Have there been times during a chess game when you have calculated a position for half an hour, only to find out that most of what you were thinking about was of little use? If you have not, maybe the only way to improve your calculation is to upgrade your processor. But if you are human, then this book will offer you practical advice and an effective training plan to think differently and make decisions far more efficiently. In Calculation thinking methods such as Candidates, Combinations, Prophylaxis, Comparison, Elimination, Intermediate Moves, Imagination and Traps are explained to the reader, and ownership of them is offered through a carefully selected series of exercises.

There is no shortcut to the grandmaster title, but there is a well-known route that many people have walked over the years. Jacob offers to guide you on part of this journey and I hope you will take him up on the offer. From the foreword by Boris Gelfand

In Strategic Play Jacob Aagaard digs deep into the most complex area of chess thinking. The games and exercises in this book transcend regular chess skills, such as pattern recognition, calculation and positional analysis. Building on the two previous books in the Grandmaster Preparation series, this book challenges the reader to explore the complexities of chess, offering clarity and understanding through Aagaard's straightforward approach.

The Grandmaster Preparation series is aimed at ambitious players.

Rook endgames are the most frequently recurring endgames and also one of the most exciting areas of chess, with mind bending tactical opportunities and dizzying nuances available. They have unsurprisingly been a big topic in endgame literature, with a heavy focus on the set theoretical positions and their logic and fixed conclusions (see the excellent Theoretical Rook Endgames by GM Sam Shankland, published as a sister volume to this book as the peak example of this). Conceptual Rook Endgames goes in a different direction. Focused on two dozen major concepts, the book explains the mechanisms of rook endgames in a novel way, by building foundations with simple examples, which can be seen in the most complicated examples as well. Rook endgames will remain rich and surprising, as they are for the greats, but armed with this book, your comprehension of them will skyrocket.

Jacob Aagaard describes his chess improvement philosophy, developed over more than twenty years of thinking about one question: How do we make better decisions at the chess board?

As the final volume in the award-winning Grandmaster Preparation series, this book unifies the concepts of the previous five books and delves into such topics as:

Chess psychology
The four types of decisions we take at the board
How to play simple positions
What is calculation?
How to analyse your games
And many more

Thinking Inside the Box is the ultimate self-improvement guide, written for amateurs as well as world-class players.

The most hated cliché in chess is: And the rest is a matter of technique. In A Matter of Endgame Technique Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard deals with one of the few things chessplayers hate even more - losing a winning position. No serious chessplayer is new to the misery of spoiling hours of hard work in a few minutes...

A Matter of Endgame Technique offers the second-best happiness - the misfortune of others - as well as deep explanation of the underlying patterns of how and why we misplay winning endgames. At just under 900 pages, this hardcover book is actually six books in one, explaining the technical and practical areas of chess endgames plainly, simply and deeply. Endgame theory is well covered elsewhere; this book is all about technique and devoid of material to memorize.

Jacob Aagaard presents the main properties of how to attack and defend in chess. By carving dynamic chess into separate areas of ability, he gives the reader a clear way to expand his understanding of this vital part of the game.

Few books have dealt with the topic of exchanges in chess, leaving this important part of chess strategy a mystery to most. In Mastering Chess Exchanges, grandmasters Aagaard and Castellanos break down the topic into crystal-clear themes, including piece preferences, tension, weaknesses, colour complexes, king safety and endgames, illustrating the concepts with illuminating examples. Then the reader is given a chance to turn understanding into skill, with 365 instructive exercises, featuring a novel, multiple-choice format designed to focus attention on possible exchanges.

Jacob Aagaard presents the reader with a few key concepts in the endgame in chess and invites him to test his skills with a lot of examples from recent tournament practice. Where many endgame books are theoretical and emphasize memorization, Endgame Play is based entirely in the real world, where the ability to react precisely in technical positions is a life skill.

Have there been times during a game when you have tried to calculate like mad, but can find no rhyme or reason to your lines? Have you ever felt that the computer's suggestions in your post-mortem analysis make no sense to you? Ever felt like the man with a hammer, suspecting that the world may not be made up entirely of nails after all?

In Positional Play Jacob Aagaard shares his simple three-step tool of positional analysis that he has used with club players and famous grandmasters to improve their positional decision-making. Working from the starting point that all players who aspire to play at international level have a certain amount of positional understanding, Aagaard lays out an easy-to-follow training plan that will improve everyone's intuition and positional decision-making.

In Volume 2 of Excelling at Chess, we publish International Master Jacob Aagaard's Excelling at Combinational Play: Learn to Identify and Exploit Tactical Chances and Excelling at Chess Calculation: Capitalising on tactical chances. Being able to solve puzzles and combinations is one of the principal components of a successful chess player. But how can one improve on such an important skill? How can one acquire combinational vision? Aagaard explains how tactical intuition and ability develops and uses pattern recognition to improve the readers tactical ammunition. It is no secret that the continued practice of puzzles and combinations helps to sharpen the chess brain, and here there is a wealth of exercises and problems to solve accompanied by the full solutions and explanations. There are many differing opinions amongst the top players in the world of chess, but there is one thing upon which World Champions, Grandmasters and other experts all agree: the art of chess calculation is the absolute key to the success of a player. In Excelling at Chess Calculation, Aagaard tackles the subject matter head on, unravelling the many secrets behind chess calculation and arming the reader with the necessary tools to be able to calculate effectively at the chessboard. Aagaard pays particular attention to the searching practical questions like when should you calculate?, how can you discover candidate moves? and how long should you spend on critical moves?

Rook endgames are the most frequently recurring endgames and also one of the most exciting areas of chess, with mind bending tactical opportunities and dizzying nuances available. They have unsurprisingly been a big topic in endgame literature, with a heavy focus on the set theoretical positions and their logic and fixed conclusions (see the excellent Theoretical Rook Endgames by GM Sam Shankland, published as a sister volume to this book as the peak example of this). Conceptual Rook Endgames goes in a different direction. Focused on two dozen major concepts, the book explains the mechanisms of rook endgames in a novel way, by building foundations with simple examples, which can be seen in the most complicated examples as well. Rook endgames will remain rich and surprising, as they are for the greats, but armed with this book, your comprehension of them will skyrocket.

Few books have dealt with the topic of exchanges in chess, leaving this important part of chess strategy a mystery to most. In Mastering Chess Exchanges, grandmasters Aagaard and Castellanos break down the topic into crystal-clear themes, including piece preferences, tension, weaknesses, colour complexes, king safety and endgames, illustrating the concepts with illuminating examples. Then the reader is given a chance to turn understanding into skill, with 365 instructive exercises, featuring a novel, multiple-choice format designed to focus attention on possible exchanges.

Positional chess remains a mystery to many and yet an understanding of the finer points of the game so often makes the difference between two equally matched players. Improve your positional play and you will see chess in a totally new dimension!
In this unique book, International Master Jacob Aagaard selects many original examples of positional chess, the crème de la crème of those that he uses for training and study. Aagaard also delves deeply into the ideas of positional evaluation and analysis.

* Teaches how to mix calculation with evaluation
* Contains many original exercises
* Written by a battle-hardened expert

The Stonewall is an ideal choice for those players who are keen to avoid the reams of theory that surround more popular openings such as the King s Indian and Nimzo-Indian Defences. With the Stonewall Black stakes an immediate claim in the centre and lays the foundations for a potentially dangerous kingside attack. The route to success with the Stonewall is very much based on an understanding of themes and ideas and these are clearly elucidated by experienced author Jacob Aagaard.

Being able to solve puzzles and combinations is one of the principal components of a successful chess player. But how can one improve on such an important skill? How can one acquire combinational vision? The answer lies within the pages of this book! Experienced chess writer Jacob Aagaard explains how tactical intuition and ability develops and uses pattern recognition to improve the reader's tactical ammunition. It's also no secret that the continued practice of puzzles and combinations helps to sharpen the chess brain, and here there is a wealth of exercises and problems to solve accompanied by the full solutions and explanations. This book is a must for the serious competitive player.

*Improves tactical vision
*Ideal for club and tournament players
*Written by a battle-hardened expert

Brought together in one volume are two of Jacob Aagaard's great books- Excelling at Technical Chess and Excelling at Positional Chess. And the rest is a matter of technique is an annoyingly common phrase used in chess literature. The implication from the author is that the task of converting a typically winning position into a full point or converting a drawing position into half-a-point is relatively straightforward. However, as all of us practical players realise, it's not always a simple as this, and many hard-earned points are wasted through a lack of technique In Technical Chess Jacob Aagaard aims to solve this perennial problem. He arms the reader with several endgame weapons that every strong technical player has in his toolbox. These include important skills such as schematic thinking, domination, preventing counterplay, building fortresses and utilising zugzwang. These tools are illustrated in deeply analysed games containing numerous different themes. A serious study of this book will ensure that the reader need no longer need fear the word technique Positional chess remains a mystery to many and yet an understanding of the finer points of the game so often makes the difference between two equally matched players. Improve your positional play and you will see chess in a totally new dimension In Positional Chess, Aagaard selects many original examples of positional chess, the cr me de la cr me of those that he uses for training and study. Aagaard also delves deeply into the ideas of positional evaluation and analysis

Some players become good at chess, some very good, while others excel at the game. In this book Jacob Aagaard identifies the key factors that separate the very strong players from the rest. In Excelling at Chess, he includes chapters on when to calculate, how to evaluate positions, how to study theory, how to study the endgame and when to force the position. Anyone who follows the advice in this book cannot fail to improve their feel for the game.

* Ideal for players who are serious about improving
* Discusses all phases and aspects of the game
* Packed with useful practical tips

There are many differing opinions among the top players in the world of chess, but there is one thing upon which World Champions, Grandmasters, and other experts all agree: the art of chess calculation is the absolute key to the success of a player. Master this discipline and chess players can surely expect their results to improve dramatically. And yet there have been very few serious attempts in the past by chess authors to delve into this delicate topic, perhaps not surprisingly given its complexity and difficulty. In Excelling at Chess Calculation, Jacob Aagaard tackles the subject matter head on, unravelling the many secrets behind chess calculation and arming readers with the necessary tools to be able to calculate effectively at the chessboard. Aagaard pays particular attention to the searching practical questions like when should players calculate?, how can players discover candidate moves?, and how long should players spend on critical moves?. A thorough study of this book will enable them to calculate with confidence in future games.

Highlights include:
*A crucial guide to the skill of chess calculation
*Ideal for both club and tournament players
*Written by a renowned chess coach and author

And the rest is a matter of technique is an annoyingly common phrase used in chess literature. The implication from the author is that the task of converting a typically winning position into a full point or converting a drawing position into half-a-point is relatively straightforward. However, as all of us practical players realize, it's not always a simple as this, and many hard-earned points are wasted through a lack of technique.

In this valuable book Jacob Aagaard aims to solve this perennial problem. He arms readers with several endgame weapons that every strong technical player has in his toolbox. These include important skills such as schematic thinking, domination, preventing counterplay, building fortresses, and utilizing zugzwang. These tools are illustrated in deeply analyzed games containing numerous different themes. A serious study of this book will ensure that readers need no longer need fear the word technique!

*Ideal for club and tournament players
*Includes all the principal tools of technique
*Written by an experienced endgames expert