Bøker av Sam Collins

Sam Collins looks back through chess history and at modern times, and examines the best ever chess ideas, devised by the creative minds of the greatest players.

The King's Indian is a hugely popular opening at all levels of chess. Rather than attempting to secure early equality, Black is fighting for the initiative from the very first moves.

International Master Sam Collins selects and examines his favorite games from Anatoly Karpov, one of the greatest chess players of all time, and shows us how we can all learn and improve our chess by studying Karpov's masterpieces.

Sam Collins highlights the typical plans and tactics for both sides, presents repertoire options for Black and provides answers to all the key questions.

By carefully choosing variations that lead to similar structures, IM Sam Collins has put together a powerful repertoire book ideal for players with limited study time. White opens with 1 e4 and develops his pieces to natural squares, seeking open lines and the initiative. The dominant theme of this sound and active repertoire is that - where reasonable - White seeks out Isolated Queen Pawn (IQP) positions: i.e. with the c3 Sicilian, Panov Caro-Kann, Tarrasch French, and the Italian Game with early c3 and d4.There are no speculative gambits here, just plenty of healthy aggression and new ideas. Because so many of Collins's recommendations lead to familiar structures, ideas can easily be transplanted from one opening to another. He gives illustrative games that emphasize the key themes, including White's many opportunities to forcibly weaken and attack the black king. The specific analysis is up-to-the-minute and features ideas that have proven their worth in grandmaster practice. Throughout there is attention to move-order subtleties, with clever nuances in 'sidelines' that your opponents are unlikely to have examined in detail.Irish international master Sam Collins won the championship of his home country in 2002 and 2014. He has represented Ireland in numerous Olympiads, winning an individual gold medal at Bled in 2002. He is also an experienced chess teacher who has lectured at the Berkeley Chess School in California. His previous books for Gambit were Chess Explained: The c3 Sicilian and the highly successful general opening work Understanding the Chess Openings.

Sam Collins explores gambit play and facing aggressive chess: how to beat unsound gambits, how to deal with pressure, how to counterattack and how to make your extra material count.

The Advance Variation is a popular and direct way of meeting the ultra-solid French Defence, and is a firm favourite amongst uncompromising Grandmasters. This CD explains the strategies and tactics of this dynamic opening. Through the use of model games for both White and Black, it provides a grounding in the key plans and ideas.