What is it?

The new Web Authoring Tool enables you to create a book that can be read and played through on Forward Chess platforms.

Some key features:

• Import your existing PGN files or paste a FEN
• Insert images, chess diagrams etc
• Complete text editor with font styles etc
• Download the book content in HTML format for offline use or to upload it elsewhere.
• Book content is saved in the cloud so no data loss. You can even write multiple books at the same time!
• Preview the book at any moment

How to Use

Step 1

Create a book:

1. Click on “New Book”
2. Enter your book details: Title, Publisher (optional), and Author name
3. Upload a cover for your book

Step 2:

Upload and create

• Create a new chapter in the Editor screen using the “+” button.
• Edit your text and PGN

Step 3:

Write and edit

Your PGN might look a little funky and messy at first, but a little editing magic does the trick:

Step 4:

Save and Preview

Remember to Save your work first! Click on the green “Save” button.

Then preview your work by clicking on the “Preview” button on the left menu.

Some things to keep in mind:

• Directly editing a chess diagram or moves in the editor is not recommended since it would break the move hyperlinks.
• If chapters are re-ordered, don’t forget to check your Table of Contents and update it.
  • Tip: Create the TOC after writing all the chapters and the order of the chapters is final. This way you don’t have to modify the TOC every time you change the ordering of chapters.

FAQs

Q: I am done writing the book. How do I monetize and publish it?
A: We are still working on the one-step publishing process. For now, please reach out to us at info@forwardchess.com for the next steps.

Q: Is game editing supported?
A: Not at the moment. We surely intend to if there is a demand for it. So please let us know!

Q: Are there any Image size constraints?
A: < 2MB

Q: Can I view my book in my regular Forward Chess library?
A: It will only be accessible from the Web Author Tool until it is reviewed by our team and published with your consent.

Q: Do the same board features work? (arrows, engine, highlight)
A: Arrows and highlights are not supported. The engine works so you can cross-check your analysis!

Q: How much royalty would I earn on the book?
A: Up to 50% of the retail price

The new Author Tool is currently in BETA so there might be some quirks and rough edges. We would love to hear back from you – leave a comment on this post or contact us at info@forwardchess.com

International Master

Dvoretsky had a very promising career as a chess player. He attained the International Master title in 1975 and had many tournament successes such as winning the 1973 Moscow championship in the field of International Masters and Grandmasters. The following is a game from the tournament against GM Anatoly Lein:

Other tournament successes include placing fifth in the 1974 Soviet Championships (which included names such as Alexander Beliavsky and Mikhail Tal), and winning the 1975 Wijk aan Zee Masters tournament.

Dvoretsky’s most notable game was his victory against Vasily Smyslov, the 7th World Chess Champion, in 1974:

Chess Trainer

Despite his successes as a player, Dvoretsky opted to retire from serious tournaments and instead focus his attention on becoming a chess trainer. He reached incredible heights in his career as a coach – which includes training multiple chess superstars such as Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Loek van Wely, Aleksey Dreev, Ernesto Inarkiev, Nana Alexandria, and Alexander Motylev, amongst many others. A few of his students; Valery Chekhov, Artur Yusupov, Sergei Dolmatov, and Maxim Dlugy would even go on to become World Junior Champions after Dvoretsky’s training! It is widely known that Dvoretsky was able to take semi-strong 2000+ rated players and work with them to transform them into grandmasters.

Artur Yusupov worked with Dvoretsky for many years, and even reached the peak of number three in the world rankings behind Karpov and Kasparov. Yusupov was not only Dvoretsky’s student, as they also published books together, and still do to this day with the latest collaborative release, Technique in Chess.

Chess Author

Dvoretsky’s name is firmly situated in the list of most prolific chess authors. He has written multiple books on a wide range of topics within all phases of the game. His book, Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual, is considered by many top players as a must-have endgame book.

Technique in Chess

The new release Technique in Chess is a collaboration between Mark Dvoretsky and his former student, GM Artur Yusupov. A couple of years after his passing (in 2016), Yusupov, worked with Dvoretsky’s son and combed through his chess archives, discovering material that had not been shown to the world yet. This is where the book was born – a compilation of Dvoretsky’s material, put together by Yusupov, with some of his own reflections included, all under the theme of technique.

So what exactly is technique? The book defines it as the following:

According to Yusupov, technique was always a central theme for Dvoretsky, which he taught in his books and to his students. This book teaches technique to gain an advantage in all areas of the game – opening, middlegame, and endgame.

The first part is theoretical, explaining and demonstrating ideas under the following topics:

Technique in Chess: Part 1

1. The Concept of Technique
2. Endgame Technique and Realizing an Advantage 
3. A Player’s Behavior in Better Positions
4. Full Concentration
5. Time Management
6. Realizing a Material Advantage
7. General Principles of the Endgame
8. Realizing an Advantage in the Endgame
9. Realizing a Positional Advantage and the Four Golden Principles of Technique
10. Do Not Allow Counterplay!
11. Do Not Hurry!
12. The Principle of Two Weaknesses
13. Correct Exchanging 
14. The Transformation of an Advantage 
15. Concrete Play in Realizing an Advantage

The second part of the book comprises of 102 practice exercises, increasing in difficulty, where the positions are taken from practical games and studies. The exercise solutions are quite detailed, and Yusupov took the time to help the reader understand all possible variations to assist in decision-making at the board.

Here is an exercise from the book:

Exercise 35

It is Black to play. Recognize White’s threat of Kf2-e3 and find the best continuation.

You can view the solution in the book’s free sample.

Ultimately, Technique in Chess is a book that enables the reader to learn from the world’s best chess coach and his best student.

Have any thoughts or questions? Let us know in the comments below!

Here’s an old game between the Polish-born Dawid Janowski (1868-1927) and the Englishman known as “The Black Death,” Joseph Blackburne (1841-1924). At the time of the game, the pair were among the world’s top twenty chess players. Here they take part in a typical tournament tussle involving changing fortunes and missed wins.

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5 4. c4 Nf6 This was the favored continuation at the time. The “hypermodern” but now standard 4… Nb6 typically accompanied by a kingside fianchetto was a later invention.

5. Nc3 e6

5… e5 All because on his 5th move White played a knight to c3 rather than to f3. 6. dxe5 Qxd1+ 7. Nxd1 Ne4.

6. Nf3

A position also reached by 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5!? 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.c4 Qd8 6.Nc3.

6… Nbd7

6… Be7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O b6 is a more usual line.

7. Bd3 c5 8. d5 Nb6

Uncastled Black must be careful about opening the position: 8… exd5 9. O-O d4 10. Nb5 a6 11. Qe2+ Be7 12. Nd6+ Kf8 13. Nxf7 Kxf7 14. Ng5+ Ke8 15. Ne6.

9. dxe6 Bxe6 10. b3 The c-pawn doesn’t need protecting.

10. O-O Bxc4 (10… Nxc4 11. Re1 Na5 12. Ng5+-) 11. Qe2+ Be6 12. Bb5+ followed by Nf3-g5 is very bad for Black.

10… Bd6

Black, who isn’t equal yet, has several options, including 10… Qd7 perhaps with queenside castling.

11. O-O O-O 12. Bg5 Be7

It seems wasteful to move the bishop again but White was threatening 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 (13… gxf6 14. Qc2 ) 14. Ne4! Qe7 15. Nxd6 Qxd6? 16. Bxh7+ gaining the queen.

13. Qc2 h6 14. Bh4 Nh5?! Black is struggling to impose his own will on the game, so he tries something fanciful. 15. Rad1

55…Nd7 Others are worse because the black queen will be bullied by the white pieces:

15… Qc7 16. Nb5!

15… Bd7 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Bh7+ Kh8 18. Rfe1 Qf6 19. Ne4 Qf4 20. Nxc5 +-

16. Bg3? A massive relief for Black who can now redeem his wayward knight by dissolving White’s bishop pair.

White doesn’t appreciate the fine position he had achieved through his assertive opening play, which he should continue with 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Bh7+ Kh8 18. Rfe1 threatening Bh7-f5 and/or Nc3-d5, alternatively Bh7-e4-d5. And note the further possibility Qf6 19. Rxe6 Qxe6 20. Bf5+-

16… Nxg3 17. hxg3 Qc8 18. Rfe1 Nf6 White is still better but this relatively “normalized” situation is slightly less dangerous for Black than it had been. 19. Nh4 Re8 20. Bf5 Bf8

21. Nd5 Nxd5! 22. Bh7+

22. Rxe6! is White’s last little trick in this phase of the game. Fortunately, it isn’t nasty for Black as long as he saves his knight rather than takes the rook. Nb4! (22… fxe6 23. Bh7+ Kh8 24. cxd5 Qc7 25. Be4) 23. Rxe8 Qxe8 24. Qb1 Nc6=

22… Kh8 23. cxd5 White regains his piece although by now Black has more or less equalized. Bg4 24. f3 Bd7 25. Be4 Bd6 26. f4 Bg4 27. Rc1 Qc7 28. Bf5 Bxf5 29. Nxf5 Bf8 30. Qc3 Qd7 31. Qd3 g6 32. Ne3 Rad8

33. a3 b6 34. f5? White is going wrong. It can’t be due to the clock because he’s only just passed the first time control (30 moves in 2 hours). Bg7 35. fxg6 Bd4!

Even if Black follows White’s plan with 35… fxg6 what is White’s follow-up supposed to be? 36. Qxg6?? loses to 36…Bd4! 37. Qxh6+ Qh7 (37… Kg8? 38. Rcd1) 38. Qg5 Rg8 39. Qf4 Rdf8.

36. Kh2 Re5 37. g4 Qd6 This looks attractive because of a discovered check, but White easily guards against that possibility.

Best is 37… fxg6! 38. Nc4 (38. Qxg6 Rxe3 39. Qxh6+ Qh7-+) 38… Rxe1 39. Rxe1 Qxg4-+

38. g3 Qxg6 39. Qxg6 fxg6 40. Nc4 Rexd5

41. Re6 (41. a4 stops Black’s next move.) 41… b5 42. Na5 Bb2

42… R5d6! 43. Rce1 R8d7 looks like a better way to play for a win.

43.Rf1 R5d6 44. Re7 R6d7 45. Re6 Rd6 Repeats the position (once). Yes, there were already some sort of “draw by multiple repetition” rules back in the nineteenth century. So Black, a pawn up, doesn’t want to fall foul of them.

45… Rc8! transposes to the next note (featuring 47…Rc8!).

46. Re7

46… Rd1? The win is gone.

It was still possible with 46… R6d7 47. Re6 and now (not 47…Rd6 which is a third occurrence but) Rc8! with the idea of forcing the c-pawn (or another) toward a queening square. The knight can’t stop that, for example, 48. a4 (48. Nc6 c4 49. bxc4 bxc4 50. Nb4 Bxa3-+) 48… bxa4 49. Nc4 axb3! when White can take the bishop but is faced with three passed pawns, which he cannot overcome.

It isn’t possible to detail everything, but another line after 46… R6d7 is 47. Rf8+ Rxf8 48. Rxd7 Rc8 49. Rb7 Bc3 50. Rxb5 a6 51. Rb6 Bxa5 52. Rxa6 Bd2 53. Rxg6 Bc1, which is also a forced win for Black — eventually.

47. Rxd1 Rxd1 48. Rxa7 Rd2+ 49. Kh1 Bxa3 50. Rb7

50…Bb4 (50… b4 51. Rc7 =!)

51. Nc6 Rb2 52. Rxb5 Rxb3 53. Kg2 Kg7 54. Kh3 Re3 55. Nxb4 cxb4 56. Rxb4 Kf6 1/2-1/2

Play through the whole game here:

If you liked this little trip down history, be sure to check out the author’s book on another chess giant, Sam Reshevsky:

Marek Soszynski is a master twice over: a Master of Philosophy and a Correspondence Chess Master.

He is the author or co-author of several chess books, including “The Great Reshevsky”, “The Polish Defense”, and “Sabotaging the Sicilian French & Caro-Kann with 2.b3” which you can find on Forward Chess.

He lives in the city where he was born, Birmingham, England.

So what are the Hidden Laws of Chess? They are best explained by contrasting them to the ‘Obvious Laws of Chess’ which include the perks of capturing pieces, the benefits of development, and the merits of king safety. The Hidden Laws of Chess operate under the surface level – they can only be derived by a deeper investigation of the game. 

These Hidden Laws of Chess are context dependent. Different pawn structures give rise to different laws. That’s why the book is divided into 8 different chapters. Each chapter deals with a distinctive aspect of pawn structures.

In the first chapter, we start out with the importance of space. A well-known Hidden Law of Chess is that the side that is enjoying a space advantage usually benefits from a crowded board, while the side that is at a space disadvantage prefers to exchange pieces. This concept has a variety of different applications. A simple, yet instructive application appeared in a recent game between Anish Giri and Teimour Radjabov, 2022. An inaccuracy by Black in the opening phase allowed Giri to build a lovely center. How should White continue? 

Giri determines that there is no need to rush, and he calmly improves his position with 12.h3 taking away the g4-square from the black pieces. Notably, this prevents a reduction of material by means of a future …Bg4. After 12…Ne7 Giri’s next move was even more instructive. Your first inclination may be that an exchange of bishops is not necessarily to White’s detriment – after all, the black bishop is occupying a nice square, with control over both flanks. But a closer inspection reveals that White’s central control makes Black’s position somewhat cramped. An exchange of bishops would allow black to play …Qxd7 and all his pieces would start to breathe again. 

Giri thus continued with 13.Bf1! preserving all pieces on the board. Both 13.Bc4 and 13.Bd3 are valid alternatives, but the former allows Black to strike back in the center with 13…d5 while the latter grants Black the option to harass the bishop with a …Ne7-g6-f4 maneuver. The passivity of White’s bishop on f1 is only temporary. On a later occasion, the bishop rejoined the battle and Giri went on to win an excellent game.

The fourth chapter delves into the domain of isolated queen’s pawn (IQP) positions. While many players may know that in IQP positions the defending side should try to exchange minor pieces, there is a related hidden law of chess that is far less well-known: in order to maximize winning chances, the side who is playing against the IQP needs to preserve heavy pieces. An instructive example is the following fragment: 

The creative Vasyl Ivanchuk has the white pieces against Levon Aronian. It is clear that White has the advantage, as Black has no apparent compensation for the IQP and the material has dwindled. Still, transforming this advantage into a full point is no trivial task. Here, the natural 17.Rac1 will lead to an exchange of all the rooks after 17…Rfc8 18.Rxc5 bxc5 19.b4 Kf8 20.bxc5 Rxc5 21.Rxc5 Nxc5 when White is still better, but the advantage shouldn’t be sufficient for victory.

Ivanchuk needs to preserve rooks and hence played the extraordinary 17.Rcc1!!. After 17…Rfc8?! 18.Rd1 Rc2 19.Bb5! Nf8 20.Rab1 Ivanchuk was ready to kick the intruding rook. Instead, Aronian could have alleviated his problems by at least exchanging one pair of rooks with 17…Rxc1. In the game, Ivanchuk slowly managed to untangle. Eventually, the d-pawn dropped and Ivanchuk converted his advantage. Moves like 17.Rcc1 can only be played if one has acquired a deep understanding of the hidden laws of chess. 

The book is also permeated with exercises, which allow you to put your knowledge of the hidden laws to the test. Consider for instance the following challenging exercise, that features the topic of hanging pawns. How should Black proceed?

Hanging pawns have many parallels with IQP pawns. Similarly, the attacking side often tries to arrange a well-timed d4-d5, while the defending side aims to exchange minor pieces. Thus a natural move that may come to mind in the diagram position is …Bb4+ in order to exchange a pair of bishops. This is a perfectly healthy approach. However, by far the best move is the surprising 7…e5!! which yields Black a clear advantage. This move may come as a shock, as White seems to have sufficient control over the e5-square.

A closer inspection of the possible variations reveals that both captures are undesirable:

• 8.Nxe5 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 runs into 9…Qxd4! when Black wins the exchange after 10.Bxb4 Qxa1.
• Alternatively, 8.dxe5 Qxd1+ 9.Kd1 Ng4 10.Ke1 Nc6 gives Black a huge initiative. 

Hence, White has to settle for 8.d5 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bc5! when Black’s dark-squared control grants him a sizable advantage. A well-timed push of the e- or b-pawn are effective methods of disrupting the hanging pawns, and we just witnessed a peculiar application.

The book contains dozens of actionable tips, instructive games, and carefully selected exercises, with a touch of science and philosophy. If you are an amateur player who is serious about improving your positional fundamentals, you may consider picking this book up. And if the book somehow doesn’t make you wiser about chess you might learn something else: maybe all chess teachers are charlatans after all?

Nick Maatman

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.