Players and Pawns

Players and Pawns
Author: Gary Alan Fine
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2015-08-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 022626503X

A chess match seems as solitary an endeavor as there is in sports: two minds, on their own, in fierce opposition. In contrast, Gary Alan Fine argues that chess is a social duet: two players in silent dialogue who always take each other into account in their play. Surrounding that one-on-one contest is a community life that can be nearly as dramatic and intense as the across-the-board confrontation. Fine has spent years immersed in the communities of amateur and professional chess players, and with Players and Pawns he takes readers deep inside them, revealing a complex, brilliant, feisty world of commitment and conflict. Within their community, chess players find both support and challenges, all amid a shared interest in and love of the long-standing traditions of the game, traditions that help chess players build a communal identity. Full of idiosyncratic characters and dramatic gameplay, Players and Pawns is a celebration of the fascinating world of serious chess.

The Art of Sacrifice in Chess

The Art of Sacrifice in Chess
Author: Rudolf Spielmann
Publisher: SCB Distributors
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2017-07-26
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 193649079X

The 21st Century Edition of Spielmann’s Classic Work Austrian Grandmaster Rudolf Spielmann’s The Art of Sacrifice in Chess first appeared in the mid-1930s. It was immediately recognized as a classic, a masterpiece that examined the nature of chess sacrifices. In this modernized, 21st century edition, all of Spielmann’s original work has been preserved. The antiquated English Descriptive Notation has been replaced with modern Figurine Algebraic, and German grandmaster Karsten Müller has added his own notes to Spielmann’s original text. But the German grandmaster has gone far beyond simply inserting clarifying commentary. Müller has virtually doubled the size of the original work by adding eleven new chapters, including: The Greek Gift Sacrifice Bxh2/7+; Disaster on g7; The Achilles’ Heel f7; Strike at the Edge; Destroying the King’s Shelter; Sacrifices on f6; Sacrifices on e6; The Magic of Mikhail Tal; Shirov’s Sacrifices; and The Fine Art of Defense. There are exercises at the end of each new chapter to help you hone your skill of sacrificing. “Grandmaster Karsten Müller’s notes to the original text, along with the new material, brilliantly complements Spielmann’s classic work. A welcome addition to any chessplayer’s library...” – Garry Kasparov

Draw!

Draw!
Author: Leonid Verkhovsky
Publisher: SCB Distributors
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2015-02-18
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1936490803

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

The Art of Chess Combination

The Art of Chess Combination
Author: Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2013-12-31
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 0486147541

This essential work provides modern explanations of principles, varieties, and techniques of combination maneuvers, plus the ideas behind them. Examples from the games of many great players provide illustrations. 200 diagrams.

Chess for Fun & Chess for Blood

Chess for Fun & Chess for Blood
Author: Edward Lasker
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 244
Release: 1962-01-01
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 9780486201467

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.

Winning Chess Strategies

Winning Chess Strategies
Author: Yasser Seirawan
Publisher: Everyman Chess
Total Pages: 414
Release: 2005-05-01
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1781944326

Gain the advantage over your opponent with easy-to-remember strategies from one of the worlds top chess players! Strategy is the ultimate secret weapon for championship players around the world. Drawing on his considerable experience in tournament play, International Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan shows you how to apply flexible strategic principles to every part of your game. Using Seirawan's simple and effective planning and analysis techniques, you'll enter each game with confidence and energy, ready to play forcefully and intelligently the way you need to play so you can win every time! Learn to: Knock your opponent off balance with bold opening moves * Formulate an overall game strategy before the middle game * Interpret the motivation behind your opponents every move * Position yourself for a winning endgame * Diagrams throughout the book illustrate game positions, and you'll meet historys greatest chess strategieslearning from them move by move! Whether for reference during practice games or simply for pleasure reading,WINNING CHESS STRATEGIES is an information packed resource you'll turn to again and again

Chess

Chess
Author: László Polgár
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013-08-13
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 9781579129507

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.

Winning Chess Combinations

Winning Chess Combinations
Author: Yasser Seirawan
Publisher: Everyman Chess
Total Pages: 583
Release: 2006-06-01
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1781945144

Combinations are the central element in chess; they make the game so magical and captivating. The beautiful point of sacrificing a queen, the strongest piece, in order to checkmate with a lowly pawn brings a smile of joy to all chess lovers. Virtually all chess games possess a combination, either one hidden in the shadows of analysis carefully avoided or one that provides a decisive blow. Winning Chess Combinations is a unique work that doesn't merely repeat the wonderfully rich and vast numbers of combinations, asking readers to solve a particular diagrammed position; it is a work that is far more realistic. A combination involves a sacrifice upsetting the balance of forces, but will it work or tragically boomerang? The reader is invited to solve this critical question by identifying the advantages that a specific position holds which might make the combination successful.

Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna

Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna
Author: Emmanuel Neiman
Publisher: New In Chess
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2014-03-07
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 9056914502

If only real life were like a book on chess tactics! But during a game you are on your own, and nobody will whisper in your ear that you have reached a position that is, in fact, a tactical puzzle and all you have to do is solve it. What you need, discovered Emmanuel Neiman in his long career as a chess trainer, is a way to read the signals which indicate that, somewhere in the position you are looking at, there is a tactical blow. What you need is a Chess Tactics Antenna! This trailblazing book by award-winning author Neiman provides a set of tools that enables the average club player to determine the moment he needs to look for win. ,