In 2018 DeepMind published the shocking results of their chess-playing artificial intelligence software, AlphaZero. Chess players looked in disbelief and immediately wondered how AI would affect the future of chess. Less than a year later, a whole new wave of chess engines emerged that were based on using neural networks to evaluate positions in a completely new way. This book is about the extraordinary impact that AI has had on modern chess.
The games of top chess players since the end of 2018 have reflected the use of these new engines in home analysis. They have significantly developed opening theory as well as the general understanding of middlegame concepts. By analysing these games with the help of neural network engines, FIDE Master Joshua Doknjas discusses numerous exciting ideas and examines areas of chess that had previously been overlooked. With thorough explanations, questions, and exercises, this book provides fascinating material for masters and less experienced players alike.
Joshua Doknjas is a FIDE Master from Canada who has enjoyed success competing internationally. He has won seven national titles for his age and tied for 1st in the 2019 U18 North American Youth Chess Championship.
What’s the most effective book for your level or the most effective course to get?
As a Grandmaster and chess coach, who left his cozy life and started a company with a mission to help chess lovers to unlock their full potential, I’m very happy that in the chess world there are people like Vishnu and that you picked his book.
Vishnu isn’t an ordinary person; his methods of improvement aren’t ordinary and neither is he as a coach. When he won the Chicago Open, being the 60th out of 116 in the starting list, many people were surprised. But they wouldn’t be if they saw how smart and interesting his system of chess improvement is. Vishnu proved that his methods work and how important pattern recognition is. And exactly that’s what he teaches in this book!
When I saw the draft of it I was blown away by the hard work he had done, the quality of the research, and how carefully he was picking up the examples. I want to congratulate you on having this book in your hands. You avoided traps, you found a man who has walked the talk and has spent years learning and preparing for you a material that you can digest in a short period of time. And if your rating is somewhere between 1000-2000, this book will be one of the best books for you!
The idea behind this book is for you to ‘play’ as in a real game, and it is my job to ensure you have a pleasant time while training. I suggest you take at least an hour and a half for each game and as your coach I will indicate when to guess the moves. Sometimes there will be suggestions — including tricky ones — to measure your concentration level. Th e ideas behind the moves are always explained.
Points are awarded for the ‘right answers’ as well as for some other moves, and at the end there is a general assessment plus a review of some of the things to be learned from the game. During my coaching period I was able to witness how motivating it is for kids to receive points for the right answers, their ‘lives are at stake’ when they try to find the answers, and it is a challenge much appreciated by them. Later I also noticed a similar effect with adults although, unlike the kids, the older students try to hide it.
The final score is not that important; it is not scientifically based. But of course the more points you get the better you ‘would have played’. The effort you put into trying to find the best move every time is what matters most. I firmly believe it really helps to learn a little more about playing chess with every game.
Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw – or sometimes even steal the full point! Swindling is a skill that can be trained. In this book, David Smerdon shows how you can use tricks from psychology to marshal hidden resources and exploit your opponent’s biases. In a lost position, your best practical chance often lies not in what the computer recommends, but in playing your opponent. With an abundance of eye-popping examples and training exercises, Smerdon identifies the four best friends of every chess swindler: your opponent’s impatience, their hubris, their fear, and their need to stay in control. You’ll also learn about such cunning swindling motifs as the Trojan Horse, the Decoy Trap, the Berserk Attack, and ‘Window-Ledging’. So, come and join the Swindlers’ Club, become a great escape artist and dramatically improve your results. In this instructive and highly entertaining guide, Smerdon shows you how.
There is no easier way to win a game of chess than by luring your opponent into a devious trap. Similarly, there's nothing worse than being the one on the receiving end. Tricks, traps and swindles lie in wait everywhere, especially so in the opening phase of the game, and many battles can be won or saved simply through learning and mastering the most important ones. In this instructive and fun book, Gary Lane looks back through chess history and at modern times to create a list of his own favourite tricks and traps. Selecting from hundreds of contenders, Lane examines a variety of factors in order to decide which ideas are most worthy of inclusion. Discover the stories behind the most cunning tricks and traps of all time; how you can utilize them to score easy wins; and how you can avoid being tricked yourself.
Have you ever wondered why strong chess players immediately grasp what is happening in complex positions? The secret is pawn structures. The pawn structure dictates the game's flow, and different structures require distinct approaches. You can improve your game by studying a large variety of pawn structures and the Hidden Laws of Chess.
IM Nick Maatman invented the Hidden Laws of Chess as an instructional tool to help his students bridge the gap between the basic understanding of a club player and the next level of knowledge of Masters and Grandmasters. A grandmaster knows from experience what pieces to exchange when facing an isolated pawn, while a club player wonders if he should keep his rooks on the board - or not.
The Hidden laws go one level deeper than the basic laws on piece development, king safety or material balance. The Hidden Laws will uncover elements such as space, the quality of a pawn structure, and a doubled pawn's strength or weakness. Maatman will answer questions like: Are backward pawns the worst in chess? What is the value of a space advantage? Could doubled pawns be an asset? How can I win symmetrical positions?
Using his coaching experience and writing with a touch of science and philosophy, Maatman will guide any ambitious chess player to the next level. His book contains dozens of actionable tips, instructive games and carefully selected exercises.
Nick Maatman (1995) is an International Master, experienced chess coach, and training partner of Super-GM Jorden van Foreest. Maatman has won the Dutch U20 Championship and has beaten many strong grandmasters in tournament games. The Hidden Laws of Chess is his first book, but he expects many more to follow. He graduated from Groningen University in both Business and Philosophy.
The astounding success of How To Study Chess on Your Own made clear that there are thousands of chess players who want to improve their game. And chess players like to work on their training at least partially by themselves.
The bestselling book by GM Kuljasevic offered a structured approach and provided the training plans. Due to popular demand, Kuljasevic now presents a Workbook with the accompanying exercises and training tools a chess student can use to immediately start his training.
Most workbooks offer puzzles and puzzles only. But Kuljasevic has used his experience as a coach to create a broader and more interesting training schedule. You will be challenged by tasks like these:
– Solve positional play puzzles
– Find the best move – and find the mini-plan
– Play out a typical middlegame structure – against a friend or against an engine, carefully set a an appropriate level
– Simulation – study and replay a strategic model game
– Analyze – try to understand a given middlegame position
Volume 1 is optimized for chess players with an Elo rating between 1800 and 2100 but is useful for anyone between 1600 and 2300. Volumes 2 and 3 will serve the needs of beginners and more advanced club players.
Davorin Kuljasevic is an International Grandmaster born in Croatia. He graduated from Texas Tech University and is an experienced coach. His bestselling book Beyond Material: Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces was a finalist for the Boleslavsky-Averbakh Award, the best book prize of FIDE, the International Chess Federation.