Which side stands better? How much better? Why?
Most chess players rely on loosely knit, unstructured methods to evaluate chess pieces and positions. They learn positional principles which often lead to inaccurate evaluations and faulty decisions about how to proceed.
This ground-breaking book by best-selling chess author Dan Heisman addresses the evaluation and understanding of how static features affect the value of the pieces in a given position. Now in its fourth edition, emphasis is placed on the static evaluation of each piece’s value and its role in the overall position rather than the assessment of a specific position, but Heisman’s approach can also be applied to help evaluate entire positions by helping to answer the questions who stands better, by how much, and why?
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Dan Heisman's Books
Sielecki has created a reliable set of opening lines for chess players of almost all levels. The major objective is to dominate Black from the opening, by simple means. You don’t need to sacrifice anything or memorize long tactical lines. His main concept is for White to play 1.d4, 2.Nf3, 3.g3, 4.Bg2, 5.0-0 and in most cases 6.c4. Sielecki developed this repertoire while working with students who were looking for something that was easy to understand and easy to learn. This new 1.d4 repertoire may be even easier to master than his 1.e4 recommendations, because it is such a coherent system. Sielecki always clearly explains the plans and counterplans and keeps you focussed on what the position requires. Ambitious players rated 1500 or higher will get great value out of studying this extremely accessible book.
Many club players think that studying chess is all about cramming as much information in their brain as they can. Most textbooks support that notion by stressing the importance of always trying to find the objectively best move. As a result amateur players are spending way too much time worrying about subtleties that are really only relevant for grandmasters. Emanuel Lasker, the second and longest reigning World Chess Champion (27 years!), understood that what a club player needs most of all is common sense: understanding a set of timeless principles. Amateurs shouldn’t waste energy on rote learning but just strive for a good grasp of the basic essentials of attack and defence, tactics, positional play and endgame play endgame play. Chess instruction needs to be efficient because of the limited amount of time that amateur players have available. Superfluous knowledge is often a pitfall. Lasker himself, for that matter, also studied chess considerably less than his contemporary rivals. Gerard Welling and Steve Giddins have created a complete but compact manual based on Lasker’s general approach to chess. It enables the average amateur player to adopt trustworthy openings, reach a sound middlegame and have a basic grasp of endgame technique. Welling and Giddins explain the principles with very carefully selected examples from players of varying levels, some of them from Lasker’s own games. The Lasker Method to Improve in Chess is an efficient toolkit as well as an entertaining guide. After working with it, players will dramatically boost their skills – without carrying the excess baggage that many of their opponents will be struggling with.
Most of the patterns Jesus de la Villa presents in this new book are from the phase of the game just before a theoretical endgame turns up. Knowing these practical endgame fundamentals will enable you to fully reap the benefits of what you learned in De la Villa’s widely acclaimed classic 100 Endgames You Must Know. Studying patterns only makes sense if you are going to encounter them frequently. De la Villa presents those that have the greatest practical importance and explains and illustrates them with carefully selected examples. To show the patterns as clearly as possible, he mainly concentrates on positions in which both sides have just one piece. Presenting positions with more pieces risks blurring the picture and making motifs less straightforward. The fact that players think in patterns has an important side-effect: their endgame errors tend to repeat themselves. That’s why De la Villa has not just included examples from games of elite GM’s but also of amateurs. Errors are always instructive and working with this book will seriously reduce the number of typical mistakes you are prone to make. The many practical exercises that De la Villa has selected will help you improve and retain what you have learned.
Understanding the pawn structure is a key tool when you are evaluating a position on the board. Post-beginners should know the basic essentials of chess structures and that is what this modern training manual focuses on.
Throw Down the Gauntlet from the Very First Move!
The Modern Defense has been popular for decades. However, within the purview of this defense, there is a system that challenges White right from the get-go. The brainchild of Georgian grandmaster Bukhuti Gurgenidze, Black plays 1...g6 and follows with a timely ...c6 and ...d5. Occasionally classified as part of the Caro-Kann, it draws battle lines immediately.
The move 1...g6 in general is an aggressive approach, throwing down the gauntlet from the very first move. This is why in some lines, even if the reader finds that the engine assesses a position in White’s favor, one should not be put off.
This book, the first one dedicated to the Modern Gurgenidze in many years, consists of 10 theoretical Chapters and 31 sample games. Jaan carefully explains how Black’s plans may change depending on White’s move order, when exactly we should play ...c7-c6 followed by ...d7-d5 (Chapters 1-5) and when we would be better off with ...d7-d6 and ...e7-e5 (Chapters 6-10). You will be treated to Jaan’s insights on Hippo, Dutch, English, King’s Indian and even 1.b3, all through the eyes of Gurgenidze system. – Grandmaster Alex Shabalov in his Foreword.
The Modern Gurgenidze has figured prominently in Jaan Ehlvest’s repertoire as Black for many years. He now shares his expertise and experience in this provocative defense. If you want to play for a draw, this book is not for you. But if you want to play for the full point, this counterpunching defense may be just what you are looking for.
About the Author: Jaan Ehlvest is a grandmaster from Tallinn, Estonia. He won the 1980 USSR Junior Chess Championship when he was 18 and in 1983, the European Junior Championship. He was champion of Estonia in 1986 and was a member of the gold medal-winning Soviet Union team at the 28th Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki 1988. He played for Estonia in the Chess Olympiads of 1992-2004. This is his first book for Russell Enterprises.
Volume 2B completes the series by providing cutting-edge antidotes to tricky defences such as the Dutch, various Benoni set-ups, Benko and Budapest Gambits, and anything else not covered in volumes 1A, 1B & 2A. With innumerable updates and improvements to the author’s previous work, this book is essential reading for any ambitious 1.d4 player.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Avrukh Grandmaster Repertoire
Jacob Aagaard digs deep into the most complex area of chess thinking. The games and exercises in this book transcend regular chess skills, such as pattern recognition, calculation and positional analysis.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Grandmaster Preparation
The second volume of the book follows the unique concept of the first one. The reader needs to solve practical exercises throughout the entire book in various important middlegame strategical topics in a testing format. According to the collected points after the solutions, he will also be able evaluate his current knowledge.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Monster Your Planning
Safety first! Success in chess begins with asking yourself the basic question, “Is the move that I’m considering a safe one?”
TACTICS TRAINER AVAILABLE! Romain Edouard launches a brand new series of exercise books. In this first volume he focuses on middlegames. Romain gives you different instructions for each chapter, so you can improve your general thinking from various angles – exactly as you would face in your own games.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Chess Calculation Training
Boris Gelfand continues his investigation into decision-making at the top level, discussing some of his best games as well as his worst slips, giving the reader a unique insight into the mind of a world-class grandmaster.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Gelfand Decision Making