagrams of every stage of development.

(click to enlarge)


SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Starting Out: Alekhine's Defence

Starting Out: Alekhine's Defence (John Cox)
192 Pages
ISBN (10 digits)
1-85-744370-5

Alekhine's Defence is a sharp and controversial opening in which Black attacks from the very first move, provoking White into lunging forward in the centre. White is often able to construct an impressively large central pawn formation, but Black's hope is that this becomes over-stretched and disintegrates in the face of a vicious counterattack. Unsurprisingly, Alekhine's Defence has always been a favourite amongst uncompromising players such as Fischer and Alekhine himself, while more recently it's been utilised by the likes of Ivanchuk and Short.

In this easy-to-read guide, openings expert John Cox goes back to basics, studying the essential principles of Alekhine's Defence and its numerous variations. Throughout the book there are an abundance of notes, tips and warnings to guide the improving player, while key strategies, ideas and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated.

*User-friendly lay out to help readers absorb ideas
*Concentrates on the key principles of Alekhine's Defence
*Ideal for the improving player

(click to enlarge)


SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Chess Training Pocket Book: 300 Most Important Positions and Ideas

Chess Training Pocket Book: 300 Most Important Positions and Ideas (Lev Alburt)
188 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
188-93-23144

This newly revised volume in the successful Comprehensive Chess Course sharpens and tightens your game through examination and study of the 300 most important chess game positions. The most important and instructive positions over the last 100 years arranged as challenges, with illuminating explanations and solutions.

Lev Alburt, Grandmaster of Chess and renowned three-time US chess champion, presents and analyzes the 300 most important game positions an average player should understand and remember to become a chess expert. These most crucial and instructive positions taken from games over the last 100 years are arranged as challenges, with instructive explanations and solutions on facing pages.

Besides giving students this essential knowledge, this book also helps them to train their chess abilities and improve their skills steadily and efficiently. These practical exercises, easy to read and to understand, take the reader from beginner to tournament-strength chess player.

(click to enlarge)



SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Starting Out: The King's Indian

Starting Out: The King's Indian (Joe Gallagher)
170 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
1857-44-2342

The King's Indian is one of the most exciting defenses in chess and is favored by ambitious and aggressive players. At the highest level it has been a major weapon for World Champions Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.

In this easy-to-read guide, Grandmaster Joe Gallagher goes back to the basics of the King's Indian, studying the key principles of its many variations.

Throughout the book there are numerous notes, tips, warnings and exercises to help the improving player, while important strategies, ideas and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated.

(click to enlarge)



SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Starting Out: The Grunfeld

Starting Out: The Grunfeld (Jacob Aagaard)
170 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
18-574-43500

The Grünfeld is an energetic and popular defense to queen's pawn openings and is a favorite of the world number one Garry Kasparov. From the start of the game Black allows White to build an apparently strong centre but then attacks it with all his forces.

Play can become extremely sharp and theoretical and this opening very much appeals to dynamic players. In this book, International Master Jacob Aagaard revisits the fundamental principles of the Grünfeld and its numerous variations.

Throughout the book there are an abundance of notes, tips and warnings to guide the improving player, while important strategies, ideas and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated.

(click to enlarge)



SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Starting Out: Benoni Systems

Starting Out: Benoni Systems (Alexander Raetsky)
240 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
185-7-44379-9

In this user-friendly book, opening theoreticians Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik go back to basics, studying the fundamental principles of the Benoni Systems and its many variations.

Throughout the book there are an abundance of notes, tips, and warnings to help improving players, while key strategies, ideas, and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated.

(click to enlarge)


SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Chess Strategy for the Tournament Player

Chess Strategy for the Tournament Player (Lev Alburt)
250 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
1-88-93231-60

Chess Strategy for the Tournament Player is the fifth volume in Grandmaster Lev Alburt's Comprehensive Chess Course series. Endorsed by world champion Gary Kasparov as revealing "the once-secret Russian method of chess training," this new edition has material on the 2006 Absolute World Championship match between Kramnick and Topalov.

(click to enlarge)


SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

The Sicilian Scheveningen

The Sicilian Scheveningen (Gary Kasparov)
236 Pages
ISBN (10 pages):
0713-46-9544

The Scheveningen was the opening which catapulted Gary Kasparov to the World Championship in 1985 as the youngest ever champion. The dynamic 24th game from that match is one of the greatest chess battles of all time and Kasparov's great success with the Scheveningen in that game led to Karpov completely abandoning 1.e4 against him.

Kasparov has used the Scheveningen extensively throughout his career, introducing many new important ideas, and has developed a unique understanding for its subtleties, which is excellently communicated in this essential book.

This edition incorporates an additional section by Grandmaster Raymond Keene on Kasparov's important games, reflecting Kasparov's recent views on this popular opening.

(click to enlarge)


SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

My Brilliant Games

My Brilliant Games (Gary Kasparov)
80 Pages

This is a compilation of 95 games played by Gary Kasparov since 1978 to 2005.

The notation of games also includes other possible lines analyzed by the man himself.

SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Fighting Chess: My Games and Career

Fighting Chess: My Games and Career (Gary Kasparov)
138 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
0-7134-1984-9

This edition describes how Gary Kasparov progressed from prodigy to champion and gives details of his recent career from 1976 to 1984. It also affords insight into the thought processes of the man who has been chess World Champion since 1985. Many of the game notes are Kasparov's own.

(click to enlarge)


SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)

Mastering The Endgame

Mastering The Endgame (Glenn Flear)
176 Pages
ISBN (10 digits):
185-74-42334

In this ideal book for dealing with one of the most difficult phases of the game, Grandmaster Glenn Flear develops ideas first outlined in his earlier book Improve Your Endgame Play. Building up a detailed understanding of the key ideas in the endgame normally requires many years of study and experience of practical play.

In this book, Glenn Flear brings that knowledge to the reader in an easy-to-digest format. This guide explains the strategic considerations underpinning all important endgames; numerous test positions enable readers to gauge their progress; revolutionary layout allows readers to absorb the key ideas.

(click to enlarge)


SAMPLE PAGES

(click to enlarge)