McDONALD - The Art of Planning in Chess

Premier volume - on dira d'introduction - d'un cours complet en six (trois sont sortis, les trois autres doivent suivre dans quelques mois) dû au plus célèbre joueur américain actuel. Le plan du livre est original : il consiste pour l'essentiel en quatre chapitres consacrés chacun à l'un des aspects fondamentaux du jeu : Force, Temps, Espace et Structure (de pions évidemment). De nombreux exercices animent l'ensemble, qui s'achève par huit parties complètes commentées. Un très bon ouvrage pour débutants... anglophones.

Positional Sacrifice in Modern Chess (hardcover). A Word from the Authors : "The sequel, or the second part of the “Secrets of Positional Sacrifice” manual is titled “Positional Sacrifice in Modern Chess”. We assume that readers will conclude that the subject of our analysis are recently played games, especially the games played over the last few years. The book is intended for chess players who aspire to raise the level of positional play in this particular field of expertise, as well as coaches working on chess education. Like the previous book “Secrets of Positional Sacrifice”, the book in our hands is divided into chapters according to the material that is the subject of the sacrifice: the positional sacrifice of a pawn, exchange, piece, rook, and queen. Finally, the last chapter deals with “hot games” and contains six games played during November and December 2021. We believe that the book is as interesting and instructive as its prequel. However, the examples are a tad more complicated, primarily because of the positional rook sacrifice section. In actual fact, the examples on this kind were verydifficult to find in practice, and processing them in the right way was a particular challenge for us. The first section, the positional pawn sacrifice, should encourage the reader to execute one of the most complicated positional sacrifices in practice as often as possible. On the other hand, the sacrifice of exchange is the most common and easiest to apply and can very successfully serve as a means of relieving the fear of possible sacrifice of material. Asymmetric positions, i.e., positions with an unusual distribution of material, are mostly featured in the positional piece and queen sacrifice positions. In the last chapter entitled “Hot Games,” we present the analysis on the topics of various fascinating examples, from the latest games of today’s great players. We tried to choose the examples that were easy to follow, so they are embellished with diagrams and explained verbally as well. We paid more attention to the analysis of the positional sacrifice from the moment of its execution to the end of the game. Hence, the introductory part of each example may be somewhat shorter in relation to the first book. Finally, the invaluable exercises at the end of the book should be mentioned. The tasks cover four topics to make them as interesting and easy to solve as possible. The exercises are based on the correct assessment of asymmetric positions and, of course, on concrete calculations. In conclusion, we would like to emphasize that the book highlights the beauty of human ideas and their practical application. In some cases, the authors give preference to the human idea over the assessment of the computer. When a player cannot calculate complicated lines accurately, he should look for an alternative solution of the similar quality. One of the possible answers is the positional sacrifice that leads to asymmetric material and thus the change of the character of the fight. " Hardcover. 307 pages

With the ascent of computer technology, humans have a chance to develop their thinking process based on hard evidence. Think Like a Machine explores human limitations and proposes new avenues for human thinking, inspired by computer engines.

In positions taken almost exclusively from modern tournament play, the authors present jaw-dropping continuations which humans struggle to find, not due to lower human computing power, due to conceptual and perceptual limitations. In this book these “crazy” moves are analysed and categorised. If you want to expand your chess imagination, understanding and intuition, Think Like a Machine is the book is for you.

Think Like A Machine is the second chess book co-written by Noam Manella and Zeev Zohar. Manella is a digital and Social Networks Researcher; Zohar is an accountant and businessman. Their previous book, Play Unconventional Chess and Win, was a highlight in chess publishing in 2014.

Have you ever wondered why it takes grandmasters just seconds to see what's happening in a chess position? It's all about pawn structures, as Ivan Sokolov explained in his groundbreaking book Winning Chess Middlegames.

In his 2010 bestseller, Grandmaster Sokolov focused on structures arising from 1.d4 openings; in this new companion guide, 1.e4 players get their turn. This new volume covers a dozen topical structures including various pawn formations in the flexible Ruy Lopez, Italian and Petroff openings. But also Black's doubled f-pawn in the Rauzer Sicilian, the notorious Maroczy Bind, the mysterious Hedgehog, the versatile Sveshnikov and the paradoxical French Winawer. Deeply analysed top-level games illustrate the motifs in all these structures.

Club players who study Winning Chess Middlegames 1.e4 or 1.d4 will:

• significantly improve their middlegame skills
• develop an accurate sense of which positions suit their style
• gain new strategic and practical knowledge of openings

Ivan Sokolov's analysis is profound but accessible, and he doesn't take anything for granted. As reviewer Sean Marsh wrote of the first volume: "The lucid and informative explanations convey a large amount of genuine Grandmasterly wisdom. This is easily one of the best middlegame books of recent times."

Ivan Sokolov is a top grandmaster who was born in Bosnia and lives in the Netherlands. He is a former Yugoslav and Dutch Champion and has beaten World Champions Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand. As a coach, he led Uzbekistan to victory at the 2022 Chennai Olympiad. Sokolov has written a dozen highly acclaimed books.

Turbo-Charge Your Tactics 1 is essentially a chess puzzle book, but not a typical one. It’s a multi-year effort by GM Mykhaylo Oleksiyenko and his world-renowned trainer IM Vladimir Grabinsky to introduce you to the world of “unnatural” tactical moves.

Presenting examples of extreme beauty, no matter where they come from – be it online bullet or world-class grandmaster praxis – this book will cure your “selective blindness” by destroying the false notion of chess principles being a set of rules, instead of helpful guidelines. Most chess games are decided by tactics, so solving tactical puzzles is the most effective path to improvement. hardcover 328 pages