This is a chess book for everyone, from eight to eighty, beginner to master. In a clear, easy-to-follow format it explains how the best way to beat a stronger opponent (be it a friend, clubmate - or Dad ) is by cleverly forcing checkmate. Delightful and instructive positions from real games are used to show the 50 Deadly Checkmates that chess masters use to win their games.

For the beginner, simply learning the checkmating ideas and enjoying the examples will help develop the tactical skills needed to carry out attacks, combinations and sacrifices.

For the advanced player, many of these checkmating ideas will come as a revelation, having never been categorized before. Experts agree that pattern-recognition is vital to success in chess, and this book provides a wealth of valuable patterns.

How to Beat Your Dad at Chess makes improving easy and fun, and is full of helpful explanations and practical advice on how to approach chess games with confidence - and success.

Grandmaster Murray Chandler finished second in the World Cadet Championship in 1976, ahead of Garry Kasparov, whom he defeated in their individual game. He remains to this day one of the few players in the world with a 100% score against Kasparov. He was a key member of the England team that won the silver medals in Chess Olympiads three times during the 1980s, and went on to captain the team in 1994. He is a former proprietor and Editor-in-Chief of the British Chess Magazine and the author of several bestselling chess books.

* The perfect survival guide to the chess openings
* All openings covered
* Detailed verbal explanations of plans for both sides
* Up-to-date and featuring many tips and recommendations
* Insights into the 'character' of each opening
* Written by one of the world's foremost opening experts

The first moves of a chess game define the nature of the whole struggle, as both players stake their claim to the critical squares and start to develop their plans. It is essential to play purposefully and to avoid falling into traps or reaching a position that you don't understand.

This is not a book that provides masses of variations to memorize. Paul van der Sterren instead offers a wealth of ideas and explanation, together with the basic variations of each and every opening. This knowledge will equip players to succeed in the opening up to good club level, and provide a superb grounding in opening play on which to build a more sophisticated repertoire. The strategies he explains will, unlike ever-changing chess opening theory, remain valid as long as chess is played, and so the time spent studying this book will be rewarded many times over.

Grandmaster Paul van der Sterren has won the Dutch Championship on two occasions, and in 1993 reached the Candidates stage of the World Chess Championship. He is an internationally renowned chess writer and editor: he was one of the founding editors of New in Chess, for whose Yearbooks he has contributed more than 150 opening surveys.

Chess enthusiasts of all ages and levels will find this book an instructive delight. In a simple, easy-to-understand format it explains how to bamboozle your chess opponents using commonly occurring tactical motifs.

The illustrative positions, all taken from real games, show the 50 Tricky Tactics that experienced chess masters use to win their games.

Recognizing frequently-occurring tactical ideas is vital to success in chess. One of the fastest and most enjoyable ways to improve at chess is by learning these thematic manoeuvres.

Beginners will benefit from the clear explanation of basic concepts, such as how to utilize a fork, pin or skewer. Advanced players will delight in the many devious middlegame tricks - some classified here for the first time - which can catch out even grandmasters.

Chess Tactics for Kids makes improving easy and fun, and is full of helpful explanations on how to approach chess games with confidence - and success.

Grandmaster Murray Chandler finished second in the World Cadet Championship in 1976, ahead of Garry Kasparov, whom he defeated in their individual game. He remains to this day one of the few players in the world with a 100% score against Kasparov. He was a key member of the England team that won the silver medals in Chess Olympiads three times during the 1980s, and went on to captain the team in 1994. His previous book for Gambit, How to Beat Your Dad at Chess, has proved one of the most popular chess books of recent years.

It is generally agreed that one of the best ways for a chess-player to improve is by studying tactics - and the best way to do that is by practising. This book provides a wealth of puzzle positions to test just about every facet of your tactical skills.

The puzzles in this book have been selected by analysing games new and old in search of original puzzle positions (rather than simply trawling through previous puzzle books, as is all too often the case). It is therefore very unlikely that even seasoned solvers will recognize many of these positions. Emms, by allying his skills with those of powerful computers, has also made every effort to ensure that the solutions are sound, and that there are no unmentioned alternative solutions.

The book begins with 100 relatively easy positions suitable for novices, and ends with 100 extremely tough puzzles, which will provide a mind-bending challenge even for top-class players. The remainder of the book contains just about everything between these two extremes, including selections of puzzles based around particular tactical themes, and graded tests, where no clues are given as to the type of ideas involved. Every now and then, there are positions where the correct solution is a positional move, rather than a tempting but unsound combination.

John Emms is one of England's strongest grandmasters, and an experienced trainer. He is also a skilful and versatile writer: he has several opening monographs and general guides to his credit.

The three-times World Chess Solving Champion distils the most useful middlegame concepts and knowledge into 100 lessons that everyone can understand.

Following on from his successful Understanding Chess Endgames, John Nunn turns his attention to the middlegame - the phase of the chess battle where most games are decided, yet the one that has received the least systematic treatment from chess writers. With the outstanding clarity for which he is famous, Nunn breaks down complex problems into bite-sized pieces.

In the case of attacking play, we are shown how to decide where to attack, and the specific methods that can be used to pursue the enemy king. Positional play is described in terms of the major structural issues, and how the pieces work around and with the pawns. Nunn explains how to assess when certain pieces are better than others, and how we can make use of this understanding at the board. Readers will never be short of a plan, whatever type of position arises.

Each lesson features two inspiring examples from modern chess, annotated honestly and with a keen focus on the main instructive points. Both sides' ideas are emphasized, so we get a clear picture of the ways to disrupt typical plans as well as how to form them.

In 2022 John Watson was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame as one of the greatest writers in the history of American chess.

For chess-players of all ages and abilities, it is vital to get off to a good start. This simple guide provides all the tips and ideas needed to play purposefully from move one. That's because these 50 Mighty Openings are the very ones used by chess masters and grandmasters to outwit opponents time and again.

This book teaches the names and starting moves of all the main chess openings, and explains the basic ideas. Beginners will learn how to position their pieces for maximum impact. More experienced players will discover some remarkable tactical and strategic themes that are vital for chess mastery.

Throughout the book, numerous devastating opening traps are highlighted. You will have fun posing difficult problems for your opponent - whether a friend, a chess-club rival or your Dad!

Chess Openings for Kids makes learning the chess openings fun. Playing these powerful openings helps develop an understanding of how the pieces work together. Soon you will be able to play strong moves in any opening position, and approach every game with confidence - and success.

With this charming book, children will delight in learning the basic moves of chess - the most popular and challenging strategy game of all. All the rules of chess are clearly explained, step by step, assuming no prior knowledge. The lessons are reinforced by the inventive tales that George is told by his pet alligator Kirsty, self-proclaimed Grand Alligator of chess.

Chess is recognized in many countries as a useful tool for developing creative thinking in children. Although chess can be regarded as a rather complex and mysterious game, the rules themselves are straightforward. It doesn't take long to learn how the pieces move, and even children as young as five can enjoy exciting games. They will also thoroughly enjoy outwitting friends and relatives

Murray Chandler gained the chess Grandmaster title by winning events in New York and Amsterdam. During 28 years as a professional player, he has taken part in over 150 international tournaments, in 32 different countries. His previous books include the best-selling How to Beat Your Dad at Chess and Chess Tactics for Kids.

Dr Helen Milligan is a World Chess Federation woman master, and a former British Ladies Champion. She has represented Scotland in ten Chess Olympiads, and New Zealand in two.

John Nunn is one of the most highly regarded chess writers in the world. He has carefully selected thirty modern games to help the reader understand the most important aspects of chess and to illustrate modern chess principles in action.

Virtually every move is explained using words that everyone can understand. Jargon is avoided as far as possible. Almost all the examples are taken from recent decades and show how key ideas are handled by modern grandmasters. The emphasis is on general principles that readers will be able to use in their own games, and detailed analysis is only given where it is necessary.

Each game contains many lessons, but to guide the reader through the most important ideas in each phase of the game, the thirty games are grouped thematically into those highlighting opening, middlegame and endgame themes.

John Nunn is a grandmaster from England. He has won four individual gold medals and three team silver medals at Chess Olympiads. In the Chess World Cup of 1988/9, he finished sixth overall, ahead of several former World Champions. He is arguably the most highly acclaimed chess writer in the world, with three of his books receiving the prestigious British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award. He is principal author of the definitive one-volume openings encyclopedia, Nunn's Chess Openings.

So you have learned how to play chess, studied tactics and know some basic endgames and openings. What's next?

The glue that binds it all together is strategy. By forming a good plan, chess-players seize strong points on the board and target the opponent's weaknesses. Experienced player and teacher Thomas Engqvist shows that it all depends on logic that can be grasped by players of any age. He explains how to identify the right strategy in a wide range of typical situations. With his guidance, you will soon be finding good plans on your own - and then it will be time to demonstrate your tactical mastery

He first teaches the importance of the central squares and the basics of pawn-play, before examining the role of each of the pieces and how they are affected by the pawn-structure. Finally we see how to use them together to launch attacks of many different types. You then get a chance to test your new strategic skills in 54 exercises, all with full solutions.

Chess Strategy for Kids provides a complete course that will help readers understand the potential of their pieces and play more purposefully in their games. Chess will stop feeling like a series of random events as you take command of your forces and direct them like a general in charge of an army.

Thomas Engqvist is an International Master from Sweden with more than three decades' experience of international chess. He is a successful chess trainer and has also made notable contributions to chess theory. Engqvist is editor of the website schacksnack.se and teaches at a school in the Stockholm area.

This chess puzzle super-challenge
contains 100 fun positions to solve, ranging from encouragingly easy to
mind-numbingly hard. Using an innovative format, every puzzle is
preceded by an instructive example, illustrating an important pattern.

Each
puzzle has been graded to suit a wide range of chess abilities.
Beginners or younger readers will enjoy reading the basic warm-up
exercises. The more experienced can wrestle with some classic puzzles,
whilst at the same time learning of typical themes and killer concepts.

The
final challenging chapters - Mission Impossible - are guaranteed to
torment and inspire the most talented of future champions!

Chess
is recognized in many countries as a useful tool for developing creative
thinking in children. Chess Puzzles for Kids will quickly enable
children to enjoy using their new-found skills to outwit friends and
relatives.

Murray Chandler gained the chess grandmaster title by
winning events in New York and Amsterdam. During 28 years as a
professional player he has taken part in over 150 international
tournaments, in 32 different countries. His previous books for young
players - Chess for Children (with Helen Milligan), How to Beat Your
Dad at Chess and Chess Tactics for Kids - are widely used in schools
and by junior coaches.

Chess becomes fun when we learn how to survive the opening and stop falling into our opponents' cheap tactical tricks.

And that's what this book is about By understanding opening play and how to exploit tactical ideas, we turn the tables on our opponents. Now they will be the ones getting outmanoeuvred, tricked, trapped and pushed off the board

Chess Opening Traps for Kids is a serious course on how to play the opening, illustrated with memorable and entertaining examples. By focusing on 100 key themes, Graham Burgess explains how to use opening tricks to our advantage. Every opening features hidden dangers for both players, so we need to avoid pitfalls while making full use of tactics to achieve the opening goals of purposeful development and central control.

Most of the 100 sections feature a basic example followed by a more complex one. Some of the traps have claimed grandmaster victims, while others are more likely to arise in junior chess. Either way, the aim is to learn the theme so well that you can use it when similar opportunities arise in your own games. A series of exercises at the end of the book allows you to check that you have grasped the main points. Throughout the book there are tips on how to spot tactics in advance and advice on opening strategy.

In a major event in chess publishing, two German endgame experts have produced a masterly one-volume encyclopaedia that covers all major endgames.

This is the first truly modern one-volume endgame encyclopaedia. It makes full use of endgame tablebases and analytical engines that access these tablebases; where previous authors could only make educated guesses, M ller and Lamprecht have often been able to state the definitive truth, or get much closer to it.

New time-controls involve competitive games being played to a finish in one session, so it is especially important that chess-players understand the key endgame principles. This book provides comprehensive assistance for any players wishing to study the endgame. In addition to a feast of detailed analysis, the authors emphasize the practical side of endgame play, describing rules of thumb, principles, and thinking methods.

Fundamental Chess Endings is both the ideal endgame reference work, and a work that can be read from start to finish. Notably, this very book was studied intensively by current World Champion Magnus Carlsen in his youth.

Karsten M ller is a grandmaster from Germany who competes regularly in the Bundesliga and in international events. He finished third in the German Championship in 1996, and was runner-up in 1997. He is a noted authority on both practical and theoretical endgames. Frank Lamprecht is also from Germany, and is an international master. He has been a chess trainer since 1983 and was also co-author (with Karsten M ller) of the highly acclaimed Secrets of Pawn Endings.

Most chess games are decided in the endgame. It is here where you reap the reward for your good play, or else use all your cunning to deny the opponent victory. Knowing just a few key endgame techniques will dramatically increase your confidence, as you will understand what positions to aim for and which to avoid.

Starting with the basic mates and the simplest pawn endings, this book provides all the endgame knowledge that players need to take them through to club level and beyond. M ller carefully guides us step-by-step through a fascinating range of endgame tactics and manoeuvres, helping us understand the underlying logic.

Throughout the book, many cunning endgame tricks are highlighted. You will have fun springing them on friends, family - or your opponents in serious tournaments. Chess Endgames for Kids makes learning chess endgames fun. But it is also a serious endgame course written by a leading endgame expert, and provides a firm basis for vital skills that will develop throughout your chess career.

A unique exercise book to improve your all-round chess thinking

I noticed that most of the students [at the Lviv chess school] were pretty good at calculating variations and finding tactical ideas. But when I gave them a strategic exercise they became a little confused. ... I realized that few good books of a suitable level with strategic exercises have been published. - Martyn Kravtsiv

So he decided to write one! After tackling his exercises, you will have a greater understanding of which piece needs to be exchanged, whether to advance a pawn or leave it where it is, along with a variety of other strategic questions involving outposts, open lines, structures and where to attack.

But there remains the problem that strategic exercises often lack clear-cut solutions, with the right course a matter of taste or opinion. Martyn has solved this by often including a tactic in the solution, but the reason it works is based on the correct strategic decision having been made. Unlocking the strategic secrets of each position will lead you to this hidden treasure!

The most difficult exercises in this book will challenge even masters, so for the rest of us there is a helpful hint provided. Full and detailed solutions explain the strategic and tactical ideas in each position, and amount to a wide-ranging course in chess strategy.

Martyn Kravtsiv is an experienced grandmaster and trainer from Lviv, Ukraine. His tournament results include tied first places at Cappelle in 2012 and the 2015 Ukrainian Championship, as well as being blitz champion of the 2008 World Mind Sports Games (at age 17). He represented his country at the 2017 World Team Championship and was a coach for the team that won silver medals at the 2016 Olympiad.

This is a book for those who know the rules of chess and are keen to start winning games.

The quickest way to improve your chess is to learn tactics. But not just knowing the themes - you need to get used to using them in real positions. Master tactician John Nunn has thoughtfully crafted a course that gives you the basic nuggets of knowledge and immediately invites you to start finding tactical ideas for yourself.

Chess Tactics Workbook for Kids is the first in a new series of books that help players gain chess skills by tackling hundreds of carefully chosen exercises. The themes are similar to those in Gambit's best-selling 'Chess for Kids' series, but the focus is on getting vital hands-on experience. Many positions build on ones given earlier, showing how advanced ideas are normally made up of simpler ones that we can all grasp.

Each chapter introduces a basic theme and features dozens of exercises, with solutions that highlight the key points. In each chapter there are tips on what to look out for to help spot tactical ideas. As the chapters progress, we increasingly see how tactical ideas are combined together, with ideas from previous sections repeatedly appearing as part of a deadly one-two punch. The book ends with a series of six test papers where you are given no clues about the themes involved.

Everyone loses chess games occasionally, but all too often we lose a game due to moves that, deep down, we knew were flawed. Why do we commit these chess-board sins? Are they the result of general misconceptions about chess and how it should be played? And how can we recognize the warning signs better?

In this thought-provoking and entertaining book, Jonathan Rowson investigates, in his inimitable style, the main reasons why chess-players sometimes go horribly astray, focusing on the underlying psychological pitfalls:
* Thinking (unnecessary or erroneous)
* Blinking (missing opportunities; lack of resolution)
* Wanting (too much concern with the result of the game)
* Materialism (lack of attention to non-material factors)
* Egoism (insufficient awareness of the opponent and his ideas)
* Perfectionism (running short of time; trying too hard)
* Looseness (losing the plot; drifting; poor concentration)

The easiest, quickest and most effective way to improve your overall game is to increase your tactical vision. Many good positions are lost because a key moment is passed by and a player misses the opportunity to win by a beautiful combination. This book is designed simply to help you improve your play by seeing tactics better. - Martyn Kravtsiv

Written along similar lines to Gambit's earlier Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book, this new work presents 600 puzzles, mostly from the last two years, that are chosen for instructive value and maximum training benefit. To ensure that few will be familiar to readers, Kravtsiv has deliberately chosen positions from obscure games or from analysis. If you find the right answers, it will be because you worked them out yourself

The solutions feature plenty of verbal explanations of the key points, and cover most of the logical but incorrect answers. The book is completed with a set of 'no clues' tests, and an index of themes that will be useful to coaches and those looking to focus on specific aspects of tactics - or just seeking extra clues

Once a chess-player has learnt the basic rules of the game, the next step is to study tactics. A knowledge of tactics will enable a novice to start winning games by giving checkmate or taking his opponent's pieces. As the player progresses, his tactical arsenal will broaden and he will start to play sacrifices and combinations. Improving your tactical ability is the most efficient way to win more games and gain confidence at the chessboard.

Given the fundamental importance of chess tactics, there are surprisingly few books that teach the subject in a systematic way. Consequently, many players suffer from tactical blind-spots that plague them throughout their career. The step-by-step approach used in this book ensures that each concept is explained and tested before the next one is introduced.

John Nunn is a renowned grandmaster noted for his devastating tactical ability. In this book, he guides the reader to an understanding of key tactical ideas such as the fork, pin, and discovered attack, and discusses general ideas such as elimination and compulsion. No prior knowledge is assumed apart from the basic rules of chess.

Throughout the book there are carefully graded exercises to test the reader's understanding.

Dr John Nunn is a grandmaster from England. He has won four individual gold medals and three team silver medals at Chess Olympiads. In the Chess World Cup of 1988/9, he finished sixth overall, ahead of several former World Champions. He is arguably the most highly acclaimed chess writer in the world, with three of his books receiving the prestigious British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award.

Tactics and decision-making: Learn by solving!

The study of chess tactics is the single most beneficial activity for most chess-players. From beginner to grandmaster level, players are confronted with tactical decisions on almost every move of every game. I have spent the past five months reviewing games played within the past year between players with a rating of 2200 and above with the goal of selecting 1001 of the most instructive tactical puzzles. - James Rizzitano

This is a true tactics assault course, where you will learn by solving: the lessons are contained in the puzzles themselves, and taught by your own effort in solving them. The first four chapters include a test section, where the positions are a little simpler, to check what you have learned. They are also designed as revision exercises, to return to periodically after you have finished reading the book.

Rizzitano's puzzles are not just a case of 'spot the tactic and move on'. That isn't good training for practical play, where you have no idea if a tactic works until you have analysed it carefully. In some cases it is better to reject the idea and play a quiet move, while many puzzles require a good defensive move. Decision-making skills are vital in competitive chess. And you will definitely need them right away for the book's final chapters, 'Advanced Puzzles' and 'Deadly Puzzles'. Full solutions are provided.

International Master James Rizzitano dominated New England chess from 1976 to 1989, winning 157 of 336 events in which he competed. Career highlights include victories over Alburt, Benjamin, Benko, Christiansen, Dlugy, I.Gurevich and Wolff. He has written seven books for Gambit, including How to Beat 1 d4 and Modern Chess Opening Repertoire for White.

One of the world's foremost chess writers provides everything you need to know about chess endgames

Assuming no specialized endgame knowledge, John Nunn presents 100 key endgame concepts, and explains how they are used to win games or save difficult positions. He covers all the main types of endgames and typical thinking methods, and so equips readers with all the skills needed to excel in this vital phase of the game up to good club level and beyond.

The endgame is the stage of the game where precision is most important, and where errors are punished most drastically. It is also deceptive: many endgame positions look too simple to require prior knowledge, but yet contain fiendish concealed pitfalls that can reverse the result of the game on the spot. Some key positions simply have to be memorized, as they can hardly be worked out at the board, especially when playing with today's faster time-controls.

In such perilous terrain, an expert guide is necessary. John Nunn could not be better qualified: he is a battle-hardened grandmaster of top-level over-the-board chess and a solving world champion. From his wealth of endgame expertise, he has distilled a course of fundamental knowledge that is highly targeted on practical success for all levels of players.