Have you always wanted to play chess like a World Champion? This tactics training book gives you the opportunity to make the same winning moves as Carlsen did in his games. One hundred training exercises are offered here. You only have to find the move that Carlsen played! The puzzles start at a moderate level and gradually get more difficult. Can you be as sharp as the current World Champion?

In chess, as in repair or construction jobs in and around the house, you will not get very far without the right equipment. If you want to win more games you simply need the right tools. Unfortunately, most amateur chess players have no toolbox to speak of. What’s more, they don’t even know which tools they actually need. Or what tools are available. In fact, if a chess hardware store would exist, most amateur chess players would be clueless what to ask for. International Master and experienced chess trainer Thomas Willemze is the handyman you are looking for. He tells you which are the most urgent problems that need fixing. In his no-nonsense guide, he presents essential techniques on how to mobilize your pieces in order to gain the upper hand. Willemze teaches you how to lift a blockade, get rid of an inferior piece, conquer an open file, eliminate an important defender, exploit the 7th rank, simplify your position (why and how), fight for entrance squares and much more. In order to make you feel comfortable and let you get used to these essential techniques, the author gives lots of fascinating examples and hundreds of instructive exercises. He even teaches you how to think outside your toolbox!

Magnus Carlsen (1990) became World Champion in 2013 by winning the World Championship Match against Viswanathan Anand with 6,5 - 3,5. In 2014 Carlsen defended his title by defeating the Indian again (6,5 - 4,5) And in in 2016 Carlsen retained his crown prevailing over Sergey Karjakin. Their match ended in a 6-6 tie, but Carlsen won the rapid tiebreak. On January 2010 Carlsen became the youngest ever chess player to claim the first spot in the World Rankings. Since July 2011 he never let go. Carlsen's fabulous endgame technique is without doubt one of the key reasons for his success. The World Champion regularly tops the best players in the world in objectively equal endgames as if it were a piece of cake. British chess grandmaster Daniel Gormally, after another endgame victory by Carlsen in Tata Steel Chess 2018: 'If there was an Endgame World Championship Carlsen would be World Champion for the next fifty years.' To improve your endgame skills, several things can be done. For instance, there are a number of known theoretical positions you can study and play out until you have mastered the technique which is necessary to overcome your opponent. For sure, this can be a good method, but it is certainly not the only way to become an endgame specialist. GM Andrew Soltis, author of What it Takes to Become a Chess Master, has this advice: 'You don't have to know esoteric, technical positions. Just work out the tactics. In fact, one of the best ways to improve your winning technique is to work on endgame tactics.' Looking at the games of Magnus Carlsen, Soltis seems to have a point. Tactics do play an important role in his endings! In this training book, positions are selected from Magnus' games in the period 2001 - January 2018. Positions are without queens or with the queens and, at most, one piece for each side. Try this training book and see if you are able to play the same winning moves as the World Champion did. You will face 110 Endgame Tactics, in which Carlsen turned the game into his favour. The puzzles start at a moderate level and gradually get more difficult. We have selected 100 new puzzles. Ten bonus exercises appeared earlier in New in Chess' Magnus Carlsen Tactics Training. By solving the exercises, you will not only improve your tactical abilities but also your endgame skills!

The upgraded 2024 edition of a modern classic

Have you always wanted to play chess like American #1 chess player? This tactics training book gives you the opportunity to make the same wonderful moves as Nakamura did in his games. One hundred puzzles are offered in which the bullet-expert turned the game in his favour. The puzzles start at a moderate level then get steadily more difficult. Can you match the performances of Nakamura?

This book on tactical play is designed to aid practical play by focusing on typical combinational themes that crop up consistently in chess.

Judit Polgar is known for her aggressive chess style, which makes her a perfect role model for this tactics training series. One hundred training exercises are offered, in which the strongest female chess player in the world blows her opponents off the board with sparkling tactics. The puzzles start at a moderate level, and then gradually get more difficult. Are you up for the challenge? Judit Polgar (1976) is regarded as the strongest female chess player in history. For more than 25 years (1989-2015) she was ranked #1 in the Women's World Rankings. In 2005 Polgar became # 8 of the world, which was her highest ranking on the Men's Rating List.

After you have learned the rules of chess and developed some tactical abilities, how do you go from there? You are now ready to tackle basic issues of strategy, but what is the best way to improve and win more games? Of course, you have to train. But chess training only makes sense if it fits your level of play and if it is structured in an accessible way. Experienced chess trainer Yaroslav Srokovski has developed a practical, well-structured, compact first course in positional understanding. You will learn two fundamental skills: how to assess a position on the board and how to decide which long-term objectives you should aim for in what sort of positions. In 12 chapters Srokovksi teaches you things like: how to handle your pawns, what weak squares and strong squares are, bad pieces and good pieces, why it is important if your king is in the middle or not, why and how to get an open line, the problem of knight against bishop, what piece coordination means and why everyone talks about the bishop pair. This course, which includes many exercises, is tried and tested and ideally suited to bring post-beginners at their next level. ,

If you want to improve your middlegame play, you will have to develop a FEEL for positions. That's what Boris Zlotnik has been stressing during his long and rich trainer's career. Clicking through concrete variations (a popular pastime in the computer era) is not enough. To guide your thinking during a game you should be able to fall back on a reservoir of typical ideas and methods. That is exactly what this book offers you: Zlotnik's legendary study material about the middlegame, modernized, greatly extended and published in the English language for the first time. As you familiarize yourself with the most important strategic ideas and manoeuvres, you will need less time to discover the clues in typical middlegame positions. You will find it so much easier to steer your game in the right direction after the opening has ended. Zlotnik's Middlegame Manual is accessible to a wide range of post-beginners and club players. It is your passport to a body of instructive material of unparalleled quality, collected during a lifetime of training and coaching chess. A collection of exercises, carefully chosen and didactically tuned, will help you drill what you have learned.

At the age of 13 years, 4 months and 26 days, Magnus Carlsen became the youngest chess grandmaster in the world. The international press raved about the Norwegian prodigy. The Washington Post even called him ‘the Mozart of chess’. Ten years on Magnus Carlsen is the number one in the world rankings and a household name far beyond chess circles. Time Magazine listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013. How Magnus Carlsen Became the Youngest Chess Grandmaster in the World is the fairy-tale-like story of his rise. The story-teller could not have been better qualified. Simen Agdestein trained Magnus in the years leading up to his grandmaster title, repeatedly pinching himself in amazement at his pupil’s lightning progress While you follow Magnus on his wonderful journey, Agdestein is your guide, providing insights into the Carlsen family life and explaining the secrets of Magnus’ play in clear and instructive comments. This is an inspiring book for any chess player. It will fascinate parents and help gifted children to realize their full potential. ,