Winning Ugly in Chess

Winning Ugly in Chess PDF Author: Cyrus Lakdawala
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056918273
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 570

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Book Description
When was the last time you won a perfect game? A game that wasn’t tainted by inferior moves? Every chess player knows that smooth wins are the exception, that play is often chaotic and positions are frequently irrational. The road to victory is generally full of bumps and misadventures. Welcome to the world of imperfection! Chess books usually feature superbly played games, in Winning Ugly in Chess you will see games where weird moves are being rewarded. Cyrus Lakdawala knows that playing good chess is all very well, but that beating your opponent is better. He demonstrates the fine art of winning undeserved victories by miraculously surviving chaos, vile cheapos, refusing to resign in a lost position, lucky breaks, provoking unforced errors, improbable comebacks and other ways to land on your feet after a roller-coaster ride. Lakdawala shows how you can make sure that it is your opponent, not you, who makes the last blunder. If you’d rather win a bad game than lose a good one, then this your ideal guide. The next time ‘the wrong player’ wins, you will be that player!

Winning Ugly in Chess

Winning Ugly in Chess PDF Author: Cyrus Lakdawala
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056918273
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 570

Get Book Here

Book Description
When was the last time you won a perfect game? A game that wasn’t tainted by inferior moves? Every chess player knows that smooth wins are the exception, that play is often chaotic and positions are frequently irrational. The road to victory is generally full of bumps and misadventures. Welcome to the world of imperfection! Chess books usually feature superbly played games, in Winning Ugly in Chess you will see games where weird moves are being rewarded. Cyrus Lakdawala knows that playing good chess is all very well, but that beating your opponent is better. He demonstrates the fine art of winning undeserved victories by miraculously surviving chaos, vile cheapos, refusing to resign in a lost position, lucky breaks, provoking unforced errors, improbable comebacks and other ways to land on your feet after a roller-coaster ride. Lakdawala shows how you can make sure that it is your opponent, not you, who makes the last blunder. If you’d rather win a bad game than lose a good one, then this your ideal guide. The next time ‘the wrong player’ wins, you will be that player!

Chess for Hawks

Chess for Hawks PDF Author: Cyrus Lakdawala
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056917234
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Are you a dove or a hawk? Is your natural instinct at the chessboard for caution and strategy or do you crave adventure and confrontation? This question may be more important than you think because being aware of your personal style (and that of your opponent) is essential in your development as a chess player. As a 10-year-old boy, Cyrus Lakdawala realized to his horror that he was a dove when his chess teacher reprimanded him for playing an unnecessary defensive move instead of banging out a better and aggressive one that was not so difficult to find. Since then, Lakdawala has devoted an important part of his efforts as a player to trying to resist his natural tendency to over-solidify positions and avoid complications. Chess for Hawks is the fascinating and often hilarious story of Lakdawala’s struggle to release his inner hawk. It is also a highly instructional guide that will make you think about questions you may not have thought about before: why do you miss opportunities to win a won game?, does deliberately breaking a rule come easy to you?, how good are you at ignoring a threat?, and at refusing a draw offer?, are you able to distinguish between patience and apathy?, do you hate to trade queens?, do you find it difficult to weaken your structure in exchange for initiative or attack?, do you like games with opposing wing castling? and do you know when to trade in initiative for material? Cyrus Lakdawala does something no other chess writer has done before: he makes you reflect deeply about your style of play and its consequences. After reading Chess for Hawks you will be a stronger player because you have mastered an essential but neglected skill: you will know how to obey the position’s requirements instead of your natural inclination.

In the Zone

In the Zone PDF Author: Cyrus Lakdawala
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056918788
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 669

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Book Description
A winning streak in chess, says Cyrus Lakdawala, is a lot more than just the sum of its games. In this book he examines what it means when everything clicks, when champions become unstoppable and demolish opponents. What does it mean to be ‘in the zone’? What causes these sweeps, what sparks them and what keeps them going? And why did they come to an end? Lakdawala takes you on a trip through chess history looking at peak performances of some of the greatest players who ever lived: Morphy, Steinitz, Pillsbury, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Fischer, Tal, Kasparov, Karpov, Caruana and Carlsen. They all had very different playing styles, yet at a certain point in their rich careers they all entered the zone and simply wiped out the best players in the world. In the Zone explains the games of the greatest players during their greatest triumphs. As you study and enjoy these immortal performances you will improve your ability to overpower your opponents. You will understand how great moves originate and you will be inspired to become more productive and creative. In the Zone may bring you closer to that special place yourself: the zone.

The Complete Chess Swindler

The Complete Chess Swindler PDF Author: David Smerdon
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056919121
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 762

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Book Description
Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw – or sometimes even steal the full point! Swindling is a skill that can be trained. In this book, David Smerdon shows how you can use tricks from psychology to marshal hidden resources and exploit your opponent’s biases. In a lost position, your best practical chance often lies not in the computer’s best moves, but in playing your opponent – however bad the evaluation! With an abundance of eye-popping examples and training exercises, Smerdon identifies the four best friends of every chess swindler: your opponent’s impatience, their hubris, their fear, and their need to stay in control. You’ll also learn about such cunning swindling motifs as the Trojan Horse, the decoy trap, the berserk attack, and ‘window-ledging’. So, come and join the Swindlers’ Club, become a great escape artist and dramatically improve your results. In this instructive and wildly entertaining guide, Smerdon shows you how.

How to Beat Magnus Carlsen

How to Beat Magnus Carlsen PDF Author: Cyrus Lakdawala
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056919164
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 526

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Book Description
Magnus Carlsen is arguably the strongest player of all time. His dominance is such that every loss comes as a shock. They remind us that even he has his weak moments. In fact, identifying the root causes of his losses holds valuable lessons for all players. Cyrus Lakdawala’s search starts with a series of Magnus wins and draws to give the reader a feel for how incredibly difficult it is to beat him. The World Champion’s arsenal is awesome: a superlative ability to concentrate and calculate, near-perfect intuition, probably the best endgame technique ever, a wide and creative opening repertoire, a willingness to unbalance the position almost anytime, and last but not least: his unparalleled will to win. How to Beat Magnus Carlsen has a thematic structure, which, together with Lakdawala’s uniquely accessible style, makes its lessons easy to digest. Sometimes even Magnus gets outplayed, sometimes he over-presses and goes over the cliff’s edge, and sometimes he fails to find the correct plan. And yes, even Magnus Carlsen commits straightforward blunders. Lakdawala explains the how and the why. This fascinating collection includes the game that put an end to the longest non-losing streak in classical games in chess history. It lasted more than two years and 125(!) games, and ended when Jan-Krzysztof Duda beat Magnus Carlsen at the Altibox tournament in Stavanger on October 10, 2020. It’s wonderful to have a World Champion who is not just incredibly strong but who is also happy to experiment and take risks. That’s what makes Magnus Carlsen such a fascinating chess player. And that’s why he is the hero of this book. There is no doubt that Carlsen has examined all his losses under a microscope. If he benefits from this process, then so will we.

Forcing Chess Moves

Forcing Chess Moves PDF Author: Charles Hertan
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056914650
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
Charles Hertan, an experienced chess coach from Massachusetts, has made an astonishing discovery: the failure to consider key winning moves is often due to human bias, since your brain tends to disregard many winning moves because they are counter-intuitive or look unnatural. Charles Hertan?s radically different approach is: use COMPUTER EYES and always look for the most forcing move first! By studying forcing sequences according to Hertan?s method you will develop analytical precision, improve your tactical vision, overcome human bias and staleness, and enjoy the calculation of difficult positions. By recognizing moves that matter, you will win more games!

Better Thinking, Better Chess

Better Thinking, Better Chess PDF Author: Joel Benjamin
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056918087
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
Finding strong moves does not simply depend on how much you know about chess. In fact, greater knowledge often makes choosing a move more complex because it increases the number of directions your mind can take. It’s about the way you think. His many years as a chess trainer have taught grandmaster Joel Benjamin how fundamental failings in their thought process cause his students to make mistakes. Pointing out the moves his students missed was just half the job. He needed to explain why they didn’t arrive at the right move. Analysing your game with a chess engine will not tell you where and why you went wrong. Chess engines represent a different reality: the top computer move isn’t always the right move to play. This book teaches how you can improve the structure and effectiveness of your thinking when sitting at the board. How to look for the right things. If you take the wrong direction at the start of your deliberations, as club players often do, you may be losing before you know it. Joel Benjamin concentrates on a wide array practical issues that players frequently have to deal with. By applying a grandmaster’s train of thought club players will more often arrive at strong moves and substantially improve their game.

Oops! I Resigned Again!

Oops! I Resigned Again! PDF Author: Ian Rogers
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781949859423
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
Uh-oh! That doesn't look right!?Who would be silly enough to resign a tournament game they were not losing? As Oops! I Resigned Again! shows, almost anyone - including some of the world's best players!Learn the stories behind the most embarrassing moment any chessplayer can suffer, while trying to outmatch the poor, unfortunate player who resigned. Indeed, this is the only chess puzzle book where you cannot do worse than the player in the game! Pit your wits against legends such as Kramnik, Nunn, Tarrasch and Timman, knowing that they failed the test and that you can, perhaps, do better.Australian Grandmaster Ian Rogers has assembled 100 extraordinary positions in themed sets of 5 puzzles designed to both baffle and delight the solver, in a format which makes it easy to sneak a look at the answer!With a foreword written by US Olympian Sam Shankland - baring his soul about his own silly resignation at a top level tournament - Oops! I Resigned Again! is a rare treat for chessplayers of all strengths, who after finishing the book will fervently hope never to have to say... Oops!About the AuthorAustralian grandmaster Ian Rogers is a journalist, author and commentator. He was Australia's top-ranked player from 1984 until his retirement in 2007. He played 14 Olympiads for Australia and won more than 130 classical tournaments on four continents, including twice winning the Commonwealth Championship title. He resigned unnecessarily only once! This is his first book for Russell Enterprises.

Taming Wild Chess Openings

Taming Wild Chess Openings PDF Author: John Watson
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056915711
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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Book Description
No matter how unconventional, irrational or even crazy an opening is, sooner or later every chess player will have to face it. When that happens, you can count on a well-prepared opponent who is more than happy to roll out his pet line. John Watson and Eric Schiller provide club-players with solutions to a huge selection of these rarely-played or tricky chess openings. They concentrate upon ideas and strategy, with enough analysis to satisfy the needs of practical play. Only when a sharp reply is required, Watson end Schiller will recommend a more complex variation filled with tactics. In the vast majority of cases they present a simple and safe way to approach the position, requiring little memorization and still leading to a promising game. There is a lot of fun material in this book, and you may be surprised to see how even strong grandmasters have indulged in the craziest variations. Chess isn’t all main lines and 20 moves of theory!

The New In Chess Book of Chess Improvement

The New In Chess Book of Chess Improvement PDF Author: Steve Giddins
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056916955
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
The back catalogue of New In Chess magazine is a fabulous source of chess instruction. For more than three decades every issue has been full of detailed and highly enlightening annotations by the world’s best players of their own best games. Acclaimed chess author Steve Giddins is firmly convinced that for the average player, the study of well-annotated master games is the best way to learn the skills that really matter. Therefore he has revisited the New In Chess vault and assembled the clearest and most didactic examples. 'The New in Chess Book of Improvement' is a treasure trove of study material and has chapters on attack and defense, sacrifices, material imbalances, pawn structures, endgames and various positional themes. Giddins’ selection includes masterclasses by no fewer than eight World Champions: Tal, Smyslov, Karpov, Kramnik, Anand, Topalov Carlsen and Kasparov. But also chess legends such as Larsen, Kortchnoi, Timman, Ivanchuk, Short, Aronian and Shirov. Together they represent an exciting picture of modern top level chess. They also provide the high standard of instructional material that today’s club player, much stronger than his equivalent 25 or more years ago, needs.