How Chess Games Are Won

Traditionally, chess games have been divided into three stages - opening, middlegame and endgame - and general principles presented for how to handle each stage. All chess-players will be well aware that these principles all too frequently fail to help in their selection of the best move. In this important work, Lars Bo Hansen, grandmaster and professional educator, presents chess as a game of five phases, and explains the do's and don'ts in each: * the opening * the transition to the early middlegame * the middlegame * strategic endgames * technical endgames * With a wealth of examples from both his own practice and that of his colleagues, Hansen discusses the typical mistakes and pitfalls, and shows how to handle the subtleties unique to each stage. He also advises on how to work on your chess in each aspect of the game. Of special value is his explanation of how to study typical middlegames, and that middlegame preparation - a neglected area for most players - is both possible and necessary.

Profoundly original book demonstrates how basic relationships of one or two pawns constitute winning strategy. Multitude of examples illustrate theory. 182 diagrams. Index of games.

The Czech grandmaster uses the games of leading chess players to illustrate a variety of chess moves

From Simon & Schuster, Logical Chess: Move By Move: Every Move Explained is Irving Chernev guide to beginners chess and the basic moves for every player to improve. In this much loved classic, Irving Chernev explains 33 complete games in detail, telling the reader the reason for every single move. Playing through these games and explanations gives a real insight into the power of the pieces and how to post them most effectively.

One of the game's most admired and respected writers guides you through 62 masterly demonstrations of the basic strategies of winning at chess. Each game provides a classic example of a fundamental problem and its best resolution, described with chess diagrams and Chernev's lively and illuminating notes. The games – by chess greats such as Capablanca, Tarrasch, Fischer, Alekhine, Lasker and Petrosian – are instructive for chess players of all levels. The games turn theory into practice, showing the reader how to attack and manoeuvre to control the board. Chernev runs through the winning strategies, suggests alternative tactics and celebrates the finesse of winning play. This is not only a book of 62 instructive chess games, but also 62 beautiful games to cherish.

Chess Tactics Can Be Fun! This book is an introduction to the various kinds of basic chess tactics. With instructional material, examples, and problems of all types, the subject of chess tactics is covered comprehensively. There are approximately 500 examples ranging from too easy to very difficult! Tactics are usually why most people find chess fun! This book will greatly enhance your enjoyment learning about - and benefiting from - the recurring patterns of tactics. It is well established that the study of basic tactics is probably the single most important thing any beginner can do to improve at chess. This book will help you do that!

Start every game with confidence! The two greatest challenges for beginning chess players are not only to survive the openings phase, but also to choose appropriate attack and defense formations in the process. Winning Chess Openings shows you how to do both. In Yasser Seirawan's entertaining, easy-to-follow style, you're shown formations that can be used with other White or Black pieces. Winning Chess Openings will help you develop a solid understanding of opening principles that you can apply to every game you play without having to memorise a dizzying array of tedious and lengthy opening lines. * Build a safe house for a King * Estimate losses of ten moves or fewer * Utilise the elements: time, force, space and pawn structure * Plan strategy based on time-tested opening principles * Employ a defense for Black against any White Opening * Apply an opening for White used by World Champions Winning Chess Openings will help readers develop a solid understanding of opening principles that can be applied to every game they play--without having to memorize a dizzying array of tedious and lengthy opening lines.

A large proportion of chess games are decided in the endgame or in the transition to the endgame, but chess literature has provided relatively little guidance for players seeking to improve their skill in making the vital decisions in these phases of the game. Building on the ideas introduced in his ground-breaking work Foundations of Chess Strategy, Lars Bo Hansen provides a thought-provoking and convincing treatise on general endgame strategy. He explains how players can maximize the practical problems for their opponents while emphasizing the strengths of their own position. Under his guidance, chess-players will more easily focus on the key elements in the position, devise plans for exploiting them to the full, and develop a better understanding of which pieces need to be exchanged, and which weaknesses really matter. Part 1 of the book discusses the basic principles of endgame strategy and the thinking methods associated with them. In Part 2, Hansen moves on to consider a wealth of examples by the great masters of chess, showing how they have handled endgames in practice, often making difficult tasks appear simple, and in many cases bamboozling their opponents into self-destruction. Lars Bo Hansen is a well-known grandmaster from Denmark. He has won the Danish Championship on two occasions, and represented his country in four olympiads, winning a bronze medal for his individual performance in 1990. His many tournament victories include first prize in the strong Copenhagen Open in both 1997 and 2000. Away from the board, he teaches and lectures on business studies, with a particular focus on marketing, organization and strategy. This is his second book for Gambit.

Approach every endgame with a winning strategy! Good books about endgames for beginners are few and far between. WINNING CHESS ENDINGS is a great one a gripping introduction to what you need to know to win chess endings, taught by American Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan. His entertaining, easy-to-understand style, incisive stories and insiders advice will help you develop a solid grasp of proven principles that you can apply with confidence whenever a game goes the distance. You'll learn to prevail time and again in endgames with common and uncommon combinations and pieces. WINNING CHESS ENDINGS teaches endgame strategies in an exciting new way: by putting you in the middle of the action with firsthand stories taken directly from famous matches. Pull up a chair and watch the world's most exciting chess endings. Then become an endgame master!

An updated edition of Paul Keres' classic endgame instructor, designed specifically for practical players with over 500 extra diagrams to facilitate learning and memorisation of critical lines of endgame play. It is an essential practical book, for all chess players, from one of the world's greatest grandmasters. Keres remained an elite grandmaster throughout his life and is widely regarded as one of the s strongest ever players not to have won the world chess champion. His book is a comprehensive guide to the precise handling of all basic endgame positions. It features logical step-by-step explanations of procedures required to obtain the best possible results from frequently occurring queen, rook, bishop, knight and pawn endings. It includes commentaries on the final stages of selected tournament games, which demonstrate the art of favourable transposition from complex to clear-cut endgames.