Jan Timman (1951) is a former World Championship Candidate who rose to the number two spot of the FIDE world rankings. The Dutch grandmaster was one of the world's leading players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s and is still playing actively in open tournaments and in club leagues. At the peak of his career he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known as 'The Best of the West'. In 1993 he qualified for the final of the FIDE World Championship, but lost the match against Anatoly Karpov. He has won the Dutch Chess Championship nine times and has been a Candidate for the World Championship several times. He has won dozens of tournaments, including Wijk aan Zee (1981 and 1985), Linares (1988) and the World Cup tournament in Rotterdam (1989). In a rapid tournament in 1991, in a knock-out format, he beat Gata Kamsky, Anatoly Karpov, Viswanathan Anand and World Champion Garry Kasparov to claim the title. Timman is one of the best chess writers and annotators. He is the author of several highly acclaimed bestsellers, such as Curaçao 1962, On the Attack!, and Power Chess with Pieces. He is editor of New In Chess magazine and editor-in-chief of New In Chess Yearbook. Try this training book and play the same winning moves as GM Timman. In this book you will get one hundred training exercises, in positions where Timman turned the game in his favour. The puzzles start at a moderate level and gradually get more difficult. Don't give up!

All through his career Jan Timman has been captivated by the mystery and splendour of endgame studies. Even during his most successful and busy years as a world-class player, Timman continued to compose studies and admire those of others. For him, there has never been any doubt that his journeys in this magical world helped him to grow as a player. In this fascinating book, first published in 2011, Timman has collected studies by other composers and explains in his lucid style how they inspired him to create dozens of brand-new studies. Timman has revised the book for this new edition. With the help of engines, Timman discovered that a few studies needed to be corrected or had alternative solutions. He removed six studies and replaced another six with better versions. And fourteen new studies have been added, two of which are published here for the first time.

Every club player knows the problem: the opening has ended, and now what? With this new edition of his award winning book, International Master Herman Grooten presents to amateur players a complete and structured course on how to recognize key characteristics in all types of positions and how to make use of those characteristics to choose the right plan. His teachings are based on the famous “Elements” of Wilhelm Steinitz, but Grooten has significantly expanded and updated the work of the first World Champion. He supplies many modern examples, tested in his own practice as a coach of talented youngsters. In Chess Strategy for Club Players you will learn the basic elements of positional understanding: pawn structure, piece placement, lead in development, open files, weaknesses, space advantage and king safety. You will master the art of converting a temporary plus into other, more permanent advantages. The author also explains what to do when, in a given position, the basic principles seem to point in different directions. Each chapter of this fundamental primer ends with a set of highly instructive exercises. This new 3rd edition has, besides various corrections and improvements, a new introduction and a brand-new chapter called ‘Total Control’ with new exercises.

Garry Kasparov is a fighter, both in chess and in life. The 13th World Champion regards his playing style as 'a symbiosis of the styles of Alekhine, Tal and Fischer'. Kasparov was known for his deep opening analysis, but also for his positional understanding and combinatory play. Do you want to adopt Kasparov-like thought processes in your own games? Try this tactics training book and play the same winning moves as the former World Champion did in his games! One hundred training exercises are offered, in positions where Kasparov turned the game in his favour. The puzzles start at a moderate level and gradually get more difficult. Don't give up!

Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) was the 4th World Champion in the history of chess. In 1927 he defeated Jose Raul Capablanca in a World Championship Match by 18,5 - 15,5 (the winner was the first to win six games). Apart from a short intermission - in 1935-37 het lost his world title to the Dutchman Max Euwe - Alekhine held his title until his death in 1946. Alekhine was one of the greatest attacking players and for mere mortals it seemed he could produce combinations out of nowhere. The man of the ‘complex combinations’ was known for his dynamic play and produced many beautiful games. Alekhine was quite clear about his tactical skills: ‘I have had to work long and hard to eradicate the dangerous delusion that, in a bad position, I could always, or nearly always, conjure up some unexpected combination to extricate me from my difficulties.’ Even in this age of computer chess, many of his ideas are still alive. Besides being a tactical genius, Alekhine showed wonderful opening preparation, incredible imagination and positional understanding. Do you want to adopt Alekhine-like thought processes in your own games? In this tactics training book you will get the opportunity to play the same good moves as the former World Champion did. This book offers you one hundred training exercises, in which Alekhine turned the game in his favour. The puzzles start at a moderate level and gradually get more difficult. Are you up for the challenge?

Bobby Fischer Robert James 'Bobby' Fischer (1943-2008) was the eleventh World Chess Champion. In 1972 the American defeated the reigning World Champion at that time, Boris Spassky, in a very tense match. People still talk about this 'Cold War confrontation', which was known for its dramatic events. Fischer's road to the World title did not go unnoticed by Hollywood. On September 2015 the movie 'Pawn Sacrifice' was released in the United States. The movie is based on Bobby's Fischer's challenging of the top Soviet chess grandmasters during the Cold War, resulting in the clash with Spassky in 1972. In 1975, Fischer abdicated his title when an agreement could not be reached with FIDE, the World Chess Federation. After that he disappeared from the chess scene, but suddenly emerged to play a re-match against Boris Spassky in 1992. He won the match convincingly, although experts claimed he no longer had the strength of a World Champion. Again, after beating Spassky in a match, Fischer did not play (tournament) chess anymore. Fischer only hit the headlines for his controversial views and behavior outside the chessboard. During his career he was known for 'being different', but as time progressed his behavior became more and more strange. After 1992, for twelve years Fischer was on the run from the US government, which issued an arrest warrant against him for violating the UN sanctions and not paying his taxes. Eventually, Iceland granted him asylum in 2005. At the symbolic age of 64 Fischer died in a hospital in Reykjavik, the city where he had become World Champion. Bobby Fischer was one the greatest chess players of all time. He was renowned for his opening preparation, but probably most people will remember Fischer as the attacking player with a relentless will to win. Some typical Fischer quotes: "Chess is war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent's mind. I like the moment when I break a man's ego. You have to have the fighting spirit. You have to force moves and take chances." Another thing Fischer said was, "All that matters on the chessboard is good moves!" In this tactics training book you will get the opportunity to play the same good moves as Fischer did. This book offers you one hundred training exercises, in which Fischer turned the game in his favour. The puzzles start at a moderate level and gradually get more difficult. Good luck!

This tactics training book gives you the opportunity to make the same winning moves as super Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana made in his games. One hundred training exercises are offered here, in positions which the Italian turned in his favour. The puzzles start at a moderate level and gradually get more difficult. How many good moves can you make in a row?