Odessky - Winning Quickly with 1.b3 and 1...b6

Rook endgames are the most important to study, because they are the type of endgame you will face most often over the board. Working on rook endgames gives the biggest bang for your buck.

World-class grandmaster Sam Shankland explains technical rook endgames in a way that is clearer, better organized, more concise, and easier to understand than any previous work. After learning the vital set positions, the reader is offered lots of rules and guidelines to correctly assess any theoretical rook endgame they have not yet memorized.

Theoretical Rook Endgames is the ideal guide to a vital topic in chess. After reading this book, you will know which positions must be memorized, and which positions are best handled by considering general principles.

The sister volume – Conceptual Rook Endgames by Jacob Aagaard – shows how the theoretical knowledge shown in the present book is used in advanced practical play.

GM Sam Shankland is the 2018 US Champion, 2016 Olympiad gold medal winner for teams and 2014 individual gold medal winner. He has played Board 1 for the US in the World Team Championship and competed with the best players in the world in Wijk aan Zee, St. Louis, Prague and elsewhere.  Hardcover 448 pages

Voici un recueil de parties de Bullet Chess (z'en seriez doutés, non ?), doublé d'un petit guide pratique pour ceux qui voudraient se risquer dans cette forme extrême du blitz (1 minute pour toute la partie, pour les distraits). Les parties sont exactement à l'image du principe : c'est couillon, c'est fun, et au fond assez rafraîchissant, en ces temps d'AAO et de jeu trop parfait.

Mikhail Tal is one of the most celebrated World Champions in chess history, who confounded his opponents and dazzled chess fans around the world. Seemingly breaking every rule in the book, yet also breaking records with his accomplishments, Tal truly was The Chess Alchemist.

In this unique book, Oleg Stetsko has compiled 80 of Tal’s most interesting games, as annotated by the Magician himself in a variety of sources, many of which have been translated into English for the very first time here.

Mikhail Tal became World Champion in 1960 by defeating the great Mikhail Botvinnik. Tal’s play is famed for its sacrificial brilliance, and he is also renowned as a witty and lively writer. 384 pages

Un CD entier sur une ouverture bien marginale : le début Van Geet, i.e. 1.Cc3. L'idée principale du début, c'est la variante 1.Cc3 d5 2.e4 (qui peut évidemment aussi être choisie contre la Scandinave). Face aux autres principales réponses noires (1...e5, 1...c5), le joueur peu désireux de rentrer dans les ouvertures classiques (Sicilienne, Viennoise...) peut essayer des systèmes incluant le fianchetto-roi accompagné soit du modeste d3, soit plus ambitieusement de Cf3 suivi de d4, amenant des positions certes proches desdites ouvertures classiques... mais suffisamment différentes pour se révéler piégeuses pour le joueur noir mal préparé et peu méfiant. En attendant la parution annoncée de la version anglaise de Der Linksspringer, ce CD vous permettra de faire le tour des possibilités de ce premier coup inhabituel.

Giant plastic chess pieces for outside playing.
 King's height: 62 cm