The novice who plays through Logical Chess can learn an ocean of basic chess wisdom.--Leonard Barden, Engilsh chess master and broadcaster

Entertains . . . as it reinforces strategic lessons gleaned from chess titans. Illustrates effective middle-game plans.--Library Journal

Having learned the basic moves, how exactly should a player improve? In this popular classic, the author explains 33 complete games, in detail, move by move, including the reason for each one. Playing through these games and explanations gives real insight into the power of the pieces and how to post them most effectively.

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.

Chess endings have an immediacy lacking in chess endgame or chess problems: endings are not theoretical or composed, but actual board positions, the point in every game when the superfluous falls away, leaving only the essential. José Raúl Capablanca (1888-1942) had no need for isolated artistic theory or compositions -- he composed and created chess art as he played. All of his genius -- intuitive, tactical, strategic, logical -- all of his art shines clearest in his endings, as he himself was proud to declare, advising others to study them carefully. In order to improve your game, he said, you must study the endgame before anything else; for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.
The best way to follow Capablanca's advice is through this -- the only book devoted to his great endings, 60 complete games emphasizing the grand finale but annotated throughout.
Irving Chernev communicates in his notes the mystery and wonder as well as the delight in discovering again and again the original, fertile mind of chess's greatest born player. Virtuoso, exquisite, profound, inspired, elegant, and fiendish ingenuity describe match and tournament games and endings against Alekhine, Steiner, Marshall, Nimzowitsch, Lasker, Réti, and others, the best in the contemporary chess world. Capablanca's eleventh game in the 1901 Cuban championship (which he won, aged 12) surpasses any accomplishment by such other prodigies as Morphy, Reshevsky, and Fischer. From age 12 through the last game in the book (nearly four decades later against Reshevsky at Nottingham, 1936), Capablanca fashions endgames in tense tournament atmosphere that seem like delicate, precise instruments dreamt at leisure.
Here then is the essence of Capablanca, analyzed for the instruction of players and the pleasure of chess connoisseurs. Included are indexes of openings, themes in the endings, and opponents, as well as a bibliography and record of tournament and match play. Capablanca: for players, the epitome of the endgame; for readers, a classic chess study.

Here are 62 masterly demonstrations of the basic strategies of winning at chess, compiled and annotated by one of the game's most admired and respected writers. Each game offers a classic example of a fundamental problem and its best resolution, described and diagrammed in the clearest possible manner for players of every level of skill.
As Irving Chernev observes in the Introduction, Who will doubt the tremendous power exerted by a Rook posted on the seventh rank after seeing Capablanca's delightfully clear-cut demonstration in Game No. 1 against Tartakower? And who will not learn a great deal about the art of handling Rook and Pawn endings (the most important endings in chess) after playing through Tarrasch's game against Thorold?
Chernev's lively and illuminating notes on each game reveal precisely how Capablanca, Tarrasch, and other masters -- Fischer, Alekhine, Lasker, and Petrosian among them -- turn theory into practice as they attack and maneuver to control the board. Readers will find their techniques improving with each lesson as Irving Chernev dissects winning strategies, comments on alternate tactics, and marvels at the finesse of winning play, noting at the end of his Introduction: I might just as well have called this collection The Most Beautiful Games of Chess Ever Played.

Here, each introduced with a brief, pungent or witty commentary, are 1,000 of the sweetest sugar-coated pills in all chess literature presented in author Irving Chernev's 1,000 Best Short Games of Chess.

Author Irving Chernev's 1,000 Best Short Games of Chess offers descriptions of the winning moves are elaborated by commentary and anecdotes.

In this instructional book for chess players looking to take their game to the next level, prolific and popular chess authors Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld share tips on how to perfect winning plays.

Sharing their phenomenal knowledge of chess literature, Chernev and Reinfeld teach readers how the proper use of combination play is the secret to winning the game.

Winning Chess not only tells you, but graphically and forcefully shows how to recognize the elements of winning tactical combinations and how to apply them to actual game positions.

Each chapter of this guide constitutes a unique lesson in attacking play that can be applied directly to the game, putting readers well on the way to playing and winning chess.

Irving Chernev's outstanding chess books earn him a high rank among the world's top chess authors. In this well-annotated text, Mr. Chernev guides his readers to an understanding of the subtleties of combinative play.
Step-by-step from the simplest combinations to the most complex, the book explains the intricacies of pins and counter-pins, Knight forks, smothered mates, and other elements of combination play. There is a discussion in chapter five of combinations lurking in roads not taken -- alternate lines of play show up in Chernev's notes to the game, while the sixth chapter, Convincing the Kibitzers, shows the second-guessers what would have happened had the masters done the obvious. (Some disastrous combinations show up here.) A host of boomerangs follow -- cases where the player didn't look far enough ahead and his combination, instead of bringing about the opponent's ruin, paved the way to his defeat. Chapters 8-21 take up combinations used by such great players as Tarrasch, Botvinnik, Nimzovich, Steinitz, Rubinstein, and Pillsbury; the sacrificial combinations of Anderssen and Spielmann; the dazzling brilliancies of Morphy, Keres, and Alekhine; the deadly attacks of Marshall; the almost unfathomable ideas of Lasker; and the matchless creations of Capablanca. Mr. Chernev's thoughtful annotations unravel the secrets of each of these plans. A diagram accompanies each combination; an index, by player, leads the reader to the combination he is looking for.

The chess community's favorite pair of authors Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld bring players the world's greatest collection of stories, cartoons, and amusing anecdotes in this exciting read.

The Fireside Book of Chess brings readers into the world of chess with a comprehensive and exciting collection of stories and illustrations regarding the game.

Including curious and interesting chess games, Chernev and Reinfeld have put together the memories, anecdotes, puzzles, lists, and trivia that surrounds the world of chess.

Perfect for those who have a deep abiding passion for chess and those who only dabble in the game, The Fireside Book of Chess shares fake histories, tongue-in-cheek stories, poignant memories and more.

For beginners and professionals alike, this guide provides easy-to-understand endgame strategies that will help lead you to success in your next game of chess.

In this unique approach to sharing the wisdom of the game, Irving Chernev gives readers 300 practical endgame situations to help claim the winning title in a match of chess.

Ranging from very simple to masterpieces by Capablanca, Reti, Terrasch, and Lasker, Practical Chess Endings is full of comprehensive and well-explained endgame tactics, including discussions on each position and how it can lead to a win.

Both an instruction book and an engaging meditation on the joys of chess, this is the final work by one of the most successful chess writers of all time. Irving Chernev blends anecdotes with his observations on inspiring moves and combinations by well- and lesser-known players, including Troitzky, Réti, Kasparyan, Benko, Kubbel, Rinck, Grigoriev, and many others.
Each example is introduced with a cue (White to play and win) and includes the composer's name, the date of its original publication if available, a clear diagram with an algebraic grid, and the winning variation presented in algebraic notion. Chernev's sparkling text is complemented by introductions by national Master Bruce Pandolfini and Adam Hart-Davis, an editor who worked with Chernev and who helped assemble this posthumous publication.
Appropriate for players at every level, 200 Brilliant Endgames promises to assist chess enthusiasts in sharpening their endgame skills and to enhance their pleasure and satisfaction in the game.

Winning Chess is a truly classic chess book, beloved of chess-mad teenagers since it was first published in 1970, updated and repackaged in algebraic format. Written in lively, conversational style by two prolific and popular chess authors, it is aimed at players who have gone past the beginner stage and want to take their game to a whole new level. Its imaginative themes and instructional method are timeless, and the whole book is shot through with fun and humour.

Si on demande à des joueurs anglo-saxons d'un certain âge de dresser une liste des livres d'échecs dont ils recommandent la lecture pour progresser à ce jeu, l'ouvrage que vous tenez présentement entre vos mains est souvent cité. Irving Chernev (1900 - 1981) est certainement l'un des auteurs de livres d'échecs anglo-saxons les plus connus (avec Fred Reinfeld) et des meilleurs durant les années qui s'étendent de la fin de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale jusqu'au milieu des années soixante-dix du siècle passé. Les parties d'échecs les plus instructives jamais jouées contient 62 parties sélectionnées en fonction de leur intérêt didactique, c'est-à-dire de ce que peut en retirer le lecteur en vue d'améliorer sa propre pratique du jeu, en particulier du point de vue des aspects stratégiques et positionnels. Ainsi, ce livre, contrairement à d'autres ouvrages, n'est pas juste un recueil de parties commentées, il est mû par le souci pédagogique explicite de viser à faire progresser le lecteur. Il faut reconnaître qu'Irving Chernev est un bon pédagogue et que son livre constitue vraiment un excellent manuel d'apprentissage ! Un ouvrage particulièrement recommandé pour tout joueur, et particulièrement pour ceux dont le classement Elo est inférieur à 2000 points.

Irving Chernev's outstanding chess books earn him a high rank among the world's top chess authors. In this well-annotated text, Mr. Chernev guides his readers to an understanding of the subtleties of combinative play.
Step-by-step from the simplest combinations to the most complex, the book explains the intricacies of pins and counter-pins, Knight forks, smothered mates, and other elements of combination play. There is a discussion in chapter five of combinations lurking in roads not taken -- alternate lines of play show up in Chernev's notes to the game, while the sixth chapter, Convincing the Kibitzers, shows the second-guessers what would have happened had the masters done the obvious. (Some disastrous combinations show up here.) A host of boomerangs follow -- cases where the player didn't look far enough ahead and his combination, instead of bringing about the opponent's ruin, paved the way to his defeat. Chapters 8-21 take up combinations used by such great players as Tarrasch, Botvinnik, Nimzovich, Steinitz, Rubinstein, and Pillsbury; the sacrificial combinations of Anderssen and Spielmann; the dazzling brilliancies of Morphy, Keres, and Alekhine; the deadly attacks of Marshall; the almost unfathomable ideas of Lasker; and the matchless creations of Capablanca. Mr. Chernev's thoughtful annotations unravel the secrets of each of these plans. A diagram accompanies each combination; an index, by player, leads the reader to the combination he is looking for.