Chess as art and recreation; checkmating combinations, endgame play, strategic principles, more. Full details and analysis of author's famous game with Emanuel Lasker. 94 diagrams; other illustrations. "Very enjoyable." — Cleveland Chess Bulletin.

Classic introduction offers superb coverage of all aspects, especially Middle Game, combination play. Hundreds of games analyzed. Over 340 diagrams.

A three-time U.S. Champion and Grandmaster and an award-winning educator provide a compact but comprehensive series of chess lessons and essential knowledge to help everyone from beginners to competitors achieve their desired level of proficiency in the game. Original.

At the U.S. Championship in 1989, Stuart Rachels seemed bound for the cellar. Ranked last and holding no IM norms, the 20-year-old amateur from Alabama was expected to get waxed by the American top GMs of the day that included Seirawan, Gulko, Dzindzichashvili, deFirmian, Benjamin and Browne. Instead, Rachels pulled off a gigantic upset and became the youngest U.S. Champion since Bobby Fischer. Three years later he retired from competitive chess, but he never stopped following the game. In this wide-ranging, elegantly written, and highly personal memoir, Stuart Rachels passes on his knowledge of chess. Included are his duels against legends such as Kasparov, Anand, Spassky, Ivanchuk, Gelfand and Miles, but the heart of the book is the explanation of chess ideas interwoven with his captivating stories. There are chapters on tactics, endings, blunders, middlegames, cheating incidents, and even on how to combat that rotten opening, the Réti. Rachels offers a complete and entertaining course in chess strategy. At the back are listed 110 principles of play—bits of wisdom that arise naturally in the book’s 24 chapters. Every chess player will find it difficult to put this sparkling book down. As a bonus, it will make you a better player.

Yuri Averbakh (1922) is a distinguished Russian chess grandmaster who has enjoyed a long and varied career. He has been a top player, a journalist, an editor, an arbiter, a trainer and a long-time member of the board of the Soviet chess federation. Averbakh won the USSR championship in 1954 ahead of players like Kortchnoi, Petrosian and Geller and was a leading Soviet grandmaster for two decades. In this personal memoir he looks back on his days as an active player on the centre stage of chess, but also on his experiences as a quintessential insider when chess was considered a vital ingredient of life in the Soviet Union. Averbakh observes the world of chess from the moment he walked into the Moscow Chess Club as a 13-year old boy and describes his personal successes, his secret training matches with world champion Botvinnik, the mechanisms and behind-the-scenes dealings in the Soviet Union, including his involvement in the famous matches between Karpov and Kasparov. A unique, revealing and well-told story, essential reading for everybody interested in the history of chess and the Soviet Union.

In chess, great achievements often take a lifetime of preparation, but when these achievements are becoming the World Number 1 woman chess player at the age of 12 and the youngest ever grandmaster at the age of 15, you have to start early! In this very personal book Judit Polgar describes her early moments of success and the chess ideas she needed to master in order to achieve them.This exceptional book is the beginning of a unique project where one of the greatest players of our time transforms her personal journey to the top into a roadmap for everyone who ever wanted to better themselves in the game of chess.

In this remarkable book, Soviet grandmaster Lyev Polugayevsky, one of the world's leading players over the past two decades, describes his highly personal approach to chess, which is based on meticulous Practice. In the opening he is constantly striving to surprise his opponents, and this has led to his developing one of the sharpest lines in the Sicilian Defense. which has rightly become known as the Polugaevsky Variation. Here we can share the author's joys and disappointments as he attempts over a period of many years to uphold his brain-child against attempts to: bury it. The author then delves into the technique of analyzing adjourned positions, illustrating this by several fascinating. and at times fantastic, examples from his own games. The final chapter describes how he prepares. both technically and psychologically, for decisive encounters where everything is at stake. He illustrates this with games against many leading grandmasters, including seven World Champions.

It now appears possible - even likely - that within a few decades and within certain specialized domains, the computer will be more intelligent than we ourselves. What was unimaginable a few years ago is happening today with alarming rapidity. A small piece of silicon, no larger than a thumbnail, can exhibit more "intelligence" than the best human brains. This book attempts to satisfy two different goals. It presents a comprehensive history of computer chess along with many rare examples of the play of early programs. These examples contain both amazing strokes of brilliance and inexplicable catastrophes; they will give the reader a dear perspective of the pioneer days of computer chess. In contrast, contemporary programs are capable of defeating International Grandmasters; the text contains several recent examples including a remarkable victory over former World Champion Anatoly Karpov. The remainder of the book is devoted to an explanation of how the various parts of a chess program are designed and how they function. Readers who have no knowledge of computers will gain insight into how they "think." Readers who own a personal computer and who want to write their own chess programs will find sufficient information in this book to enable them to make a good start.

Jonathan Rowson, author of the highly acclaimed Seven Deadly Chess Sins, investigates three questions important to all chess-players: 1) Why is it so difficult, especially for adult players, to improve? 2) What kinds of mental attitudes are needed to find good moves in different phases of the game? 3) Is White's alleged first-move advantage a myth, and does it make a difference whether you are playing Black or White? In a strikingly original work, Rowson makes use of his academic background in philosophy and psychology to answer these questions in an entertaining and instructive way. This book assists all players in their efforts to improve, and provides fresh insights into the opening and early middlegame. Rowson presents many new ideas on how Black should best combat White's early initiative, and make use of the extra information that he gains as a result of moving second. For instance, he shows that in some cases a situation he calls 'Zugzwang Lite' can arise, where White finds himself lacking any constructive moves. He also takes a close look at the theories of two players who, in differing styles, have specialized in championing Black's cause: Mihai Suba and Andras Adorjan. Readers are also equipped with a 'mental toolkit' that will enable them to handle many typical over-the-board situations with greater success, and avoid a variety of psychological pitfalls. Chess for Zebras offers fresh insights into human idiosyncrasies in all phases of the game. The depth and breadth of this book will therefore help players to appreciate chess at a more profound level, and make steps towards sustained and significant improvement.