“The wonderful journey of selecting, analyzing and commentating on games has been very beneficial to both of us. In this book, we look deeply into some factors that are not spoken about as much as they should, for example, the importance of preparing for the opening, to always be searching for sacrifices when your pieces are active, to never stop grinding until the game is over and of course, the part we both love the most, psychology in chess.” ~ Dorsa and Borna Derakhshani

International master Herman Grooten has over 40 years of experience as a professional chess trainer. Countless of his pupils became strong chess players. The best known of these are the grandmasters Loek van Wely, Robin Swinkels, Wouter Spoelman, Dennis de Vreugt, Jan Werle, Twan Burg and Benjamin Bok.

In the field of journalism, he earned his spurs with chess columns in the newspapers Trouw and Het Eindhovens Dagblad. Since 2020 he has been co-owner of the popular Schaaksite.nl for which he has been writing articles for over ten years. As an author, he wrote several books of which the 2009 publication "Chess Strategy for Club Players" was awarded "Book of the Year" on Chesscafe.com.

Meanwhile, in his series "Understand before Moving " he has published several volumes that were received with great enthusiasm, both in Dutch and English.

This is the first volume of the new series "Key Concepts of Chess". The idea is to deal with middlegames in which a certain structure or essential theme becomes central. The idea of starting this series is in line with the "Understand before Moving" series because the aim, is to improve the understanding of club chess players. According to the author, playing an opening should be 'hung up' on stereotypical ideas and concepts belonging to this structure. The thorough exploration of middlegame structures is beyond the scope of opening books, hence it makes more sense to expose it in this complementary series.

In this first volume, the "Hedgehog System" is discussed in detail. Apart from being part of the author's repertoire, this typical set-up deserves to be widely highlighted. Although in the second part of the trilogy on the Sicilian, the Hedgehog has already made its appearance, in this book the seemingly fragile, but oh so treacherous creature can reconsider its spines in an extensive way.

Pięknie wydany album z ponad 200 kolorowymi zdjęciami Magnusa Carlsena. Album wydany w twardej oprawie.

Magnus Carlsen: A Life in Pictures tells the story of the reigning World Chess Champion. Magnus Carlsen, born in 1990 in Oslo, Norway, became a Grandmaster by 13. Carlsen was crowned World Champion in 2013, when he defeated Anand and has successfully defended his title three times. He will again play for the title in November in Dubai.

Spot Those Killer Moves and Stun Your Opponent

An advanced club player must look deeper!

In this follow-up to his acclaimed 1001 Chess Exercise for Club Players, FIDE Master Frank Erwich teaches you how to reach the next level of identifying weak spots in the position of your opponent, recognizing patterns of combinations, visualizing tricks and calculating effectively.

Erwich repeats the themes of his previous book, focusing on exercises in which the key move is less obvious. He also introduces new, more sophisticated tactical weapons. They are geared towards the reality of the advanced club player (Elo 1800 – 2300): it is not enough to spot simple combinations, at this level you must be able to resist your reflexes and look deeper.

In variations that look forcing you will always search for that deadly Zwischenzug. Quiet moves in general should be your new best friends. In short: an advanced club player should expect the unexpected. One of the celebrated elements of Erwich’s previous book, which is neglected in other books on tactics, is back: defence! You will also learn how to defend against tactics, as well as how to use tactical weapons when you are under heavy pressure.

This is a complete and structured course, and not just a collection of freewheeling puzzles. Erwich starts every chapter with an instructive explanation of the tactical concept at hand and has carefully selected the most didactically productive exercises.

Frank Erwich is a FIDE Master and an experienced chess trainer from the Netherlands. He holds a Master’s degree in Psychology. In 2019 he published the bestselling 1001 Chess Exercises for Club Players.

How to Create a Deadly Attack on the Enemy King

Attacking your opponent’s king is not just a shortcut to victory, it’s also one of the most enjoyable and gratifying experiences in chess. If you want to win more games you should become a better attacker. Studying typical attacking motifs and ideas easily brings dividends while you are having a good time.

Michael Prusikin presents the prerequisites and the rules for a King attack in a lucid and attractive manner. In 15 thematic chapters he teaches you how to assess the nature of the position, identify the appropriate offensive patterns, find the preliminary moves and conduct your attack in a clear and effective way.

Battering rams, obstructive sacrifices, pawn storms, striking at the castled position, sacrificing a knight on f5, Prusikin demonstrates the most important patterns of attack with lots of clear and well chosen examples.

Next, Prusikin tests your newly acquired insights and your attacking intuition with exercises covering all the themes and motifs. You will find that studying Attacking Strategies for Club Players is both entertaining and rewarding.

Michael Prusikin is an International Grandmaster and a FIDE Senior Trainer from Germany. In 2009 he was the co-winner of the German Championship. Several times he has been voted German Chess Trainer of the Year. He writes the tactics column in the German magazine SCHACH.

“The vast majority of attacking patterns are presented with strikingly clear logic. Any reader who studies this book, almost irrespective of their playing strength, will come away with new ideas for conducting an attack on the king in particular and about chess understanding in general."

Alexander Khalifman, former FIDE World Champion

New In Chess Yearbook, which appears four times a year, contains the latest news in chess openings. Each issue brings you dozens of new ideas on the cutting edge of modern chess opening theory. Have a look at what this issue has to offer.

Forum

French guru Viktor Moskalenko shows two recent OTB games in the Forum Section, in which he was successful with some great ideas he presented in his latest book The Fully-Fledged French. One is a piece sac that gained him a 13-move win with black! Bogdan Lalic takes a look at another surprising black piece sac, in the King’s Indian this time. The Forum also contains some novelties from the World Cup, presented by Luis Rodi, Peter Boel and Frank Erwich.

From Sadler’s Engine Room

Matthew Sadler is our new columnist! He will alternate with Erwin l’Ami’s ‘From Our Own Correspondent’ column. The English grandmaster is well-known for the best-seller Game Changer he wrote with Natasha Regan, about computer chess. His new column will be on opening treatment by the top engines, and in his first instalment Matthew shows that these beasts are not at all averse to some offbeat opening play!

Reviews

Four books are reviewed this time – all of them with a quite original angle. The Modernized Italian Game for White by Alexander Kalinin & Nikolai Kalinichenko is more about understanding than learning lines by heart, and we know that it’s the same with Viktor Moskalenko’s books. With The Fully-Fledged French, the Ukrainian grandmaster has produced a new shoot on his favourite French opening, with a lot of brand new ideas. The didactic approach of Thomas Willemze in The Scandinavian for Club Players is really something else, and of course we couldn’t ignore the Iron English by the creative English duo Simon Williams & Richard Palliser.

What is the best way to improve your opening knowledge? Memorizing variations? Not really.

In the first volume of Dariusz’ trilogy, the author helps you to understand the instructive patterns that arise from the immensely popular Nimzo-Indian Defense. Packed with plenty new ideas, his methods consider the different ways White has at his disposal. His unique approach shows Black has nothing to fear, on the contrary! Thinkers is convinced you will enjoy the read!

Aron  Nimzowitsch (1886-1935r.) - Twórca nowego stylu gry czyli hypermodernizmu, gdzie głównymi postulatami, w przeciwieństwie do Steinitza i Tarrascha, były: figurowa kontrola centrum, blokada i profilaktyka.

Autor książek: "Mój System", "Blokada", "Mój system w praktyce".

Every player who meets 1.e4 with 1...e5 needs a reliable response to the Ruy Lopez, and The Berlin Defence is an ideal solution. Ever since Vladimir Kramnik used the Berlin to shut down Garry Kasparov’s best efforts in their 2000 World Championship match, practically all of the world’s top players have successfully incorporated the “Berlin Wall” into their repertoires.

GM Michael Roiz presents a complete repertoire for Black after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6, offering top-class antidotes to anything White may try. From the famous Endgame Variation to recently fashionable tries such as 4.d3, Roiz combines cutting-edge analysis with insightful positional guidance.

Grandmaster Michael Roiz reached the top 40 in the world. He has won Olympiad Team Silver for Israel, as well as many tournaments over the years. In recent years he has focused more on seconding elite grandmasters in top tournaments such as the Candidates and so far one World Championship match.

Coffeehouse Repertoire is a 1.e4 player’s dream: an arsenal of ideas from a world-class grandmaster to surprise and confound your opponents, combining coffeehouse trickery with complete theoretical soundness.

In Volume 2, GM Gawain Jones shows how to fight for an advantage against 1...e5, plus the French, Pirc, Modern, Philidor and other miscellaneous Defences, using lines which feature a potent combination of surprise value, objective soundness and practical effectiveness.

Volume 1 completes the Coffeehouse 1.e4 Repertoire, and covered the Sicilian, Caro-Kann, Scandinavian and Alekhine’s Defences.

The Singular Skills of the World’s Strongest Chess Player Uncovered and Explained

What is it that makes Magnus Carlsen the strongest chess player in the world? Why do Carlsen’s opponents, the best players around, fail to see his moves coming? Moves that, when you replay his games, look natural and self-evident?

Emmanuel Neiman has been studying Carlsen’s games and style of play for many years. His findings will surprise, delight and educate every player, regardless of their level. He explains a key element in the World Champion’s play: instead of the ‘absolute’ best move he often plays the move that is likely to give him the better chances.

MECHANICZNY ZEGAR SZACHOWY DREWNIANY CLASSIC

w naturalnym kolorze z podstawką o wymiarach 15 x 8 x 4 cm

to klasyczny, turniejowy zegar szachowy w stylu "retro" w obudowie drewnianej z elementami wykonanymi z tworzywa sztucznego.

Złote, wykonane z tworzywa sztucznego dodatki pięknie współgrają z całością zegara dodając mu szyku.

Tylna obudowa zegara została wykonana z wysokiej jakości plastiku, co umożliwia łatwy dostęp do mechanizmu.

Mechaniczny zegar szachowy w plastikowej obudowie.

Wymiary zegara:

- szerokość 18 cm,

- wysokość 12 cm

Tarcze zegara są duże i czytelne.

Do opakowania dołączone są baterie.

Your chess engine can do so much more than just calculate variations!

Every chess player, from club level up, can improve their game by using engines. That is the message of Matthew Sadler’s thought-provoking new book, based on many years of experience with the world’s best chess software. You may not be able to replicate their dazzling-deep calculations, but there is so much more your engine can do for you than just checking variations!

Working on chess tactics and checkmates will help you win more games. It develops your pattern recognition and your ‘board vision’ – your ability to capitalize on opportunities. This Workbook features a complete set of fundamental tactics, checkmate patterns, exercises, hints, and solutions.

Peter Giannatos selected 738 exercises based on ten years of experience with thousands of pupils at the prize-winning Charlotte Chess Center. All problems are clean, without unnecessary fluff that detracts from their instructive value. The Workbook has ample room for writing down the solutions to the exercises. This is helpful for both students and coaches, who can assign homework from the book without having to worry about being unable to review the solutions. And writing down the correct chess moves will greatly accelerate your learning process.

Everyone’s First Chess Workbook offers you a treasure trove of chess knowledge and more than enough lessons to keep you busy for a year!

Dear readers and Informant aficionados, this book is intended to be a companion volume to our 2020 PUZZLE QUEST. Our primary intention was to provide you with as much quality material for self-study as possible. So, it was quite natural to present to you a book with a complete coverage of most instructive and entertaining endgames that were played in 2020.

В своей новой книге гроссмейстер Зенон Франко глубоко анализирует 30 «чёрных» поучительных побед (включая партии 2020 года) чемпиона мира Магнуса Карлсена. Книга не перегружена вариантами, акцент – на подробных объяснениях в стиле «ход за ходом», что формирует идеальную платформу для изучения шахмат. В «опорных» точках каждой партии читателю предлагаются тестовые вопросы, что помогает и практическому изучению ключевых приемов шахматной игры, и надежному усвоению обретаемых знаний. Вопросы и ответы вовлекают читателя в процесс обучения и помогают ему отслеживать рост своей шахматной силы. Большинство партий взято из недавнего творчества Карлсена. Почти все его соперники супергроссмейстеры, – экс-чемпионы мира Виши Ананд и Владимир Крамник, а также Фабиано Каруана, Сергей Карякин, Шахрияр Мамедьяров, Алексей Широв, Максим Вашье-Лаграв, Левон Аронян, Аниш Гири и др. 

Książka liczy 112 stron i podzielona jest na 3 części. W pierwszej omówione zostało dziesięć zagadnień dotyczących gry obronnej, poszerzonych o zestawy ćwiczeń do samodzielnego rozwiązania. W części drugiej znalazło się 5 testów (w tym m.in. z mistrzostw Polski juniorów 2021 ze Szklarskiej Poręby). W części trzeciej, gratka dla Czytelników – wywiad z wieloletnim trenerem kadry kobiet. Wywiad jest uzupełniony o partie, w których wiodącym tematem były psychologia i obrona.

Solidna oprawa, książka szyta, kolorowe zdjęcia.

Publikacja jest przeznaczona zarówno dla średniozaawansowanych jak i dla zaawansowanych szachistów o poziomie rankingowym 1700 – 2400, z pewnością przyda się też szkoleniowcom.

Книга международного мастера Максима Четверика посвящена дебютным экспериментам, предпринятым за доской (как правило, с классическим контролем времени) игроками в гроссмейстерском чине. 50 партий, приведенных полностью и 33 тестовых задания иллюстрируют необычные разветвления в полном спектре шахматных начал.

Исследование новых и возрождение старых дебютных редкостей актуально в связи с бурным развитием теории. Освоение длинных вариантов требует недюжинной памяти и более подходит шахматным профессионалам. На примерах креативного творчества гроссмейстеров читателю предлагается оценить качество дебютного эксперимента и решить – уместно ли взять на вооружение идею титулованного игрока.

"We talk a lot about defence in chess but rarely try to break this major notion down into elements that constitute it and, importantly, that we can systematically learn. This book does exactly that. It is suitable for players of all levels aiming to improve their game. It may be especially appropriate for coaches because of its systematized character."

GM Adrian Mikhalchishin

В книге даётся аналитический обзор всех основных шахматных начал, проиллюстрированных содержательными партиями, включая партии самого последнего времени.

Предпочтение отдано тем дебютным системам, вариантам и ходам, которые выдержали самое серьёзное из всех испытаний - испытание временем. Новое издание дополнено и переработано коренным образом - внесены существенные изменения в аналитическую часть книги с учётом последних достижений современной шахматный теории. Особое внимание в разделе партий уделено творчеству чемпиона мира Магнуса Карлсена.

Книга поможет освоить премудрости дебютной теории не только начинающим шахматистам, но будет полезна и более опытным игрокам.

Have you ever wondered why you do well in certain tournaments and not in others? If your opening choices are the right ones? If your attacking play is good, bad, or Tinder swipe left ugly?

In this entertaining account, the author explains how to achieve success in chess we need to understand our what works for us, but to achieve true mastery we should prepare to go beyond our zone of comfort.

Along the way he takes us on a journey through his own world of discovery and explains how he became one of the best chess players in England. It’s a deeply honest and at times tragicomic memoir as he also reveals his strategy for taking on his biggest rivals and how best to use computers to improve your chess.

Aleksandr Rakhmanov was born on 28 August 1989 in Cherepovets, Russia, and started to play chess at the age of seven. He became an IM in 2006, a GM in 2007 and a FIDE trainer in 2020. His current rating is 2651. His peak ratings are 2676 (classical), 2721 (rapid) and 2704 (blitz). In 2007 he won a hat-trick of bronze medals at the Russian, European and World U-18 championships. In 2017 he took 21st place in the World Rapid Championship in Riyadh and in 2019 won gold medal on 3rd board in the European Club Cup in Montenegro, took 18th place in the FIDE Grand Swiss, probably the strongest chess open ever, and participated in the World Cup. As a chess tourist Aleksandr likes to travel and has visited about fifty countries around the world.

"Half a century ago I left a country whose red color dominated a large portion of the world map. One way or another, the fate of almost every single person described in this book is forever linked with that now non-existent empire.

Many of them ended up beyond its borders too. Cultures and traditions, and certainly not least of all a Soviet mentality, couldn’t have just left them without a trace.

Having been transplanted into a different environment, they had to play the role of themselves, apart from certain corrections with regard to the tastes and customs of a ew society.

Nevertheless, every one of them, both those who left the Soviet Union and those who stayed behind, were forever linked by one common united phenomenon: they all belonged to the Soviet school of chess."

The Secret Ingredient is a grandmaster guide to maximizing your chess results, focusing on key elements of practical play which have received little to no attention in previous chess literature.

How exactly can we best make use of computers? What’s the ideal, step-by-step way to prepare against a specific opponent? How can we optimize our time management at the board? And what’s the one key skill that separates the best players from those who have yet to reach their full potential? GM Jan Markos sheds light on these topics and many more, helped by the world-class insights of his good friend GM David Navara.

The legendary Bobby Fischer would likely vote for the bishop. Other authorities like Nimzowitsch would prefer the knight. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

Of course, it is clear a bishop usually dominates in open positions while the knight should be preferred in blocked positions. But what does that “usually” mean? Are there exceptions? Sure, a bishop can dominate even in a blocked position if the controlled diagonal is important. Further, the knight can dominate in open positions if there is a good outpost or influential place for it.

The Dutch is renowned as a fighting weapon against 1.d4, as 1...f5 immediately sets up an unbalanced struggle. Then Black’s kingside fianchetto, which defines the Leningrad Dutch, allows pawn-storming play in similar style to the King’s Indian Defence. Mihail Marin is the ideal author to explain both the strategic ideas and the latest theory.

Leningrad Dutch covers lines where White also fianchettoes the king’s bishop – these lines are the critical test of the Leningrad. The companion volume, Dutch Sidelines, completes Black’s Dutch repertoire.

BRAK NA MAGAZYNIE - produkt może zostać sprowadzony "NA ZAMÓWIENIE" 

Coffeehouse Repertoire is a 1.e4 player’s dream: an arsenal of ideas from a world-class grandmaster to surprise and confound your opponents, combining coffeehouse trickery with complete theoretical soundness.

In Volume 1, GM Gawain Jones shows how to put pressure on the Sicilian, Caro-Kann, Scandinavian and Alekhine’s Defences, using lines which feature a potent combination of surprise value, objective soundness and practical effectiveness.

The Coffeehouse 1.e4 Repertoire will be completed in Volume 2, which covers 1...e5, plus the French, Pirc, Modern, Philidor and other miscellaneous Defences.

What does a chess player need who is familiar with the rules, but often gets into trouble right away in the opening?

This question was the starting point for the authors before they began to compile their material. The result is a book that gives explanations to help the reader understand the 'Queen's Gambit' – and instructions to show him how to use it.

And no matter if he is little or even completely unfamiliar with opening theory, this book gives him easy access to this difficult and comprehensive field. The ideas and plans behind each line are explained in detail to ensure that the reader understands them properly instead of just playing moves that he has learned by heart. Even the sense and purpose of single moves are ex- plained, if they are not quite obvious.

Based on the knowledge that the reader will surely acquire by studying this book, it will be easy to build a game and play interesting, entertaining and – last but not least – successful chess.

An aggressive, dynamic approach for meeting 1.d4

Make the next step in your chess development.

The Daunting Domain of Queen Endgames Explained!

Knowing the abilities and limitations of the powerful queen is very valuable for mastering the secrets of the royal game, and this can be studied best in the endgame.

Queen endgames are very difficult, if only for purely mathematical reasons – the queen is the most mobile peace in chess, and the amount of possible options is incomparably higher than in any other type of endgames.

This book follows a dual philosophy as in the three previous works by the same authors: Understanding Rook Endgames, Understanding Minor Piece Endgames and Understanding Rook vs. Minor Piece Endgames. The 7-piece endings are dealt with in great detail. They are often so complex that pre-tablebase analysis almost always contains errors. Many new discoveries are revealed here.

But to really understand the fight of a queen against a queen or minor pieces with rooks, these theoretical positions are of course not enough. So subchapters on the principles of each material configuration have been added.

In the first book ever exclusively devoted to the Exchange French Variation, American grandmaster Alex Fishbein recognizes that the Exchange French is an opening for a player who likes active piece play, fights for the initiative, excels in positions with possibilities on both sides of the board, and finds strategic and tactical nuances that arise out of almost nothing. And if you play the French as Black, then this book will help you deal with White’s 3.exd5.

Authors of French Defense books from the black perspective have recognized for a while that there is no draw here at all and have proposed lines where Black can create interesting play. Indeed, both sides can create complications. The author shows that playing “boring” moves is actually risky with both White and Black. The Exchange French is a vibrant opening, just like any other, and yet there has been very little literature showing how to play it from the white side. That void is filled with this book.

While the main point of this book is to build a White repertoire, any player of the Black side of the French will benefit by reading it. A good number of the sample games end well for Black, whereas in the games in which White gains the upper hand, Fishbein is careful to note improvements for the second player. I have been playing and writing about the French Defense, including this variation, for many years, but I came across a lot that I hadn’t known in nearly every sub-variation.

I suspect that most readers of this book will be pleasantly surprised to find out how rich the play can become in the French Exchange Variation. That alone is enough to reward a careful reading, and Fishbein’s careful exposition of lines and strategies will undoubtedly translate into extra points over the board. – from the Foreword by John Watson

A Memoir of Players, Games and Engines

Larry Kaufman can safely be called an exceptional chess grandmaster

Larry Kaufman started out as a prodigy, however not in chess but as a whizz kid in science and math. He excels at shogi (Japanese chess) and Go, and is also a world-famous computer programmer and a highly successful option trader. Remarkably, as a chess player he only peaked at the weirdly late age of fifty.

Yet his victories in the chess arena are considerable. Over a career span of nearly sixty years Kaufman won the state championships of Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, Virginia, D.C. and Pennsylvania. He was an American Open Champion and won the U.S. Senior Championship as well as the World Senior Championship.

‘Never a great chess player’ himself (his words), he met or played chess greats such as Bobby Fischer, Bent Larsen, Walter Browne, Boris Spassky, Viktor Kortchnoi and many others. He worked as a second to legendary grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili, and coached three talented youngsters to become International Master, one of them his son Raymond.

This engrossing memoir is rife with stories and anecdotes about dozens of famous and not-so-famous chess players. In one of the most remarkable chapters Larry Kaufman reveals that the American woman chess player that inspired Walter Tevis to create the Beth Harmon character of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit fame, is his former girlfriend. You will learn about neural networks, material values and how being a chess master helps when trading options. And find lots of memorable but little-known annotated games.

Larry Kaufman is an American Grandmaster. He has been involved in computer chess since 1967, when he worked on ‘MacHack’, the first computer that competed in tournaments with human players. More recently he has been working on the programs Rybka and Komodo.

Bobby Fischer’s Road to Reykjavik

Initially things looked gloomy for Bobby Fischer. Because he had refused to participate in the 1969 US Championship, he had missed his chance to qualify for the 1970 Interzonal Tournament in Palma de Mallorca. Only when another American, Pal Benko, withdrew in his favour, and after the officials were willing to bend the rules, could Bobby enter the contest. And begin his phenomenal run that would end with the Match of the Century in Reykjavik against World Champion Boris Spassky.

Fischer started out by sweeping the field at the 23-round Palma Interzonal to qualify for the next stage of the cycle. In the Candidates Matches he first faced Mark Taimanov, in Vancouver. Fischer trounced the Soviet ace, effectively ending Taimanov’s career. Then, a few months later in Denver, he was up against Bent Larsen, the Great Dane. Fischer annihilated him, too. The surreal score in those two matches, twice 6-0, flabbergasted chess fans all over the world.

In the ensuing Candidates Final in Buenos Aires, Fischer also made short shrift of former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, beating the hyper-solid ‘Armenian Tiger’ 6½-2½. Altogether, Fischer had scored an incredible 36 points from 43 games against many of the world’s best players, including a streak of 19 consecutive wins. Bobby Fischer had become not just a national hero in the US, but a household name with pop-star status all over the world.

Jan Timman chronicles the full story of Fischer’s sensational run and takes a fresh look at the games. The annotations are in the author’s trademark lucid style, that happy mix of colourful background information and sharp, crystal-clear explanations.

Jan Timman is the author of many bestselling books. His Timman’s Titans won the 2017 ECF Book of the Year Award. In The Longest Game, Timman revisited the epic rivalry between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. His most recent book Timman’s Triumphs: My 100 Best Games again met with wide acclaim.

The Scandinavian Defence is one of the most popular chess openings among amateur players, and it is easy to see why. Black players immediately limit the opening theory they have to know because there is no way White can side-step Black’s first move. What’s more, the Scandinavian requires only very little theoretical knowledge, so it has an extremely low maintenance factor. To cap it all, Black gets a solid structure.

And that’s not even the end of the good news, as Thomas Willemze demonstrates in this compact and practical manual. Playing the Scandinavian teaches invaluable techniques that you can use in almost all of your other games. Pressuring the centre, neutralizing your opponent’s initiative, improving your piece coordination, trading the right pieces and exploiting your opponent’s weak points are all typical ‘Scandinavian’ spin-offs that Thomas Willemze teaches you in his trademark lucid style.

The Scandinavian for Club Players offers everything you need to know to be fully prepared to meet 1.e4. The various lines are enriched with verbal explanations, diagrams, flash-cards and exercises that make this book even more accessible. Willemze not just uses examples from the games of elite grandmasters. As an experienced trainer he knows that discussing club player’s adventures are particularly instructive for his target group.

Thomas Willemze is an International Master from The Netherlands. He is an experienced trainer of amateur players and has been the National Youth Coach of the Dutch Chess Federation. He is the author of the acclaimed ‘What would you play?’ column in New In Chess magazine, aimed at helping club players to improve their decision-making skills. In 2018 he published the best-selling improvement guide The Chess Toolbox, also available as a NIC Interactive eBook and a Chessable video course.

New In Chess Yearbook, which appears four times a year, contains the latest news in chess openings. Each issue brings you dozens of new ideas on the cutting edge of modern chess opening theory. Have a look at what this issue has to offer.

Forum

This issue’s Forum Section features an article by René Olthof on the stunning piece sacrifice with which Fabiano Caruana took Maxime Vachier-Lagrave by surprise in the second leg of the Candidates Tournament. This is followed by some unique analysis material by Ganguly on a game he lost against Pavel Eljanov! Two other grandmasters, Mikheil Mchedlishvili and Max Warmerdam, also made a contribution, and you should certainly check out IJntze Hoekstra’s short but intriguing note to the book Side-Stepping Mainline Theory by Gerard Welling and Steve Giddins!

From Our Own Correspondent

Our GM correspondent Erwin l’Ami starts his column with a good equalizing method for Black in the Tarrasch and then presents a thorough analysis of a correspondence game with the Delayed Poisoned Pawn in the Najdorf. L’Ami has played the Black side of Kramnik’s QGD endgame and demonstrates that Black is OK here – which cannot be said of his two final subjects, the Poisoned Pawn line in the London System and the Winawer French with 7…0-0.

Reviews

Part of Glenn Flear’s Reviews column is dedicated to modern media again. The 2-volume ebook The Modern French by Kryakvin is reviewed and compared to two other recent works on the French: Anish Giri’s awesome Lifetime repertoire course; The French Defense (for Chessable) and Pentala Harikrishna’s book Beat the French Defence with 3.Nc3. The Englishman also pays attention to Ilya Smirin’s book Sicilian Warfare – arguably more than just an opening book – and of course the latest masterpiece by Parimarjan Negi: Grandmaster repertoire: 1.e4 vs Minor Defences.