Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual


Book Description

This book is aimed, first of all, at helping strong players complete themselves. But even amateur players will find something of interest in it, because it is fascinating to peek, perhaps not as an owner, but at least as a guest, into the world of high-level chess, to see with ones own eyes what sort of problems chess pros have to wrestle with (successfully or not), and how far from being complete even their play is? the many exercises differ greatly from one another in their level of difficulty there are a multitude of impressive passages unusual and spectacular moves and combinations the principles, methods and rules, ideas and techniques that lie behind the moves With this, the serious student may take the knowledge and understanding of complex middlegame ideas to the next level.




Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual: Second Edition


Book Description

The first edition of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual was immediately recognized by novice and master alike as one of the best books ever published on the endgame. The second edition is revised and enlarged - now over 400 pages - covering all the most important concepts required for endgame mastery. "I am sure that those who study this work carefully will not only play the endgame better, but overall, their play will improve. One of the secrets of the Russian chess school is now before you, dear reader!" - From the Foreword to the First Edition by Grandmaster Artur Yusupov "Going through this book will certainly improve your endgame knowledge, but just as important, it will also greatly improve your ability to calculate variations... What really impresses me is the deep level of analysis in the book... All I can say is: This is a great book. I hope it will bring you as much pleasure as it has me." - From the Preface to the First Edition by International Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard Here's what they had to say about the First Edition: "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual ... may well be the chess book of the year... [It] comes close to an ultimate one-volume manual on the endgame." - Lubomir Kavalek in his chess column of December 1, 2003 in the Washington Post. "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual is quite simply a masterpiece of research and insight. It is a tremendous contribution to endgame literature, certainly the most important one in many years, and destined to be a classic of the literature (if it isn't already one). The famous trainer Mark Dvoretsky has put together a vast number of examples that he has not only collected, but analysed and tested with some of the world's strongest players. This is a particularly important book from the standpoint of clarifying, correcting, and extending the theory of endings. Most of all, Dvoretsky's analysis is staggering in its depth and accuracy." - John Watson, reviewing DEM at The Week In Chess 2003 Book of the Year - JeremySilman.com 2003 Book of the Year - Seagaard Chess Reviews: "This is an extraordinary good chess book. To call this the best book on endgames ever written seems to be an opinion shared by almost all reviewers and commentators. And I must say that I am not to disagree." - Erik Sobjerg




Studies for Practical Players


Book Description

Nowadays, chessplayers spend almost all their free time preparing openings, and rarely spend the time necessary to perfect the vitally important technique of calculating. Regular training in solving and playing out endgames studies is a good recipe for eliminating that shortcoming. This training is directed at developing resourcefulness, fantasy (in chess, these qualities are called "combinative acuity”), and the readiness to sacrifice material, in pursuit of the goal - winning! How do we develop good habits of winning endgame play? There are lots of manuals; but this may be the first in which a famous practical player, a trainer with a world-renowned name, and a study composer who has earned the title of International Grandmaster of Composition, share their views in one and the same book.




Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual


Book Description

The Second Edition of Another Dvoretsky Classic! It is very important for the practical player to train his or her ability, understand when to rely on intuition, rules of thumb and more general positional considerations, when to try to solve problems by calculating variations to the end and how to manage time to avoid time pressure. With these goals in mind, the second edition of Dvoretsky’s Analytical Manual delivers excellent, high quality training materials and many exercises. Here what critics had to say about the First Edition: “Very good stuff! ... There is a shocking amount of rich material in this book ... Dvoretsky’s Analytical Manual is a magnificent piece of work ... It gets my highest recommendation for those 2200 and above.” – From Jeremy Silman’s review at JeremySilman.com “Established Dvoretsky fans will definitely enjoy this volume; it might even be his best to date.” – From the review by Sean Marsh at MarshTowers.com. “Dvoretsky’s Analytical Manual’s high-octane, excellent instructional material is nicely enhanced by the author’s erudition and wit ... A true gem!” Grandmaster Lev Alburt




Tragicomedy in the Endgame


Book Description

The Key Concepts of Chess Endings In 2003 when it was released, Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual became an instant classic. Now the chess instructor extraordinaire offers an introduction to the fascinating world of chess endings. This book is designed to highlight the key concepts of the most common chess endgames and will prove quite instructive to chessplayers of all levels. Topics include: - The King in the Endgame - Pawn play - Zugzwang - Saving Methods - Tactics in the Endgame - Piece Maneuvering - Piece Exchanges - "Technique” ...and much more! The author has countless practical suggestions for improving your endgame play in this era of rapid-time controls so that you don't end up "drowning” in the ocean of endgame theory. Let Mark Dvoretsky help you win more games as he examines some elementary endgame errors from master play and shows you how to avoid making the same mistakes.




Chess Lessons


Book Description

“Success is a collection of problems solved.” – I.M. Pei, Architect In this, his penultimate work, legendary chess instructor Mark Dvoretsky (1947-2016) explores identifying and dealing with problems on the chessboard. “While working on the games that I have included in this book, I have sought to uncover their core ideas which are important for a chessplayer’s improvement and demonstrate them as vividly as possible. Those may include both approaches to playing out certain typical situations and mastering various positional and tactical ideas, as well as improving technical skills and training an ability to search for decisions and to make them on the basis of the precise calculation of variations. “The last two parts of the book are devoted to the specific forms of training that I routinely use during my lessons: analysis of games in the form of solving a string of consecutive tasks and playing out of certain specially selected positions. “I hope that this book will be of help not only to high-ranking players at whom it is primarily aimed, but also to every reader who is serious about self-improvement and wishes to understand problems that grandmasters and masters face over the board and the ways they solve them; what are the reasons for errors they sometimes commit and how to avoid those mistakes.” – Mark Dvoretsky, from his Foreword




Positional Play


Book Description

This is the fourth in the series of phenomenally successful training manuals by the world's leading trainer and his star pupil. By instilling players with an understanding of persistent positional features, they stress the features of positional play most relevant to the practical struggle, assuring over-the-board success. Beginner




Recognizing Your Opponent's Resources


Book Description

“Know Thy Enemy” Sun Tsu, The Art of War Understanding what your opponent is planning to do or trying to accomplish is one of the core skills required to take your game to the next level. Viktor Kortchnoi once wrote, Well, if you do not check what your opponent is doing, you will end up complaining about bad luck after every game. This book consists of four chapters, all associated with the ability to think not only for yourself, but also for your opponent, to put yourself in his place. In this book, renowned author and chess trainer Mark Dvoretsky supplies the reader with high-quality material for independent training. Each chapter starts with a short theoretical section. Then dozens of exercises are given, from easy, even elementary, to difficult. Training your skills in searching for a move and calculating variations will help you at all stages of the game – which is why among the almost 500 exercises, there are opening, middlegame and endgame positions. Finally, the comments in the Solutions are quite detailed. Throughout the book, the author has tried to set forth the logic of the search for a solution, to show how a player can come to the right conclusions at the board. Recognizing Your Opponent’s Resources is virtually unique in chess literature. And Sun Tsu would surely have approved...




Opening Preparation


Book Description

This guide, intended for tournament players, addresses all the factors that indicate the correct choice of opening lead. The format challenges players to think for themselves before being presented with the solution.




Secrets of Creative Thinking


Book Description

The world's top trainer, Mark Dvoretsky, and one of his best-known pupils, grandmaster Artur Yusupov, present a five-volume series based on courses given to talented young players throughout the world. The books contain contributions by other leading trainers and grandmasters, as well as games by pupils who have attended the courses. The final volume of the series deals with various creative aspects, such as the calculation of variations and the development of intuition. It also explores the psychology of taking decisions, both when attacking and when defending.