Designed for the typical amateur player who wants to improve his or her chess skills, this clear, straightforward guide provides the extra knowledge and technique that turns a losing player into a winner.
The author, a well-known chess teacher and author of a dozen books on openings, coaches the reader through all the fundamentals of attacking, sacrifices, defense, positional play and choosing a move, as well as how to approach the endgame. The crucial processes of assessing the position and choosing a move are examined in depth, and there are helpful sections on how to cope with difficult positions and time-trouble. Several illustrative games, from the annals of the imaginary Midlington Chess Club, add a light touch to this expert practical guide to better chess.
Tim Harding is a well-known chess author and captain of the Irish Correspondence Chess Team. He represented Ireland in the 1984 FIDE chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki.
Chess enthusiasts can sit down with 20 of the world's top players to answer the question posed by this instructive and amusing guide. Grandmaster Daniel King based How Good is Your Chess? on his popular Chess Monthly column. His easy-to-follow, test-yourself guide asks readers to predict their opponent's moves; points are awarded (or deducted) according to the readers' degree of success. In addition to helping players to judge their standard of play, it presents opportunities for improvement by providing a look at complete games and the chance to work out and study the plans and ideas of the experts. Algebraic notation used throughout.
With this book you'll find out how easy chess is to learn. The exposition is clear and informal and strikes a rather unique level. Whereas most introductory manuals are either sketchy and undeveloped or else lose the reader in a maze of technical detail, this volume is one of the very few intermediate accounts. It covers the most elementary procedures and also takes you through the development of basic strategic notions. Written by a well-known British master and chess correspondent, it packs an amazing amount of material into its pages, and it gives you a quick, easy-to-follow, full course of instruction.
The first part of the book explains the rules, describes the pieces and their possible moves, and shows how games are won, lost, or drawn. Miscellaneous terms are defined. Numerous examples and crystal-clear diagrams illustrate the textual account and help give novices a firm grasp of fundamentals; beginners can read through these 30-some pages and then sit down and start to play immediately.
The rest of the book concentrates on the development of skills by the use of general tactical principles. Barden handles the problems of openings effectively: he discusses actual game situations in detail and shows what and what not to do — and why; then he looks into two typical openings fairly thoroughly (the Hungarian Defense and the Queen's Gambit). The middle and endgame are also examined with respect to common situations and ways of dealing with them. The emphasis throughout on the isolation of patterns and recurrent positions (and away from memorization) gives the beginner greater understanding and flexibility. The final two chapters analyze a full game, telling why each move was made.
No handier or more effective introduction is available in English. A brief study of this book and a few practice games will make you appreciate the enthusiasm of your friends and of hundreds of thousands all over the world for this fascinating pastime.
All the lines presented in this book are very old, some even dating back to medieval times! Lots of things were known about these systems before chess engines started to become very strong, but now we have completely new ideas from not only a tactical, but also positional, point of view on positions that have simply resurfaced in recent times. The rebirth of these lines has become so popular that during my work on this book I was amazed to see such a level of popularity. To make this book readable I broke some positions into smaller files wherever I could. In all my books I try to present at least the basics of many openings and lines: the problem is that basic knowledge about openings is growing even bigger, and it is not an easy job to comprehend and assimilate all that material. That’s why I have also tried in this book to be as concise as possible. After all, reading a book should not only be an aesthetic/interesting endeavour, but also a practical/useful thing at the same time.
The fundamental purpose of Black’s aggressive and provocative move with the d-pawn is to create immediate central tension and to exploit the latent power of the queen on her starting square. Remember Lasker’s observation: “Black’s idea is to make use of the great fighting power of the queen in the opening”. Black’s audacious pawn move effectively compels White to lose a tempo by capturing the pawn, creating an imbalance in the center. Black’s strategy seeks the dissolution of the center, as the immediate asymmetry reduces the significance of So, is the Scandinavian, in essence, a ‘refutation’ of 1 e4, as Black has already activated his queen far ahead of his opponent, while weakening White’s kingside pawn structure? Isn’t White essentially punished for aiming for early kingside development with his first move? Structurally, Black has achieved an ideal exchange, and the core of the Scandinavian lies in the control of the d5-square. Black must, under no circumstances, allow White to support a pawn thrust with d4-d5, as this typically means White has effectively countered Black’s pawn structure both technically and psychologically.
Available via subscription
British Chess Magazine (August 2025)
"One of the few books…which, at a glance, one can recognize as an immortal." — Chess.
The proper use of pawns — of paramount importance in chess strategy — sometimes even puzzles experienced players. This profoundly original and stimulating book by an International Master and prolific chess writer offers superb instruction in pawn play by isolating its elements and elaborating on various aspects.
After a lucid exposition of the fundamentals and the basic formations of one or two pawns that virtually constitute the keys to winning chess strategy, the reader is shown a multitude of examples demonstrating the paramount significance of elements of pawn manipulation. The author’s masterly explanation makes it perfectly clear to the beginner as well as the advanced player how the fate of a game depends on pawn formation and how pawn power holds the proceedings under its remote control. Over 180 games and diagrams illustrate the author’s theory and make it easy to follow the points made in the text.
Hans Kmoch played with distinction in several international tournaments and is the author of a number of books and columns on chess and chess tournaments.
“We consider it the best publication on chess strategy since the end of World War II.” — Die Welt.
Chess Informant 164 “Freestyle!” presents:
* FIDE WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH 2025 by WIM Jovana Srdanović
* 25th EUROPEAN WOMEN'S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP by GM Mikhail Bryakin
* 4th MENORCA OPEN tournament report by GM Miloš Perunović
* FISCHER RANDOM CHESS “Magnus Carlsen Triumphs in Paris: “A New Chapter in Freestyle Chess” by FM Ivan Martić
* THE APPEAL OF BEAUTY, instructive lecture by GM Michael Prusikin
* STATE OF PLAY WITH SABINA ”REVISITING PAWN STRUCTURES” by WGM Sabina-Francesca Foişor
* ROGERS' REMINISCENCES “In a Wellington State of Mind” by GM Ian Rogers
* STUDIES “IMPROVEMENTS OF EXISTING PROBLEMS - ALWAYS A CHALLENGE” by FM Branislav Đurašević
* WORLD OF CORRESPONDENCE CHESS “Minor pieces endgames” by CCM Barak Gonen
Traditional sections:
* The best game and most important theoretical novelty from the previous Volume
* Endgames
* Combinations
* 204 games + Fragments according to ECO Codes.
The periodical that pros use with pleasure is at the same time a must have publication for all serious chess students!
Beginning students of the game as well as veterans of the board will find this chess guide offers a wealth of inspiration, enjoyment, and practical chess advice. In providing valuable instruction for players at all levels, noted chess writer and teacher Peter Tamburro initially presents elementary ideas that can be used immediately by beginners.
The attack section features the tactics of such great masters of the assault as Fischer, Keres, Alekhine, Larsen, and Rubinstein — all demonstrating how to win the middle game. A survey of endgame concepts follows, along with a selection of challenging chess problems and 60 complete games by Blackburne, Marshall, Tartakower, Polgar, and other champion players. An accessible, enjoyable guide, Learn Chess from the Greats allows readers to learn the fundamentals and improve their game in an informal, user-friendly way.
This book about the best chess player of the 19th century analyzes Paul Morphy's games and positions in depth to get to the essence of his style. Chapters discuss other players of the period (Adolph Anderssen and Wilhelm Steinitz), Morphy's rare blunders and omissions, as well as selected endgames and openings. Also included are a 27-page essay on Morphy by Steinitz and a series of letters between Alexander Alekhine and Eugene Znosko-Borovsky debating Morphy's chess style. With large, clear diagrams, "this book should take its place among first-rank historical chess works." — USA Today Sports Network. 15 halftones.
British Chess Magazine (July 2025)
Dan Heisman has been teaching chess for over 50 years and has been doing so full-time since 1996. He therefore knows very well what kind of advice actually helps players improve. This book is a distillation of that advice.
The book is based around his X (twitter) column "Chess tip of the day" which has been running since 2009 and features over 4,000 tips. The most useful advice has been distilled into 164 tips that contain additional helpful material, including illustrative stories and many diagrams with instructive play.
These tips represent ways to highlight and address the most common problems experienced by chess enthusiasts of all levels. They also suggest ways to mitigate or even avoid these these problems entirely and by doing so improve their chess play and learn to study more effectively. The tips lean towards general improvement rather than focusing on specific positions.
The topics addressed include: general improvement, thought processes, psychology, tactics, safety, positional concepts, strategy, openings and endgames.