Most chess puzzle books put you in an artificial situation: you are told a combination exists, what the theme is and what you are required to achieve. This one is different. In a real game, a player may sometimes need to find a combination. On the other hand he may have to reject a tactical idea and simply find a good positional move. His task is to find the right move, whatever it may be. The 300 puzzles in this book put you precisely in that situation. Spectacular ideas abound in these positions, but it is for you to decide whether to go in for them, or whether you would be falling into a trap. If you need them, there are hints to help you on your way. The book ends with a series of tests to measure your skills against those of other players. For this new edition, John Nunn, a top-class grandmaster and a solving world champion, has added 50 new puzzles (with hints and detailed solutions) to test your skills to the full. For ease of following, extra diagrams have been added to the solutions throughout. Overall the book is 60 per cent bigger than the first edition.

World-class chess problem solver and grandmaster, John Nunn, presents 250 difficult puzzles for the reader to solve. He includes hints and detailed solutions. There are also eight test papers to enable readers to measure their playing strength.

John Nunn presents 250 challenging positions where your task is to find a cunning way to win or draw. In many cases the odds against success seem overwhelming, yet by using all the tactical resources in the position it is possible to achieve the goal. The studies were subjected to a rigorous checking procedure, during which thousands of unsatisfactory positions were weeded out. The 250 studies finally selected represent some of the finest creations of composers such as Kasparian, Troitsky, Pogosiants, Mitrofanov, Chéron and Réti. Nunn's detailed solutions contain many points and clarifications that have hitherto gone unmentioned, so readers will rarely be left to wonder whether their intended solution really did work. In an over-the-board game, the ability to use the pieces in harmony is paramount, and those players who can exploit every resource in a position are those who become champions. While the focus in this book is on tactics, readers will also develop a greater understanding of many important endgame topics, such as fortresses, stalemate defences, the opposition and zugzwang.

For all chess-players, from beginners to world champions, from kids to seniors, delivering checkmate is the greatest thrill the game has to offer. The ability to spot checkmates is a vital skill - and this easy-to-use book shows you how it is done. With the help of Grandmaster John Nunn, you will be ready to shock your next opponent with a deadly checkmate, whether in a school match, a club tournament - or even a championship game! By focusing exclusively on positions from real games, ranging from junior events to grandmaster encounters, Nunn ensures that the mates featured are those which arise most often in real life. He also highlights themes and ideas that are often missed in practice. While solving these puzzles, your all-important 'mental library' of patterns will grow, leading to an immediate increase in your playing strength. All 1001 puzzle positions have been carefully checked, and are graded by theme and difficulty. Points are awarded for finding the checkmate, so you can measure your skill. Most of the puzzles are suitable for novice and junior players. The last chapter challenges you with 'extreme checkmates', but don't worry: you'll be ready for them!

This book provides a wealth of puzzle positions to test just about every facet of your tactical skills. The puzzles in this book have been selected by analysing games new and old in search of original puzzle positions. It is very unlikely that even seasoned solvers will recognise many of these positions. Emms, by allying his skills with those of powerful computers, has also made every effort to ensure that the solutions are sound, and that there are no unmentioned alternative solutions. The book begins with 100 relatively easy positions suitable for novices, and ends with 100 extremely tough puzzles, which provide a mind-bending challenge even for top-class players. There are 1001 puzzles in all.

Find the Best Squares for Your Pieces! To a large extent, the level of any chessplayer’s skill depends on his or her ability to discover and evaluate positional operations as quickly and correctly as possible. In this book, premier chess instructor and trainer Mark Dvoretsky examines one of the most important aspects of positional skill, namely the art of playing with pieces, of maneuvering and finding the best squares for your pieces. Training your maneuvering skills will help you at every stage of the game – which is why among the exercises there are opening, middlegame and endgame positions, and not only those that are taken from practical games, but also studies. The conscientious student, carefully working his or her way through this book, will help improve positional mastery and significantly enhance overall playing skill.

This is a book for those who know the rules of chess and are keen to start winning games. The quickest way to improve your chess is to learn tactics. But not just knowing the themes - you need to get used to using them in real positions. Master tactician John Nunn has thoughtfully crafted a course that gives you the basic nuggets of knowledge and immediately invites you to start finding tactical ideas for yourself. Chess Tactics Workbook for Kids is the first in a new series of books that help players gain chess skills by tackling hundreds of carefully chosen exercises. The themes are similar to those in Gambit's best-selling 'Chess for Kids' series, but the focus is on getting vital hands-on experience. Many positions build on ones given earlier, showing how advanced ideas are normally made up of simpler ones that we can all grasp. Each chapter introduces a basic theme and features dozens of exercises, with solutions that highlight the key points. In each chapter there are tips on what to look out for to help spot tactical ideas. As the chapters progress, we increasingly see how tactical ideas are combined together, with ideas from previous sections repeatedly appearing as part of a deadly one-two punch. The book ends with a series of six test papers where you are given no clues about the themes involved. Dr John Nunn is one of the best-respected figures in world chess. He was among the world's leading grandmasters for nearly twenty years and won four gold medals in chess Olympiads. In 2004, 2007 and 2010, Nunn was crowned World Chess Solving Champion, ahead of many former champions.

Jon Speelman is one of the most successful British chess-players of all time, and is renowned for the creativity of his play and his remarkable calculating ability. He is also an extremely experienced writer and chess coach. His personal selection of chess puzzles will infuriate, entertain, test and instruct chess-players of all levels. Themed sections include: * Finger Exercises * Stalemate * The Skewer * The Pin * Pawn Promotion * Line Opening and Closing * Loose Pieces * Mating Attacks * The Back Rank * Knight Forks

In this book, John Nunn, a top-class grandmaster who is also one of the world's finest solvers, explains the methods by which chess problems and studies are solved. The logical and creative methods advocated, while targeted at the solving of composed positions, may also help players find startling tactical solutions in their games. Solving in Style also constitutes an entertaining and insightful introduction to the world of problems and studies. There are chapters on series problems and other unorthodox stipulations, and also a discussion of specific themes such as the Novotny interference. This classic text is one of few on this important subject, and is now available again, having been difficult to obtain for a decade. Chess positions for solving are as old as the game itself, and provide stimulating and beneficial exercise for chess-players. However, while there is an abundance of books on chess puzzles, and much specialist literature on studies and problems, there is an astonishing dearth of guidance for solvers.

This book teaches basic tactical ideas such as the fork, pin, and discovered attack, and introduces general ideas such as elimination, immobilization and compulsion. A basic knowledge of simple tactics will enable a novice to start winning games, by giving checkmate or capturing material. As the player progresses, his tactical arsenal will broaden, and he will start to play sacrifices and combinations, and develop a deeper understanding of the game. Players who fail to study tactics systematically tend to suffer from tactical blind-spots that plague them throughout their playing career, and thus they fail to realize their full potential.