Title:Back to Basics:Tactics

I am reading  Dan Heisman’s Back To Basics: Tactics about a week ago. The book aims to teach tactical concepts to “beginning players who have never played tournament chess or who possess a U.S. Chess Federation rating lower than 1500″ or online players with a rating below 1700. I believe the book is well-suited for this purpose and audience. I also think players rated 100-200 points higher might use this book for a quick “tactical tune-up” if they are a bit rusty.

White	Black
1. e2 –e4	e7-e5
2. d2-d4	e5 X d4
3. Qd1 X d4…

White	Black
1. e2 –e4	e7-e5
2. d2-d4	e5 X d4
3. c2 – c3	d4 X c3
4. Bf1 – c4	c3 X b2
5. Bc1 X b2…

White	Black
1. e2 –e4	e7-e5
2. Bf1 – c4	Ng8 – f6
3. d2 – d3	c7 – c5!
4. f2 – f4	e5 X f4
5. Bc1 X f4	d7 – d5
6. e4 – d5	Nf6 X d5…

(Quiet Game) (Italian, Giuoco – game, piano – quiet.)

White	Black
1. e2 –e4	e7-e5
2. Ng1 – f3	Nb8 – c6
3. Bf1 – c4	Bf8 – c5
4. Nb1 – c3	Ng8 – f6
5. d2 – d3	d7 – d6…

For player who like open lines, bold attacks, and exciting piece play at the cost of a Pawn.

White	Black
1. e2 – e4	e7-e5
2. Ng1-f3	Nb8-f6
3. Bf1-c4	Bf8-c5
4. b2-b4....

A good choice if you want a closed game with slow steady pressure on Black’s position. It begins with both sides developing their Knights.

White	Black
1. e2 – e4	e7-e5
2. Ng1 – f3	Ng8 – c6
3. Nb1 – c3	Ng8 – f6
4. Bf1 – b5…

White	Black
1. e2 – e4	e7-e5
2. Nb1-c3...

White	Black
1. e2 – e4	d7 – d5
2. e4 X e5	Qd8 X d5
3. Nb1 – c3…

White	Black
3.	Qd5 – a5

(show chess board)(hide chess board)

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White	Black
1. e2 –e4	Ng8 – f6

White	Black
1. e2 –e4	Ng8 – f6
2. e4 – e5	Nf6 – d5
3. c2 – c4	Nd5 – b6
4. d2 – d4	d7 – d6
5. f2 – f4…

Grandmaster Secrets - The Caro-Kann

Chess Explained is a new series of books about chess openings. They are not theoretical works in the traditional sense, but more a series of lessons from a chess expert with extensive over-the-board experience with an opening. You will gain an understanding of the opening and the middlegames to which it leads, enabling you to find the right moves and plans in your own games. It is as if you were sitting at the board with a chess coach answering your questions about the plans for both sides, the ideas behind particular moves, and what specific knowledge you need to have.

GM Wells has written well regarded opening books before (Kasparov remarked positively on Wells' Semi-Slav book). In this work, he explains the current state of theory in every significant variation of the Caro-Kann.

Wells mentions that in his youth, he employed the Caro-Kann, and throughout the book enjoys pointing out lines where Black is doing well. But this book is certainly not a repertoire for the Black player, nor a one-sided treatise on winning with theCaro-Kann. It is an honest and mostly objective look at how GMs today view the main lines of the Caro.




Caro Kann Defence: Advance Variation and Gambit System (Batsford Chess Books)

I found the chapters on the Panov Attack and the Advance variation most interesting. Chapters on 4...Nd7, 4...Bf5 and 4...Nf6 as well as sections on the 2 Pawns Attack and various White tries like the KIA and 2 Knights variation all help anyone interested in the Caro-Kann from either side to gain insight. He gives explanations of the main ideas for BOTH sides of this classic defense. He does present the lastest theory but this is not a theoretical tome on the opening, but more like a textbook. If you play 1.e4, you need this book. If you play 1...c6, you probably already own it.

A solid and unpretentious defense. An excellent defense for players who want a game with a locked Pawn structure and a minimum of early tactics, combined with the possibility of strong counterattacking chances later in the game.

White	Black
1. e2 – e4	e7 – e6
2. d2 – d4	d7 – d5
3. Nb1 – c3	Ng8 – f6
4. Bc1 – g5	Bf8 – e7
5. e4 – e5	Nf6 – d7
6. Bg5 X e7	Qd8 X e7…

French Defence, Steinitz, Classical, and Other Systems - PSAKHIS



This book is one in a series of books by GM Lev Psakhis. His previous books for Batsford include The Complete French and The Complete Benoni, as well as other volumes.
The book presents a wealth of illustrative games by Viswanathan Anand, Alexei Shirov, Alexander Grischuk, Jan Timman, Viktor Korchnoi and other leaading players, critically annotated with the most up-to-date theoretical refinements. An enthusiastic devotee of the French Defence for over 20 years now, Psakhis remains strictly objective in his judgments, so whether you play the French for White or Black, this is the most authoritative and comprehensive guide available today.

The most popular opening for the past fifty years.

White	Black
1. e2 – e4	c7 – c5
2. Ng1 – f3	Nb8 – c6
3. d2 – d4

(The Sicilian Defense Demo)(hide chess board)

Standard play in the Sicilian Defence, White advances his d-Pawn, opening more space for his Queen and Queen Bishop.
(The Sicilian Defense Demo)(hide chess board)

White	Black
3.	c5 X d4
4. Nf3 X d4	Ng8 – f6
5. Nb1 – c3	d7 – d6
6. Bc1 – g5	a7 – a6…

A great book for players new to the Sicilian is, the one Co-authored by David N. L. Levy and Kevin O'Connel, titled - How to Play the Sicilian Defense. Levy and O'Connell do an excellent job of outlining strategies for White and Black in this wide-ranging opening including almost all the variations in this line. For those rated 1400-1800, this is a good introduction to the opening. Some other books in this opening are highlighted below:

Najdorf Variation: A favourite of Both Bobby Fischer and Gary Kasparov and one of the most complicated variations in chess.

White	Black
1. e2 – e4	c7 – c5
2. Ng1 – f3	d7 –d5

(The Sicilian Defense Demo - Najdorf Variation)(hide chess board)

Black has played a slightly different variation of the Sicilian Defense and this is called the Najdorf Variation.

White	Black
3. d2 – d4	c5 X d4
4. Nf3 X d4	Ng8 – f6
5. Nb1 – c3	a6 – a7…

One of the common questions asked by a budding chess player is, which books must he chose to develop his positional and strategic skills? Often it is easier to find books , which focus on tactics, but to search for material on the most relevant strategy chess book is often difficult. I have made a small list of books which might be useful to develop positional skills.

Books by Kotov and Polgar focus more on tactics. Some of the easier to find books on strategy are by Lasker and Yasser Sairawan and by Bronstein. For some authors, such as Pachman, I have listed all available books even though I have gone through only a few pages from his book, Modern Chess Strategy. If his other books are any where near the quality of of those pages , then they too are worth studying. Positional play can't be divorced from tactics, so I have listed some books for that.

One of the often asked questions is - "Is studying Nimzovitsch relevant today? " . My answer would be that, yes, somewhere along the line, Nimzovitsch must be read. But not right away. Start slowly and build yourself from the bottom. Study the games of the great Masters... start with the great Rubeinstein.

The Development of Chess Style
by: Max Gms Euwe, John Nunn, Max Euwe

Judgment and Planning in Chess
by: Max Euwe

Strategy & Tactics in Chess
by: Max Euwe

The Middlegame, Book 2: Dynamic & Subjective Features (Algebraic Edition)
by: M. Euwe, H. Kramer

-----------------------------------------------
The Art of the Middle Game
by: Paul Keres, Alexander Kotov,

-----------------------------------------------
Modern Chess Strategy
by: Ludek Pachman All S. Russell

Modern Chess Tactics: Pieces and Pawns in Action
by: Ludek Pachman

Complete Chess Strategy: First Principles of the Middle Game
by: Ludek Pachman

Complete Chess Strategy: Principles of Pawn Play and the Cter
by: Ludek Pachman

Complete Chess Strategy 2: Principles of Pawn Play and the Ctre
by: Ludek Pachman

Complete Chess Strategy: Play on the Wings
by: Ludek Pachman
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Pawn structure chess
by: Andy Soltis
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Plan Like a Grandmaster (Batsford Chess Books)
by: Alexei Seutin, K Neat

Think Like A Grandmaster: Algebraic Edition
by: Alexander Kotov
-----------------------------------------------
Soviet School of Chess
by: Alexander Kotov and Mikhail Yudovich

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