Judit Polgar is the strongest female chess player of all time. From an early age on the Hungarian prodigy baffled the world with her sensational triumphs. At the age of 15 she beat Bobby Fischer’s record to become the youngest grandmaster in history. During her glorious career, which she ended in 2014, she defeated World Champions Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen. To reach the 8th spot in the FIDE World Rankings (for men) and belong to the very best for many years, as Judit Polgar did, you obviously have to be a brilliant all-round chess player. Still, she will be first and foremost remembered for her attacking skills. Her electrifying combinations and tactical triumphs set her apart. As former U.S. Champion Joel Benjamin said after he lost to her: "She is a tiger at the chessboard. She absolutely has a killer instinct." Award-winning author Charles Hertan has revisited the gold mine of Judit Polgar’s games and selected her best and most instructive tactics. They are arranged by theme and presented with helpful explanations and lots of practical advice. You will be inspired by her clever traps, stunning sacrifices and cunning endgame tricks. You will learn from her tactical vision, calculating skills and counter-intuitive ideas. Strike Like Judit is a riveting guide that will help you win more games as you will find killer moves more easily and more quickly.

Josh Waitzkin combines personal anecdotes with solid instruction in this unique introduction to the game of chess. Concentrating on teaching young or new players how to beef up their attacks, Waitzkin presents 40 different chess challenges. He introduces each problem with a brief description of the game from which it was drawn. 50 line drawings.

Jan Timman is one of the greatest chess players never to win the world title. For many years ‘the Best of the West’ belonged to the chess elite, collecting quite a few super tournament victories. Three times Timman was a Candidate for the World Championship and his peak in the world rankings was second place, in 1982. For this definitive collection, Timman has revisited his career and subjected his finest efforts to fresh analysis supported by modern technology. The result is startling and fascinating. From the games that he chose for his Timman’s Selected Games (1994, also published as Chess the Adventurous Way), only 10(!) made the cut. Some games that he had been proud of turned out to be flawed, others that he remembered as messy were actually well played. Timman’s Triumphs includes wins against great players such as Karpov, Kasparov, Kortchnoi, Smyslov, Tal, Spassky, Bronstein, Larsen and Topalov. The annotations are in the author’s trademark lucid style, a happy mix of colourful background information and sharp, crystal-clear explanations. Once again Jan Timman shows that he is not only one of the best players the game has seen, but also as one of the best chess analysts and writers.

At the age of 13 years, 4 months and 26 days, Magnus Carlsen became the youngest chess grandmaster in the world. The international press raved about the Norwegian prodigy. The Washington Post even called him ‘the Mozart of chess’. Ten years on Magnus Carlsen is the number one in the world rankings and a household name far beyond chess circles. Time Magazine listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013. How Magnus Carlsen Became the Youngest Chess Grandmaster in the World is the fairy-tale-like story of his rise. The story-teller could not have been better qualified. Simen Agdestein trained Magnus in the years leading up to his grandmaster title, repeatedly pinching himself in amazement at his pupil’s lightning progress While you follow Magnus on his wonderful journey, Agdestein is your guide, providing insights into the Carlsen family life and explaining the secrets of Magnus’ play in clear and instructive comments. This is an inspiring book for any chess player. It will fascinate parents and help gifted children to realize their full potential.

In chess, great achievements often take a lifetime of preparation, but when these achievements are becoming the World Number 1 woman chess player at the age of 12 and the youngest ever grandmaster at the age of 15, you have to start early! In this very personal book Judit Polgar describes her early moments of success and the chess ideas she needed to master in order to achieve them.This exceptional book is the beginning of a unique project where one of the greatest players of our time transforms her personal journey to the top into a roadmap for everyone who ever wanted to better themselves in the game of chess.

WINNER of the ChessCafe 2008 Book of the Year Award SHORTLISTED for The Guardian 2008 Chess Book of the Year Award Why is it that the human brain so often refuses to consider winning chess tactics? Every chess fan marvels at the wonderful combinations with which famous masters win their games. How do they find those fantastic moves? Do they have special vision? And why do computers outwit us tactically? Forcing Chess Moves proposes a revolutionary method for finding winning moves. Charles Hertan has made an astonishing discovery: the failure to consider key moves is often due to human bias. Your brain tends to disregard many winning moves because they are counter-intuitive or look unnatural. It’s a fact of life: computers outdo us humans when it comes to tactical vision and brute force calculation. So why not learn from them? 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 Enjoy the calculation of difficult positions Win more games by recognizing moves that matter. This New and Extended Fourth Edition of Hertan’s award-winning modern classic includes 50 extra pages with new and instructive combinations. There is a foreword by three-time US chess champion Joel Benjamin, and a special foreword to this new edition by Swedish Grandmaster Pontus Carlsson.

New York Times bestselling author “Judith McNaught comes close to an Edith Wharton edge” (Chicago Tribune) in this sensual and sweeping romance of two former lovers who mix business with pleasure. Ruthless corporate raider Matthew Farrell is poised to move in on the legendary department store empire owned by Chicago’s renowned Bancroft family. In the glare of the media spotlight, it’s a stunning takeover that overshadows the sizzling chemistry between Matt, once a scruffy kid from steel town Indiana, and cool, sophisticated Meredith Bancroft. Their brief, ill-fated marriage sparked with thrilling sensuality but ended with a bitter betrayal. Now, locked in a battle that should be all business, dangerous temptations and bittersweet memories are stirring their hearts. Will they risk everything for a passion too bold to be denied?