Chess Movies 1


Book Description

Lights! Action! Chess! Chess Movies represents a new idea in the Pandolfini Chess Library series. It offers instructional material with every single move diagrammed and explained. Thus a chessboard and pieces are not needed to follow through. This makes it possible to rely solely on the book itself, as one would with a text on tactics and problems, without having to set up the positions, even though the present volume, Quick Tricks, contains games of ten full moves or more. It’s almost as if one is sitting in a movie theater, watching the film roll by, with the narrative carried along by subtitles. But whereas a film seen in the theater just keeps going, here you can “stop” the action and take time thinking about what you’re seeing and what’s being explained to you, as if you were home watching on your own DVD. In this first offering of the series, Quick Tricks, the reader (viewer) is provided with a collection 64 neat traps and shots in the opening, illustrations often stemming from the practice of the world’s best players. There’s a variety too, so that you can sample different openings and variations. All you have to do is read the beginning paragraph, sit back in your living room, on your favorite flight, commuter bus or train ride, and pleasure your way through each informative film. It’s also a great way to prepare for upcoming competition. Just find a comfortable chair and spend a few hours watching, learning, and enjoying your way into shape.




Chess in the Movies


Book Description




Chess


Book Description

Win at chess with practical instruction from one of the world's leading teachers! With clever strategies for more than 5000 situations and clear diagrams, Chess is for the enthusiastic novice as well as the competitor taking the game to the next level. Chess takes you through more than 5,000 unique instructional situations, many taken from actual matches, including 306 problems for checkmate in one move, 3,412 mates in two moves, 744 mates in three moves, 144 simple endgames, and 128 tournament game combinations. Organized by problem type, each combination, or game is keyed to an easy-to-follow solution at the back of the book.. More than 6,000 illustrations make it easy to see the possibilities regardless of where your pieces are on the board. The book also includes the basic rules of the game and an international bibliography. Chess is the ultimate book on winning the game.




Chess Movies 2


Book Description

The Pandolfini Chess Library Chess Movies represents a new idea in the Pandolfini Chess Library series. It offers instructional material with every single move diagrammed and explained. Thus a chessboard and pieces are not needed to follow through. This makes it possible to rely solely on the book itself, as one would with a text on tactics and problems, without having to set up the positions. It’s almost as if one is sitting in a movie theater, watching the film roll by, with the narrative carried along by subtitles. But whereas a film seen in the theater just keeps going, here you can “stop” the action and take time thinking about what you’re seeing and what’s being explained to you, as if you were home watching on your own DVD. In this second volume of the Chess Movies series, The Means and Ends, the enthusiast is presented with an assortment of 64 precisely finessed and well-executed endgames from the oeuvres of the world’s foremost chess gladiators. Lasker, Rubinstein, Capablanca, Karpov, Fischer, Anand and other chess gods, offered in stratagem, maneuver, and insightful simplification, provide the subject matter for this newest collection of chess cinema. Taking off from volume 1 of the Chess Movies series, the present volume shows the other end of successful chess play, the actual final moves of winning endgames. Read and watch on, and may all of you play happily ever after.




ChessBase Complete


Book Description

ChessBase Step-by-Step There’s a general recognition among chess players at all levels that the ChessBase software application is critical for serious chess improvement, but many chess players are intimidated by the software. Now, for the first time, former U.S. correspondence champion Jon Edwards has created real-life scenarios that focus upon why the software is so important for chess players of every class, along with clear explanations of how to use ChessBase. The author will show you how, with ChessBase: (1) Opening preparation is quick, comprehensive, fully-up-to-date, and effective; (2) You can quickly locate and review important games in every opening, middlegame type, and endgame; (3) You can instantly see what worldwide engines think about most opening and many middlegame positions; (4) You can instantly see where you and your opponents erred; (5) You can reliably prepare chess books for publication in print or on the web... And much, much more! There is in fact no aspect of using ChessBase which Edwards does not cover. It is all here, and all in one volume! Know simply that ChessBase is instrumental to every aspect of chess. This book explains how the software can help you to improve your play, your learning, your teaching, your writing, or simply your love of and enthusiasm for the game. Jon Edwards explains all that you will need to know with concrete examples and simple instructions. After that, how strong a chess player, how good a chess teacher, how good a chess author you become is truly up to you. Note: ChessBase 12 is featured in this book. The new ChessBase 13 will be available near the end of 2014. ChessBase has confirmed that the program features and interface described within this book are not expected to change.




How to Win in the Chess Openings


Book Description

A beginner-friendly study of chess openings and how you can use your first moves to your advantage Are you feeling frustrated that you’re losing your chess game in the first few moves? Do you want to learn the best strategies for a checkmate? In this accessible book, chess master I. A. Horowitz details how to step up your chess game. He outlines the principles and concepts of opening play, discussing the popular attack and defense openings—including the queen’s gambit, the Sicilian defense, the French defense, and many more— and breaks down their individual moves and grand plans. He also shows the tactical forte of each move and how it ties up with the overall strategical idea. Perfect for people who just learned the rules of chess or more advanced players who want to gain some strategy, How to Win in the Chess Openings will give you the tools you need to win your next game.




Draw!


Book Description

The Luck of the Draw!? We have all seen games – and perhaps even played them – in which a difficult or lost game is salvaged by a brilliant drawing combination. In the early 1970s, Soviet International Master Leonid Verkhovsky collected some of the most fantastic draws ever played. You will be captivated by combinations and threats, as inexhaustible imagination in defense and attack counterbalance each other. The chess prowess of one player is basically in equilibrium with the mastery of his opponent. Both are playing for a win, both send their chess armies into close combat, and peace sets in on the chessboard when it practically becomes empty after a long and fierce battle. You will also delight at the spectacular “saving draws,” when, although in a difficult position, a player finds all possible (and impossible!) resources to make a draw. Example are drawn from the praxis of world champions and outstanding grandmasters, as well as from the games of lesser-known players. Of special interest is the research made by the author regarding stalemate, that special exception in the rules. The book is crowned with an interesting chapter in which the author addresses the drawn games of the world’s top players. “I am sure that all those who love and cherish our ancient game will appreciate this wonderful book.” – Mikhail Tal




Man vs. Machine


Book Description

Man vs. Machine Technology continues to advance at a rapid pace. It may sound quaint today, but not so long ago, computers battled humans for supremacy at the game of chess. The challenge of building a computer program capable of defeating the best of human-kind at chess was one of the original grand challenges of the fledgling field of artificial intelligence. On one side were dedicated scientists and hobbyists who invested decades of effort developing the software and hardware technology; on the other side were incredibly talented humans with only their determination and preparation to withstand the onslaught of technology. The man versus machine battle in chess is a landmark in the history of technology. There are numerous books that document the technical aspects of this epic story. The human side is not often told. Few chess players are inclined to write about their man-machine encounters, other than annotating the games played. This book brings the two sides together. It tells the stories of many of the key scientists and chess players that participated in a 50-year research project to advance the understanding of computing technology. “Grandmaster Karsten Müller and Professor Jonathan Schaeffer have managed to describe the fascinating history of the unequal fight of man against machine in an entertaining and instructive way. It evoked pleasant and not so pleasant memories of my own fights against the monsters. I hope that their work gives you as much pleasure as it has given me.” – From the Foreword by Vladimir Kramnik, 14th World Chess Champion




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...




French Defense


Book Description

A Complete Black Repertoire against 1.e4 Built around the Super-solid Rubinstein! The solid Rubinstein Variation of the French Defense – despite its having been played by world champions and elite grandmasters, it has never been subjected to detailed study. The author, German International Master Hannes Langrock, has produced a book with complete coverage of this line, along with solid recommendations for Black should White deviate on the second or third move. “I never realized that Black could take such active measures in the Rubinstein Variation without significant drawbacks. This book is an eye-opener, and even top grandmasters might find that they have underestimated Black’s resources in important positions...The average tournament and online player will appreciate Langrock’s straightforward, no-nonsense style. He keeps the complexity of the analysis within bounds, and highlights relevant details without drifting into obscure page-long analytical byways. General themes are clearly presented within the context of illustrative games...The result is a book that covers a broad swath of material in a modest number of pages. I’m sure that you will be well-rewarded for its study, and come out with a useful new weapon in your chess arsenal.” – International Master John Watson in his Foreword