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The Sicilian Scheveningen Defense is a highly respected and flexible variation of the Sicilian Defense, characterized by the pawn structure Black adopts with pawns on e6 and d6. It arises after the moves 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6. This setup allows Black to maintain a solid central presence while keeping options open for dynamic counterplay.

In this book, the Belgian chess historian Henri Serruys traces back how Spassky became the first Soviet World Junior Chess Champion in Antwerp 1955. Endowed with recently discovered original material from the tournament organizer, the Belgian youth chess leader Hendrik Baelen, he paints a very colorful picture of this sparkling event. How to finance the event from private donors? Where to accommodate the players (and their seconds, mostly from Eastern European countries)? Would the favorites come through the preliminary rounds? Moreover, Serruys digs into contemporary sources and contacted all the participants, in so far as they are still alive. By combining these three main sources (papers from Baelen, contemporary journals and testimony of participants), Henri creates an authentic account of this milestone for both FIDE and the development of international youth chess. Moreover, he presents the key games of the tournament and unearthed a couple of hitherto unknown games of Spassky. Finally, he pays a well-deserved tribute to Hendrik Baelen and thus puts him on the map of chess history! The original research conducted for this book contributes greatly to the history of FIDE and Belgian chess alike. Let us lift the Curtain for Spassky at the age of 18 years ...!

Chess has evolved significantly over the past few years. Talented teenagers are playing better than ever, top players possess even deeper theoretical knowledge and make fewer mistakes, and preparation now demands more time and energy. Consequently, winning against strong opponents has become increasingly challenging. This has taught us that players need to manage their energy levels carefully. Most of the advice in this book remains applicable even when you are tired, though in such cases, it's usually better to play more solidly if you're primarily aiming for a good result. That said, results aren't everything. Interesting games are also important, and we are excited to share them with you in this epic book.

This book is, in one way, a biography of Folke Rogard, focusing mostly on his rolesas FIDE President and organizer of modern chess. However, it only briefly discussesthe other facets of his life as a father, husband, lawyer, businessman, and in private.The portrayal of Rogard primarily centers on his organization of chess and his presidencyof FIDE, a position he held for more than two decades. Being in that genre, it aims to capture his personality what his driving forces were and the constraints that held him back.

You can hardly find a more unconventional idea than pushing your g-pawn 2 squares down the board. Some may say it belongs to a backroom chess game in a café, some may say it belongs to olden times – back when the King’s Gambit was the main line after 1. e4 e5. But we are seeing more and more occurrences at the top-level.                                      Is it a coincidence ??   It’s safe to say that g2-g4 (or ...g7-g5) is one of the most weakening moves available. As a matter of fact, the objectively worst first-move happens to be 1.g4, accompanied by an evaluation of -1.30 when running Stockfish 15 on low-depth (we did not see the point on letting it run in this position, it will probably get lower, that’s not good advertising).  Now, there are quite a few positions where g2-g4 (or ...g7-g5) makes more sense and brings an interesting fight. The player has to be willing to take some considerable amount of risk, and that may be too much for some of us. The resulting positions often get messy and veer very much away from traditional paths, which means the expected number of mistakes gets higher, thus decreasing the drawing percentage.   Still, it’s important to remain somewhat objective and not to get too excited by the thrill of an upcoming attack. Yes, g-pawn pushes are aggressive, but can also very quickly turn out to have disastrous consequences. “I wish I could play g4-g2”, is usually a sign the experiment has gone wrong. The book is aimed at covering a wide range of chess openings. We decided to showcase the different categories of g4 (...g5) one may meet in the early stage of the opening, no matter if the idea is strong, interesting or quite unadvisable (bad, you may also say). Most of the time, g4 (...g5) won’t be the best move, but we will try to show that the value of surprise and the tendency of players to react solidly to aggression can matter as well. Also, we have decided not to include any Sicilians, as the g2-g4 push has become so frequent there, and in many variations deeply analyzed already. Over the 50 games that we picked, the 3 main reasons why the g-pawn is being launched are : 1) Attacking a short-castled king with a hook created by h2-h3 (or ...h7-h6) 2) Challenging the stable position of a Nf3 (or ... Nf6). It becomes stronger when the knight doesn’t have a good square to hop to. 3) Seizing space on the kingside. The more you dive into the examples, the more you’ll see that it’s a mix of the 3, with one reason prevailing. We wish you happy reading and hope that you’ll implement some of these lines into your play!

Much has been written in chess about specific openings, players and tournaments. From experience, those are not easy books to write (because you need to be analytically laser-sharp), but at least you know what you’re signing up for. By contrast, books like the one you currently hold might be laxer on the minutiae, but as a whole can be harder to conceive and transform into finished reality. While not requiring using cloud engines on depth-56 to find a novelty, they are instead (so to speak) “painted with a broader brush”. Two examples of what I mean are Vukovic’s The Art of Attack in Chess and the famous classic, Nimzowitsch’s My System. In each, the author is a professional who brings across nothing more nor less than their philosophy of how the game should be played, and the degree of emotional energy they pour into it manifests in a work that rightly reflects the status of our game, not merely as an academic endeavor but as a cultural one. The current book is a fitting, if not overdue, addition to that genre. As a cultural phenomenon, chess exists somewhere on the spectrum between natural philosophy (by which I mean science in its traditional form) and fine art. Viewed statically from the outside, it combines elements of both. Viewed dynamically from the inside, that same ambiguity which the game of chess straddles can be viewed as being that between logic and psychology.

Who will benefit from this book? If you feel you need to improve your openings – this book is for you. Some of thepositions may be very simple, others not so much – but these are all positions thathave happened and represent a wide range of possibilities. My suggestion is totry and think which moves are best to play but also why others may be mistakes.This introduction opened with a quote from Confucius.  The second part of the quote is:  “...thinking without learning is dangerous”.  This book is not intended to replace learning theory. Every player certainly must learn theory. But the book is helpful for understanding theory and for being able to tackle unexpected conditions – a situation that happens very often in games of chess.

The London Chess System is a solid and popular opening system for White that typically arises after the moves 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4. - It's characterized by the development of the bishop to f4, aiming to control the center and maintain a solid pawn structure. The London System is known for its simplicity and flexibility, making it suitable for players of all levels, from beginners to grandmasters. - It often leads to strategic positions with plans revolving around controlling the center, developing the pieces harmoniously, and launching attacks on the opponent's weaknesses.  White usually follows up with moves like e3, Nbd2, c3, and eventually aims for a kingside pawn storm or a queenside minority attack, depending on the opponent's setup.The London System can be used as a surprise weapon or as a mainstay of one's repertoire due to its versatility and ability to transpose into various pawn structures. -Despite its reputation for being solid and positional, the London System can lead to dynamic and aggressive play, especially in the hands of experienced players who know how to seize tactical opportunities. - Black has several responses to the London System, including setups with ...c5, ...e6, ...Nbd7, ...b6, and ...Bg4, each posing different challenges and opportunities for both sides. - Mastery of the London System requires understanding typical plans, pawn structures, and strategic ideas, as well as familiarity with common tactical motifs and nuances specific to this opening system.

Do you like chess and want to become a better player without putting in hundreds of hours training?    365 Steps to Tactical Mastery has a practical approach with a focus on Tactics.  This book helps to eliminate hours of game study and provides bite-sized lessons and tasks that you can implement each day to improve your chess game over the course of a year.  We’ve collected an array of typical positions and situations that are frequently seen on the board so that you can better anticipate common mistakes, as well as teach you how you can exploit your opponent’s mistakes.  If you make 5-10 minutes of chess study a daily habit, you will improve your chess game and your “chess brain” by opening your mind to planning and moves you wouldn’t otherwise see on the chess board.

The Semi-Slav Defense transcends its classification as a mere defensive response to 1.d4. It embodies a dynamic and multifaceted system that offers Black not only solidity in defense but also active counterplay and strategic flexibility. Here's why the Semi-Slav is more than just a defense:Rather than passively defending, the Semi-Slav allows Black to counterattack in the center and on the flanks. Moves like ...e6-e5 and ...c6-c5 often lead to sharp, tactical positions where Black can seize the initiative.By delaying the development of the knight to f6, Black achieves a solid pawn structure with pawns on d5, e6, and c6. This structure provides a firm foundation for Black's pieces and restricts White's options for pawn breaks.The Semi-Slav leads to strategically rich positions with multiple pawn breaks and piece maneuvers. Both sides must navigate intricate plans, making it a fertile ground for creative play and deep strategic understanding. Within the Semi-Slav, there are numerous variations and sub-variations, each with its own unique characteristics and strategic ideas. Players can tailor their repertoire to suit their style and preferences, whether they prefer solid, positional play or aggressive, tactical battles.The Semi-Slav has been embraced by many top-level players, including World Champions like Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand. Their success with the opening at the highest levels of competition demonstrates its effectiveness and versatility.In essence, the Semi-Slav Defense transcends its classification as a defensive system by offering Black a rich tapestry of strategic possibilities and dynamic play. It is a complete repertoire choice that can suit a wide range of playing styles and preferences.

The Philidor Defense is a most popular opening at all levels. In this first book Sergio brings a no-nonsense opening repertoire for players of all strenghts. You will find this book nor only a useful handy guide but find it also loaded with an indispensable source of inspiring ideas. This Spanish edition is the revised & updated English edition from 2021.

Dragoljub Velimirovic was a former Yugoslav - Serbian, chess grandmaster whose international career was handicapped by political intrigues and his outspoken temperament. During the heyday of the USSR as the greatest national chess power, the former Yugoslavia was capable of running the Soviet Union a good second. Dragoljub Velimirovic posed a real threat to the men from Moscow. Velimirovic was born in 1942 to a prominent family from Valjevo, in the former Yugoslavia. He was introduced to chess at the age of seven by his mother, Jovanka Velimirovic, one of Yugoslavia's leading female chess players. He died at the age 72, being one of the last players to develop a system or strategy that is so inventive it bears its creator's name. It is a feat that is unlikely to be repeated in the modern era, when computer-based games and databases so thoroughly dominate competition that it is almost impossible to come up with something new. That does not mean that players were more talented or courageous in the decades when Velimirovic was in his prime. Velimirovic, who became a grandmaster in 1973, was never among the 20 top-ranked players in the world. And that was when there were only 200 or so grandmasters; today, there are about 2,400.

The pandemic giving rise to vastly underrated junior and amateur players. Online chess taking a much more prominent role. Accusations of cheating making the headlines. Social media being used as a tool to educate the chess masses. All these have lead to a different landscape, but some things stay the same. The player who is willing to analyse and work on chess harder than the rest will still separate his or herself from their peers. In my view, at least 90 percent of success in tournament play will come down to how good your calculation and analysis is. Because that is the bread and butter of tournament play. This is what I will try to get across in this book, that a chess player will often stand or fall on the quality of analysis and I will discuss the positive and negative role that working with computers has on a players overall strength. I will also try to explain why my chess fell into a torpor because of an over reliance on computers and how I have recently come to realize that technical deficiencies have often held me back from reaching the higher echelons of the game. And in doing so, and looking at the chess world and trying to explain it from my point of view while following my own progress and that of others I will try to put together a tournament battle plan

In thislong-awaited second Thinkers-book of International Master, Armin Juhasz, the reader isinvited to take a seat in his classroom and follow his useful guidelines how toimprove your practical play. The emphasis is on general principles that readerswill be able to use in their own games, and detailed analysis is always givenwhere it is necessary. Each game and fragment contain many lessons andpractical tips, guiding the reader through the most important ideas in eachphase of the game. This book illustrates an increasingly prevalent andsuccessful style of play, a method that begins by slowly accumulating small butpermanent advantages. The author does a very good job of explaining the keypoints of the game in such a way that the reader is given a true account ofwhat is happening and not some watered down version. Translating the muddyworld of modern master chess into something that is understandable to thelayman, is a skill Armin mastered.

The author has presented a complete opening repertoire for White.After 1. Nc3, the game can take various trans-positional paths. The opening move 1. Nc3 aims to control the center indirectly, and it allows for a flexible development of the pieces. The move prepares for subsequent development, and the game might transpose into various other openings depending on the subsequent moves by both players. While 1. Nc3 is not as popular or mainstream as some other first moves (like 1. e4 or 1. d4), it can be an interesting choice for players who want to steer the game away from well-known theoretical lines early on and enter into positions that might be less studied. As with any opening, understanding the resulting pawn structures, piece placements, and plans is crucial for successful play.

Cognitive Skills: Chess requires players to use multiple cognitiveskills such as memory, concentration, logical reasoning, and problem-solving.Players need to plan moves in advance, anticipate their opponent's actions, andadapt their strategies accordingly. Engaging in these cognitive activities canhelp enhance overall mental abilities.        Critical Thinking: Chess is a game of strategy and tactics, whichencourages players to think critically. ·       Memory Enhancement: Playing chess involvesremembering the rules of the game, recalling past moves, and recognizingpatterns on the board.       Problem-Solving Skills: Chess presents players withvarious challenges and obstacles that require creative problem-solving. Theability to assess a situation, identify potential solutions, and choose thebest course of action is a valuable skill that can be applied to other areas oflife.·       Planning and Forecasting: Chess involves planning severalmoves ahead and predicting the consequences of those moves.     Concentration and Focus: Chess requires a high level ofconcentration and focus. Players must pay attention to the board, theiropponent's moves, and the overall strategy.      Patience and Perseverance: Chess games can be lengthy, andplayers need patience to see a game through to its conclusion. Losing a gamealso teaches children the importance of perseverance, learning from mistakes,and bouncing back from setbacks.·       Emotional Intelligence: Chess can help children developemotional intelligence by teaching them to control their emotions, handlesuccess and failure gracefully, and understand the impact of their decisions onthe overall game.

The book you have just started reading isabout a very interesting and difficult concept: the exchange sacrifice. This isthe moment in chess when basic mathematics breaks down, the moment when 3counts equal to or even more than 5. So let us leave the mathematics aside andtry to figure out why this simple calculation is so difficult to understand.The answer is largely hidden in psychology, as the ninth World Champion, TigranPetrosian, has often told us, as the man who brought this strategic-tactical chessconcept to its first peak. Chess beginners were taught the value of pieces bytheir teachers (parents, grandparents, perhaps at school or even later in thebeginners¿ sections of chess clubs). We explain the difference between piecevalues to children in the simplest way possible, with the help of a unit ofmeasurement, and in chess those units are the pawns. They tell us that a rookis worth five pawns (units) and a knight and a bishop are worth about threeeach. They also tell us to always be careful, especially during exchanges, toensure we take at least as much from our opponent as he or she took from us.So, one rook at a time, perhaps for a bishop and a knight next to two pawns.This ¿chess thinking¿ is done quickly and very strongly subconsciously in most,one could even say all. Therefore, when choosing moves, we will automaticallyreject unfavorable exchanges. But who trades a queen for a knight, a bishop fora pawn, and the like? We know from our own life experience that it is better tohave ten coins in our pocket than three, and I prefer three to one! Thispsychological barrier is the most difficult step in making the decision tosacrifice. And so it is with the sacrifice of an exchange. Five for three, thatis! Even five for four, if we get a pawn for the rook along with the knight orthe bishop. ¿I am not stupid,¿ you think. The Exchange Sacrifice Unleashedbrings different games or coaches try to explain this and that to us, we seethat a material advantage is not always something to celebrate about.

Given the changes inthe chess world over the last few years I feel that we badly need an update of how to prepare and out-prepare your opponent during a chess tournament.The pandemic giving rise to vastly underrated junior and amateur players.Online chess taking a much more prominent role. Accusations of cheating makingthe headlines. Social media being used as a tool to educate the chess masses.All these have lead to a different landscape, but some things stay the same.The player who is willing to analyse and work on chess harder than the restwill still separate his or herself from their peers. In my view, at least 90percent of success in tournament play will come down to how good yourcalculation and analysis is. Because that is the bread and butter of tournamentplay. This is what I will try to get across in this book, that a chess playerwill often stand or fall on the quality of analysis and I will discuss the positiveand negative role that working with computers has on a players overallstrength. I will also try to explain why my chess fell into a torpor because ofan over reliance on computers and how I have recently come to realize thattechnical deficiencies have often held me back from reaching the higher echelonsof the game. And in doing so, and looking at the chess world and trying toexplain it from my point of view while following my own progress and that ofothers I will try to put together a tournament battle plan

The Queen's Gambit is oneof the oldest and most reputable 1.d4 openings for Black. Unlike 1.e4 openings, theQueen's Gambit usually evolves into a strategic game rather than an all-outtactical battle. Despite being around forcenturies, this opening is still one of the cornerstones of every eliteplayers' repertoire, including all World Champions.The author presented apractical opening repertoire for Black, while providing several different options:a more dynamic or rather solid positional play.All sidelines are capturedand brutally countered in the last chapter of this magic chess book.    You want to counter 1.d4 isthe most effective and pragmatic way, this book should stand or your bookshelf.

The Grunfeld Defence is one of the most dynamic openings for Black. The opening was developed by two famous World Champions, namely Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.While theory is far from being exhausted and still developing, our author Grandmaster Milos Pavlovic made a strange case and found new alternatives to battle White's setups. On top this book cuts through the dense theory that surrounds thisopening and establishes a total new repertoire based around consistentstrategies, concepts and novelties.This is a fully revised and seriously extended edition of the original book published in 2017.

The Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense– known simply as ‘the Dragon’ to its acolytes and opponents – truly standsatop any list of fans’ favorites, the mythical scaly beast lending its name toperhaps the most dangerous and nerve-wracking of all chess openings.This book aims to chart the life story ofthis most epic of chess variations through the eyes of the brightest and bestDragon Masters, from its inception to its 21st century status. Along the way we will recall the perils andpitfalls that exist in the often wild and as yet untamed Dragon landscape. Intimately connected to these battles are the anti-Dragon warriors – those whohave dedicated years to inventing ever more clever methods of slaying theDragon. Just as the Dragon attracted worldchampions such as Botvinnik, Kasparov and Carlsen to its cohorts, so too werefigures such as Spassky, Fischer and Karpov committed to breaking its spirit. The popularity and theoretical status (often,though not always, intertwined) of all major openings rise and fall likeempires, destined to lie in dust, only to find themselves miraculously revivedand rebuilt by new generations.

In 1967, 25-year-old Rolf Martens won the Swedish Championshipplaying faster than anyone before. In the Student World Championshiphe defeated one of the world’s ten best players, and at the end of theyear he became the first Swede to make an IM-norm. Efim Geller said:“If Martens comes to Moscow, he will become one of the best playersin the world.”A few years later, he had quit playing to pursue political activism onthe far left. It became his vocation for the rest of his life.When Martens’ desire for chess returned, it was as an analyst. Hefounded the Ultra Hypermodern Counter Attack School and hasproduced more openings than perhaps any other player in history.Rolf Martens - Chess genius, maoist and rebel is his life story, but alsoa book for anyone who wants to use his openings.

Chess has fascinatedpeople for centuries. But what exactly is chess? Is it a sport, a science, oran art?Well, people think differently about that.Some Grandmasters may say it’s a sport, while others think it’s anart.Despite the individual nature of the game, we have always found it striking that chess is also a social activity.Nowadays, chess is regularly played at theinternet, but still more often in social settings such as clubs, tournamentsand cafés, making it a unique activity for people of all ages andbackgrounds.At the Olympiad, chess players fromdifferent countries find common ground because chess has its own internationallanguage of pieces, moves and rules.Even in a park, chess can create connectionsbetween strangers as they engage in a game together.Just as chess, we think also photoshave the power to connect people across time and distance. Photos capturemoments and emotions that transcend language and cultural barriers.They preserve memories and remind us of thebeauty and diversity of our world. We also believe that in today'sdigital age, a physical photo book still has the ability to foster asense of belonging.

The Barry Attack is somewhat defensive-looking from the start. It tempts Black forward, provocatively. The Barry Attack is, after all, a little rebellious, flouting, as it does, all those common sense development rules. Perhaps your game needs a good shot of tactics to boost your results – it’s one of the fastest ways to improve and this is true not only for young players. If your opponent plays an early move order that’s not in this book such as 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c5 or 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 for example, the good news is that Black will be forced to transpose back into the mass of material. The ‘’super repertoire’’ that always keeps Black under pressure in all variations is of course, a total myth. Any reasonable opening set-up can work wonders for White or Black if they know it well. This is always going to outweigh theoretical evolution. Playing strong chess is also very much about your level of self-confidence, emotional and physical health. It’s about who you are and how you feel in many ways at the precise moment of play in addition to your opening knowledge and general technique. Anyone who takes the trouble to play through each model example, move by move, note by note, will be rewarded. Your strategic play will deepen and your tactics will improve along with your assessment skills, and you’ll end up with a great repertoire!

·       ·       ·       ·       ·       ·       ·       ·       ·       ·       If you do so, your brain will adapt to chess,making it easier for you to find the right plan or move. Our brain can adaptfor every task required regularly; be it multiplication of finding chess moves.

This book is about the Nimzo-IndianClassical line 4.Qc2 (also known as the Capablanca Variation) and the 4.Bd2-line, for which basically I couldnot find an established name. As far as I know, the 4.Bd2 linehas never been covered in such a comprehensive way in any book before. In thetext I suggest that this line should have the combined name ofTartakower-Duchamp line because Tartakower played it often, while to mysurprise Marcel Duchamp (who was also a famous French artist) played it too inthe 1930s and indeed in a very good positional fashion against strong players. Some of those games are in the book.Now this line enjoys greater popularitythan ever before. About the Classical line with 4. Qc2 there isnothing much to add, except for the fact that it has become hugely popular, butunfortunately from my point of view it involves too much engine-style chess.

This book is about the Nimzo-IndianClassical line 4.Qc2 (also known as the Capablanca Variation) and the 4.Bd2-line, for which basically I couldnot find an established name. The 4.Bd2 linehas never been covered in such a comprehensive way in any book before. In thetext I suggest that this line should have the combined name ofTartakower-Duchamp line because Tartakower played it often, while to mysurprise Marcel Duchamp (who was also a famous French artist) played it too inthe 1930s and indeed in a very good positional fashion against strong players. Some of those games are in the book.Now this line enjoys greater popularitythan ever before. About the Classical line with 4. Qc2 there isnothing much to add, except for the fact that it has become hugely popular, butunfortunately from my point of view it involves too much engine-style chess.