Taming Wild Chess Openings


Book Description

No matter how unconventional, irrational or even crazy an opening is, sooner or later every chess player will have to face it. When that happens, you can count on a well-prepared opponent who is more than happy to roll out his pet line. John Watson and Eric Schiller provide club-players with solutions to a huge selection of these rarely-played or tricky chess openings. They concentrate upon ideas and strategy, with enough analysis to satisfy the needs of practical play. Only when a sharp reply is required, Watson end Schiller will recommend a more complex variation filled with tactics. In the vast majority of cases they present a simple and safe way to approach the position, requiring little memorization and still leading to a promising game. There is a lot of fun material in this book, and you may be surprised to see how even strong grandmasters have indulged in the craziest variations. Chess isn’t all main lines and 20 moves of theory!




Taming Wild Chess Openings


Book Description

No matter how unconventional, irrational or even crazy an opening is, sooner or later every chess player will have to face it. When that happens, you can count on a well-prepared opponent who is more than happy to roll out his pet line. John Watson and Eric Schiller provide club-players with solutions to a huge selection of these rarely-played or tricky chess openings. They concentrate upon ideas and strategy, with enough analysis to satisfy the needs of practical play. Only when a sharp reply is required, Watson end Schiller will recommend a more complex variation filled with tactics. In the vast majority of cases they present a simple and safe way to approach the position, requiring little memorization and still leading to a promising game. There is a lot of fun material in this book, and you may be surprised to see how even strong grandmasters have indulged in the craziest variations. Chess isn t all main lines and 20 moves of theory!"




Side-stepping Mainline Theory


Book Description

The average chess player spends too much time on studying opening theory. In his day, World Champion Emanuel Lasker argued that improving amateurs should spend about 5% of their study time on openings. These days club players are probably closer to 80%, often focusing on opening lines that are popular among grandmasters. Club players shouldn't slavishly copy the choices of grandmasters. GMs need to squeeze every drop of advantage from the opening and therefore play highly complex lines that require large amounts of memorization. The main necessity for club players is to emerge from the opening with a reasonable position, from which you can simply play chess and pit your own tactical and positional understanding against that of your opponent. Gerard Welling and Steve Giddins recommend the Old Indian-Hanham Philidor set-up as a basis for both Black and White. They provide ideas and strategies that can be learned in the shortest possible time and require the bare minimum of maintenance and updating. They deliver exactly what you need: rock-solid positions that you know how to handle. By adopting a similar set-up for both colours, with similar plans and techniques, you further reduce study time. With this compact and straightforward opening approach, Welling and Giddins argue, club players will have more time to focus on what is really decisive in the vast majority of non-grandmaster games: tactics, positional understanding and endgame technique.




Attacking 101 - Volume #004


Book Description

The goal of the books in this series (Attacking 101: Volume #999) is to provide detailed analysis of my own attack games against lower rated players. The players are generally rated in the range of 1700 to 2100. They make the same mistakes you regularly witness in your games but here you get to see a Chess Master dissect and exploit the moves, show why they are wrong, and how to punish the opponent's play. This book covers Black Openings and has deep coverage of the Alekhine's Defense and the Polish (all lines).




Sabotaging the Sicilian, French & Caro-Kann with 2.b3


Book Description

The Queenside Fianchetto Factor In the first full book to examine 2.b3 against the Sicilian, French and Caro-Kann, mainlines, interesting sidelines and current theory are reviewed. In addition, what actually happens in modern practice is surveyed. The authors are optimistic for White, and concentrate on the best continuations while trying to be objective. It is in that spirit that they conclude that 2.b3 is sound against the Sicilian, fun against the French, and curious against the Caro-Kann. In all three cases, the objective is to sabotage Black’s play, to take him out of his comfort zone. The word “sabotage” has historically derived from throwing a clog into machinery, or in other words, throwing a monkey wrench in the works; here the wrench is a queenside fianchetto. White aims his light-square bishop toward the right flank; he typically delays Ng1-f3 so that he may play Qd1-f3 or advance his f-pawn, and use his light-square bishop to build a full-scale kingside attack. Queenside castling often occurs, hoping for a kingside pawn storm. Yet, despite all these characteristics of 2.b3, White may still retains the option of d2-d4 for a more conventional-looking 1.e4 opening. With 2.b3, you will have one more arrow in your theoretical quiver to battle Black. And, like it or not, Black will be compelled to do deal with the queenside fianchetto factor.




The Polish Defense


Book Description

The Dawn of the Planet of the b-Pawns! “There can be no Plan B because there is no Planet B,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. We disagree when it comes to chess. In this book you will see analyzed not only 1.d4 b5 (the Polish Defense) but also the St. George Defense (1.e4 e6 2.d4 a6 intending 3...b5), 1.Nf3 b5, also 1.f4 b5 and, most shocking of all, 1.e4 a6 2.d4 b5. Grandmasters have lost to these systems; other Grandmasters even try them out themselves when they have the black pieces. No, an early ...b7-b5 is not Plan A. However, if you want to humiliate the opposition by being literally eccentric (off-center) and disrespectful ... Welcome to Planet B! After studying this book, I feel that you should be comfortable using the Polish Defense in your games; it will boost your creativity and will allow you to notch unexpected victories... Although the Polish may not be ideal as a full-time weapon, its version of unorthodoxy will embarrass your opponents, especially if you are well-armed to endure the opening phase. The present work ensures that this is accomplished and gives you valuable tips for the middlegame as well. – Grandmaster Vassilios Kotronias in his Foreword At the end of each chapter, there are fully annotated illustrative games, and at the very end of the book over a hundred unannotated games from recent practice have been added. In many respects, these represent the most important part of the book. These examples show what human players actually play and just how effective this underrated defense is.




Chess Openings for Beginners


Book Description

Take Your Game to the Next Level Are you interested in taking your chess skills to a completely new level, impressing your friends and opponents with your ability and chess knowledge? Perhaps you are new to the game of chess and have not played it before, but you are interested in trying it out and unsure of how to start a game successfully. Or maybe you have given the game of chess a try in the past, but you are aware that your knowledge on how to begin a game of chess is weak, and this lack of information will ultimately stop you from being able to improve your skills. The good news is that if any of these sound like you, then you have come to the right place, and your chess game is about to increase to all new heights! Chess Openings for Beginners offers you all of the information that you need and could want regarding the different openings that you have at your disposal in the game of chess, from the openings that occur on 1.e4 to the openings that occur on 1.d4, and many other opening variants for you to test out as a beginner player. You will be amazed at just how much useful information is crammed into this book that you can take and apply to your next chess match. Not only will this book give you a greater understanding of how to play each opening successfully, but it will also teach you what you can expect your opponents to do in response to your openings, giving you the best chance of going into the middlegame with an advantage. These are just a couple of the excellent things that you will be able to take from studying the content of this book. Don’t miss out on being able to take your chess opening skills to a whole new level! Inside Chess Openings for Beginners you will Discover: - A brief history into the origins of chess openings, along with the most important components that make up a good opening strategy. - The 2 openings that you should avoid at all costs. - The most famous openings from 1.e4, such as the Ruy Lopez, the Sicilian Defense, and the Italian Game. - The best openings for beginners from 1.e4, such as the Queen’s Gambit, the Slav Defense, and the Grunfeld Defense. - A detailed insight to surprise your opponent and win a game in 6 moves - And much more! Information on the importance of the psychology of chess and why this is so important in the opening of any chess match. Gone will be the days of going into chess games without a clear plan, only to realize you are about to lose too late. Purchase a copy of Chess Openings for Beginners today, and begin playing this historical game of skill and strategy, impressing your friends and opponents with your ability along the way!




When We Were Orphans


Book Description

From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day comes this stunning work of soaring imagination. Born in early twentieth-century Shanghai, Banks was orphaned at the age of nine after the separate disappearances of his parents. Now, more than twenty years later, he is a celebrated figure in London society; yet the investigative expertise that has garnered him fame has done little to illuminate the circumstances of his parents' alleged kidnappings. Banks travels to the seething, labyrinthine city of his memory in hopes of solving the mystery of his own painful past, only to find that war is ravaging Shanghai beyond recognition—and that his own recollections are proving as difficult to trust as the people around him. Masterful, suspenseful and psychologically acute, When We Were Orphans offers a profound meditation on the shifting quality of memory, and the possibility of avenging one’s past.




The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps


Book Description

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 though 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. *An entertaining guide to the best ever tricks and traps*Invaluable advice from a seasoned tournament player*Ideal for players of all levels Gary Lane is an International Master and an experienced and successful player on the international tournament circuit. He qualified to compete at the World Cup in 2005 and is a former Commonwealth Champion. A prolific and popular chess writer, he is also a respected chess coach who has been involved in training some of England and Australia's top junior players.




Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition


Book Description

Modern Chess Openings is the best and most trusted tool for serious chess players on the market. First published over a half-century ago, this is a completely revised and updated edition of the book that has been the standard English language reference on chess openings. An invaluable resource for club and tournament players, it now includes information on recent matches and the most up-to-date theory on chess openings. Modern Chess Openings is ideal for intermediate players ready to elevate their game to the next level or International Grandmasters who want to stay on top of recent chess innovations.