Chess Bootcamp: Beyond the Basics


Book Description

Benjamin Katz is a renowned chess coach with over 20 years experience coaching students of all ability levels throughout the United States. He has helped numerous students improve and achieve chess success. This book details the training program he has developed based on this extensive experience. It cultivates the core skill set required to advance beyond the basics in chess. Included are key strategies, basic endgame positions and techniques, information on what to do when you’re stuck, how to convert an advantage, and a high-level opening repertoire for both black and white. There are also numerous practical exercises that utilize a combination of recent examples from the games of Benjamin’s students, as well as games played by the top players in the world, both contemporary and from the game’s history.




100 Endgames You Must Know


Book Description

'New (4th) and improved edition of an all-time classic The good news about endgames is: • there are relatively few endings you should know by heart • once you know these endings, that's it. Your knowledge never goes out of date! The bad news is that, all the same, the endgame technique of most players is deficient. Modern time-controls make matters worse: there is simply not enough time to delve deep into the position. Jesus de la Vila debunks the myth that endgame theory is complex and he teaches you to steer the game into a position you are familiar with. This book contains only those endgames that: • show up most frequently • are easy to learn • contain ideas that are useful in more difficult positions. Your performance will improve dramatically because this book brings you: • simple rules • detailed and lively explanations • many diagrams • clear summaries of the most important themes • dozens of tests.




Mastering Chess Strategy


Book Description

Grandmaster Johan Hellsten is convinced that mastering chess strategy - just like chess tactics - requires practice, practice and yet more practice! This outstanding book is a product of his many years' work as a full-time chess teacher, and is specifically designed as part of a structured training programme to improve strategic thinking. It focuses on a wide range of key subjects and provides a basic foundation for strategic play. Furthermore, in addition to the many examples, there's an abundance of carefully selected exercises which allow readers to monitor their progress and put into practice what they have just learned. Following such a course is an ideal way for players of all standards to improve. Although designed mainly for students, this book is also an excellent resource for chess teachers and trainers. An essential course in chess strategyContains over 400 pages of Grandmaster adviceIncludes more than 350 training exercises




Endgame Play


Book Description

Jacob Aagaard presents the reader with a few key concepts in the endgame in chess and invites him to test his skills with a lot of examples from recent tournament practice. Where many endgame books are theoretical and emphasize memorization, Endgame Play is based entirely in the real world, where the ability to react precisely in technical positions is a life skill.




How I Became a Quant


Book Description

Praise for How I Became a Quant "Led by two top-notch quants, Richard R. Lindsey and Barry Schachter, How I Became a Quant details the quirky world of quantitative analysis through stories told by some of today's most successful quants. For anyone who might have thought otherwise, there are engaging personalities behind all that number crunching!" --Ira Kawaller, Kawaller & Co. and the Kawaller Fund "A fun and fascinating read. This book tells the story of how academics, physicists, mathematicians, and other scientists became professional investors managing billions." --David A. Krell, President and CEO, International Securities Exchange "How I Became a Quant should be must reading for all students with a quantitative aptitude. It provides fascinating examples of the dynamic career opportunities potentially open to anyone with the skills and passion for quantitative analysis." --Roy D. Henriksson, Chief Investment Officer, Advanced Portfolio Management "Quants"--those who design and implement mathematical models for the pricing of derivatives, assessment of risk, or prediction of market movements--are the backbone of today's investment industry. As the greater volatility of current financial markets has driven investors to seek shelter from increasing uncertainty, the quant revolution has given people the opportunity to avoid unwanted financial risk by literally trading it away, or more specifically, paying someone else to take on the unwanted risk. How I Became a Quant reveals the faces behind the quant revolution, offering you?the?chance to learn firsthand what it's like to be a?quant today. In this fascinating collection of Wall Street war stories, more than two dozen quants detail their roots, roles, and contributions, explaining what they do and how they do it, as well as outlining the sometimes unexpected paths they have followed from the halls of academia to the front lines of an investment revolution.




Silman's Complete Endgame Course


Book Description

A famed writer, speaker, player and international master has created the one and only endgame book chess enthusiasts need as they move up the ladder from beginner to tournament player to possession of the coveted master title.




Perpetual Chess Improvement


Book Description

In a world awash in educational chess content, knowing how to study the game most effectively can be challenging. As the Perpetual Chess Podcast host, USCF Master Ben Johnson has spent hundreds of hours talking chess with many of the world's top players and most accomplished trainers. In the popular Adult Improver Series, he has spoken with dozens of passionate amateurs who have elevated their games significantly while pursuing chess as a hobby. Guests like former World Champion Viswanathan Anand and YouTube Stars IM Levy Rozman and GM Hikaru Nakamura have shared insights and told memorable stories. And Ben has learned just as much from the many dedicated amateurs who applied their considerable professional (non-chess) experience to their chess learning. In Perpetual Chess Improvement, Ben looks for common ground and shared principles in all chess advice given on the podcast. Chess players do not always agree on the best improvement methods, so he even adjudicates a few disagreements! The book will show you the following: •How to approach and study different aspects of the game, including openings, endgames, tactics, tournament games, and speed chess. •How to find a chess coach and a like-minded chess community. •How to properly utilize all the powerful chess study tools available. •Instructive chess positions illustrate the topics discussed. The guests shared a wealth of beautiful stories, and chess study advice on the Perpetual Chess Podcast. This book compiles the highlights and will help you make a holistic plan for your chess studies.




Reinforcement Learning, second edition


Book Description

The significantly expanded and updated new edition of a widely used text on reinforcement learning, one of the most active research areas in artificial intelligence. Reinforcement learning, one of the most active research areas in artificial intelligence, is a computational approach to learning whereby an agent tries to maximize the total amount of reward it receives while interacting with a complex, uncertain environment. In Reinforcement Learning, Richard Sutton and Andrew Barto provide a clear and simple account of the field's key ideas and algorithms. This second edition has been significantly expanded and updated, presenting new topics and updating coverage of other topics. Like the first edition, this second edition focuses on core online learning algorithms, with the more mathematical material set off in shaded boxes. Part I covers as much of reinforcement learning as possible without going beyond the tabular case for which exact solutions can be found. Many algorithms presented in this part are new to the second edition, including UCB, Expected Sarsa, and Double Learning. Part II extends these ideas to function approximation, with new sections on such topics as artificial neural networks and the Fourier basis, and offers expanded treatment of off-policy learning and policy-gradient methods. Part III has new chapters on reinforcement learning's relationships to psychology and neuroscience, as well as an updated case-studies chapter including AlphaGo and AlphaGo Zero, Atari game playing, and IBM Watson's wagering strategy. The final chapter discusses the future societal impacts of reinforcement learning.




Dive Into Deep Learning


Book Description

The leading experts in system change and learning, with their school-based partners around the world, have created this essential companion to their runaway best-seller, Deep Learning: Engage the World Change the World. This hands-on guide provides a roadmap for building capacity in teachers, schools, districts, and systems to design deep learning, measure progress, and assess conditions needed to activate and sustain innovation. Dive Into Deep Learning: Tools for Engagement is rich with resources educators need to construct and drive meaningful deep learning experiences in order to develop the kind of mindset and know-how that is crucial to becoming a problem-solving change agent in our global society. Designed in full color, this easy-to-use guide is loaded with tools, tips, protocols, and real-world examples. It includes: • A framework for deep learning that provides a pathway to develop the six global competencies needed to flourish in a complex world — character, citizenship, collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. • Learning progressions to help educators analyze student work and measure progress. • Learning design rubrics, templates and examples for incorporating the four elements of learning design: learning partnerships, pedagogical practices, learning environments, and leveraging digital. • Conditions rubrics, teacher self-assessment tools, and planning guides to help educators build, mobilize, and sustain deep learning in schools and districts. Learn about, improve, and expand your world of learning. Put the joy back into learning for students and adults alike. Dive into deep learning to create learning experiences that give purpose, unleash student potential, and transform not only learning, but life itself.




The Elements of Computing Systems


Book Description

This title gives students an integrated and rigorous picture of applied computer science, as it comes to play in the construction of a simple yet powerful computer system.