Bøker utgitt av Thinkers Publishing

The Grunfeld Defence is one of the most dynamic openings for Black. The opening was developed by two famous World Champions, namely Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.While theory is far from being exhausted and still developing, our author Grandmaster Milos Pavlovic made a strange case and found new alternatives to battle White's setups. On top this book cuts through the dense theory that surrounds thisopening and establishes a total new repertoire based around consistentstrategies, concepts and novelties.This is a fully revised and seriously extended edition of the original book published in 2017.

The Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense– known simply as ‘the Dragon’ to its acolytes and opponents – truly standsatop any list of fans’ favorites, the mythical scaly beast lending its name toperhaps the most dangerous and nerve-wracking of all chess openings.This book aims to chart the life story ofthis most epic of chess variations through the eyes of the brightest and bestDragon Masters, from its inception to its 21st century status. Along the way we will recall the perils andpitfalls that exist in the often wild and as yet untamed Dragon landscape. Intimately connected to these battles are the anti-Dragon warriors – those whohave dedicated years to inventing ever more clever methods of slaying theDragon. Just as the Dragon attracted worldchampions such as Botvinnik, Kasparov and Carlsen to its cohorts, so too werefigures such as Spassky, Fischer and Karpov committed to breaking its spirit. The popularity and theoretical status (often,though not always, intertwined) of all major openings rise and fall likeempires, destined to lie in dust, only to find themselves miraculously revivedand rebuilt by new generations.

In 1967, 25-year-old Rolf Martens won the Swedish Championshipplaying faster than anyone before. In the Student World Championshiphe defeated one of the world’s ten best players, and at the end of theyear he became the first Swede to make an IM-norm. Efim Geller said:“If Martens comes to Moscow, he will become one of the best playersin the world.”A few years later, he had quit playing to pursue political activism onthe far left. It became his vocation for the rest of his life.When Martens’ desire for chess returned, it was as an analyst. Hefounded the Ultra Hypermodern Counter Attack School and hasproduced more openings than perhaps any other player in history.Rolf Martens - Chess genius, maoist and rebel is his life story, but alsoa book for anyone who wants to use his openings.

In thislong-awaited second Thinkers-book of International Master, Armin Juhasz, the reader isinvited to take a seat in his classroom and follow his useful guidelines how toimprove your practical play. The emphasis is on general principles that readerswill be able to use in their own games, and detailed analysis is always givenwhere it is necessary. Each game and fragment contain many lessons andpractical tips, guiding the reader through the most important ideas in eachphase of the game. This book illustrates an increasingly prevalent andsuccessful style of play, a method that begins by slowly accumulating small butpermanent advantages. The author does a very good job of explaining the keypoints of the game in such a way that the reader is given a true account ofwhat is happening and not some watered down version. Translating the muddyworld of modern master chess into something that is understandable to thelayman, is a skill Armin mastered.

Chess has fascinatedpeople for centuries. But what exactly is chess? Is it a sport, a science, oran art?Well, people think differently about that.Some Grandmasters may say it’s a sport, while others think it’s anart.Despite the individual nature of the game, we have always found it striking that chess is also a social activity.Nowadays, chess is regularly played at theinternet, but still more often in social settings such as clubs, tournamentsand cafés, making it a unique activity for people of all ages andbackgrounds.At the Olympiad, chess players fromdifferent countries find common ground because chess has its own internationallanguage of pieces, moves and rules.Even in a park, chess can create connectionsbetween strangers as they engage in a game together.Just as chess, we think also photoshave the power to connect people across time and distance. Photos capturemoments and emotions that transcend language and cultural barriers.They preserve memories and remind us of thebeauty and diversity of our world. We also believe that in today'sdigital age, a physical photo book still has the ability to foster asense of belonging.

·       ·       ·       ·       ·       ·       ·       ·       ·       ·       If you do so, your brain will adapt to chess,making it easier for you to find the right plan or move. Our brain can adaptfor every task required regularly; be it multiplication of finding chess moves.

The book you have just started reading isabout a very interesting and difficult concept: the exchange sacrifice. This isthe moment in chess when basic mathematics breaks down, the moment when 3counts equal to or even more than 5. So let us leave the mathematics aside andtry to figure out why this simple calculation is so difficult to understand.The answer is largely hidden in psychology, as the ninth World Champion, TigranPetrosian, has often told us, as the man who brought this strategic-tactical chessconcept to its first peak. Chess beginners were taught the value of pieces bytheir teachers (parents, grandparents, perhaps at school or even later in thebeginners¿ sections of chess clubs). We explain the difference between piecevalues to children in the simplest way possible, with the help of a unit ofmeasurement, and in chess those units are the pawns. They tell us that a rookis worth five pawns (units) and a knight and a bishop are worth about threeeach. They also tell us to always be careful, especially during exchanges, toensure we take at least as much from our opponent as he or she took from us.So, one rook at a time, perhaps for a bishop and a knight next to two pawns.This ¿chess thinking¿ is done quickly and very strongly subconsciously in most,one could even say all. Therefore, when choosing moves, we will automaticallyreject unfavorable exchanges. But who trades a queen for a knight, a bishop fora pawn, and the like? We know from our own life experience that it is better tohave ten coins in our pocket than three, and I prefer three to one! Thispsychological barrier is the most difficult step in making the decision tosacrifice. And so it is with the sacrifice of an exchange. Five for three, thatis! Even five for four, if we get a pawn for the rook along with the knight orthe bishop. ¿I am not stupid,¿ you think. The Exchange Sacrifice Unleashedbrings different games or coaches try to explain this and that to us, we seethat a material advantage is not always something to celebrate about.

This book is about the Nimzo-IndianClassical line 4.Qc2 (also known as the Capablanca Variation) and the 4.Bd2-line, for which basically I couldnot find an established name. As far as I know, the 4.Bd2 linehas never been covered in such a comprehensive way in any book before. In thetext I suggest that this line should have the combined name ofTartakower-Duchamp line because Tartakower played it often, while to mysurprise Marcel Duchamp (who was also a famous French artist) played it too inthe 1930s and indeed in a very good positional fashion against strong players. Some of those games are in the book.Now this line enjoys greater popularitythan ever before. About the Classical line with 4. Qc2 there isnothing much to add, except for the fact that it has become hugely popular, butunfortunately from my point of view it involves too much engine-style chess.

This book is about the Nimzo-IndianClassical line 4.Qc2 (also known as the Capablanca Variation) and the 4.Bd2-line, for which basically I couldnot find an established name. The 4.Bd2 linehas never been covered in such a comprehensive way in any book before. In thetext I suggest that this line should have the combined name ofTartakower-Duchamp line because Tartakower played it often, while to mysurprise Marcel Duchamp (who was also a famous French artist) played it too inthe 1930s and indeed in a very good positional fashion against strong players. Some of those games are in the book.Now this line enjoys greater popularitythan ever before. About the Classical line with 4. Qc2 there isnothing much to add, except for the fact that it has become hugely popular, butunfortunately from my point of view it involves too much engine-style chess.

This bundle consists of two books: a children¿s picturebook, Someday I¿ll Be a Queen, along with a Toolbox foradults who want to teach children to play chess.How are these books different from other chess books foryoung children? The picture book starts as a fairy tale about a king, a dragonand a young girl with a dream. A young girl is the main character becauseI want to encourage girls and make it clear that this game is also for them.The history of the game of chess is incorporated as you getacquainted with the characters.The picture book is very inviting, with plenty of funny andbeautiful drawings. There is a lot to discover! For the youngest preschoolers, it is best to tell the storyin your own words, but the older preschoolers fully enjoy the rhyming story.Every chess rule is found in an attractive drawing. This wasan important didactic choice made by the author.The story is told in rhyme. Preschoolers love repetition andthis is a handy tool when memorizing the chess rules.The accompanying Toolbox explains in a unique way howto start playing chess: the rules, the tips and tricks anyone needs toknow are presented here. The Toolbox features two parts: how to teach onepupil or a group of pupils. The author provides a unique approach, drawing onher phenomenal teaching experience over the past decades.

For the first time, chess will be included as a sport at the Paris Olympic Games 2024.Chess has been proven to build executive function. The sooner you start building this with children, the better the result.Chess provides the ability to think in a new and different way, to problem solve, to adjust to changes, to incorporate new ideas.Chess is like a language -- you learn it at a young age, develop it over time, and it improves your cognitive abilities.The United States is the strongest chess nation in the world. Three of the top ten chess players in the world are Americans.

For the first time, chess will be included as a sport at the Paris Olympic Games 2024.Chess has been proven to build executive function. The sooner you start building this with children, the better the result.Chess provides the ability to think in a new and different way, to problem solve, to adjust to changes, to incorporate new ideas.Chess is like a language -- you learn it at a young age, develop it over time, and it improves your cognitive abilities.The United States is the strongest chess nation in the world. Three of the top ten chess players in the world are Americans.

The Barry Attack is somewhat defensive-looking from the start. It tempts Black forward, provocatively. The Barry Attack is, after all, a little rebellious, flouting, as it does, all those common sense development rules. Perhaps your game needs a good shot of tactics to boost your results – it’s one of the fastest ways to improve and this is true not only for young players. If your opponent plays an early move order that’s not in this book such as 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c5 or 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 for example, the good news is that Black will be forced to transpose back into the mass of material. The ‘’super repertoire’’ that always keeps Black under pressure in all variations is of course, a total myth. Any reasonable opening set-up can work wonders for White or Black if they know it well. This is always going to outweigh theoretical evolution. Playing strong chess is also very much about your level of self-confidence, emotional and physical health. It’s about who you are and how you feel in many ways at the precise moment of play in addition to your opening knowledge and general technique. Anyone who takes the trouble to play through each model example, move by move, note by note, will be rewarded. Your strategic play will deepen and your tactics will improve along with your assessment skills, and you’ll end up with a great repertoire!

All the fundamental endgames are coveredFull of practical tips and opinionsWritten by an prominent endgame masterUnique structure with an educational purpose

The spirit of Indian Defenses is based on flexibility and harmony.  Most of the lines are positional, not tactical in character.  While playing Black, you have to accept that occasionally you will not equalize, or get surprised or out-prepared.  Learning the material from this book should sharply limit the extent of such instances, thus improving your overall results. Finally, I have an important piece of advice: remember about color strategy!  The Bogo-Indian is mainly based on dark-squared control, while the Nimzo-Indian does so on the light squares. In case you forget what to do, this may prove a very useful guideline when choosing a move.

·       Jan Boekelman has produced youwith a playable repertoire out of a somewhat sideline Opening, which nobodydared to touch to make it into an entire repertoire. ·       Try to expand your knowledge inthe 3.c3 variation and go beyond the book's content·       Deepen your knowledge in 3.c4variation and do not play it before you know it well·       Finally, follow the very strongGM Vladislav Artemiev, who has had a relatively successful run with thisopening in rapid online events.

This book is an expansion of Pandolfini’s commandments -  The author came up with 200 axioms, one-liners and mantras.  This list of 200 is an amalgamation from various sources including previous coaches. Things I’ve read, things I’ve seen in videos, conversations with other chess players and, of course, brutal losses over the board. I hope this list serves as primer for you before you go into battle, so that you remember key patterns and ideas, and also helps elevate your state of mind to that of a warrior going to war.

·           You may think such checkmates are a piece of cake and too easy. But you’ll see that some are not as simple as you may think.     And always remember: here in the book it’s written in big letters, “Mate in up to two moves”. In the game, though, there’s no such writing on the board and you have to see the mate yourself, preferably a few moves ahead.     Therefore it’s important that you know as many mate patterns as possible. I hope I can show you some that you did not know already or that you would not always recognize in a game.     Please take this training seriously; an important part of the road to playing better chess.

T Sound aggression against the Dutch Defence   Promises good attacking chances and avoids learning reams of theory about the Leningrad Dutch, the Stonewall or the Classical Dutch, opening set-ups our opponent knows everything about?    This book explores such a system for White with a complete repertoire based on the Staunton gambit.    A repertoire for White, with attention for various alternatives White may choose from along the way, and an in-depth analysis of all of Black's responses.

This book is a complete Black repertoire starting 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6, the exchange variation being the first chapter. It provides you with a lot of insights into this remarkable variation, the Ark, and entertains the reader with spectacular, resourceful lines to illustrate the ideas.  This book should also be interesting for those who just enjoy chess in general, not just for the fans of this line seeking new ideas! You don’t need to memorize everything to be able to play the variation successfully. Longer lines merely tend to be examples of how the game might develop, which help to enhance your understanding.

In "The Duel", Alessandro Bossi and Claudio Brovelli go deep into the lives ofthese two legendary World Champions, who have left their mark in an unforgettable manner on their epoch (the first forty years of the 20th century) and whoremain – in part, due to their very different personalities and relationship withthe game – inimitable examples for all the chess-playing generations to come.The choice to present in parallel the two biographies (in my opinion quite rightlyso), shows clearly and effectively similarities and differences, not only in the styleof play, but also in the approaches to life of the two protagonists.With very precise historical descriptions and presenting the events in chronological order, the authors accompany us on a journey alongside the lives of thesetwo legends of chess. In this fashion the personalities emerge, in many ways antithetical but equally fascinating: Capablanca, friendly and charming in society,precocious, genial and nearly invincible on the chessboard, and Alekhine, whocombined a wonderful talent with a capacity for work, a competitive attitude andan energy which was truly enviable.

Volume 2 is divided into eight chapters. Unlike Volume 1, it is possibleto mix the order in which you study these chapters , but not to study the gameswithin each chapter out of order, since the examples build upon each other incomplexity. I suggest that the chapter on “Passed Pawns” should be studiedfirst, because many of the various middlegame structures can ultimately giverise to a passed pawn in the endgame. Work carefully through these examples,because masters use pawn structures even in the opening to predict the propertiesof endgames which can potentially arise – this is a widely neglected aspect andcan be a strong weapon for you!

The purpose of this series is to introduce the reader to advanced training concepts, using the same methods of presentation and instruction that were taught to great players by famous trainers that they have worked with. The series will commence with the The Passed Pawn and we will examine how to handle such pawns.Every chess player who wishes to improvehis level in the difficult subject of chess is obliged to study methodicallyand understand the existing principles that govern the theory of the opening,middlegame and endgame. Most chess players focus more on the study of openingtheory than other aspects of the game. The reasons are probably clear: openingtheory is easier to learn and can provide immediate results, although this isbased more on the opponent's ignorance than our own abilities. Even for a chesstrainer, it is easier to teach some variations from this or that opening or aset of simple tactical motifs than to engross himself in the exposition ofmiddlegame and endgame theory. Yes, middlegame and endgame theory does exist.The great difficulty in approaching it lies in the fact that it does not followabsolute and clear-cut paths, but rather involves deep research in the ideasand logic by which specific types of positions are treated. Moreover, unlikeopening theory, the theory of the middlegame and the endgame does not changerapidly based on modern developments; it remains almost intact through theyears. In view of the above, any chess player who wishes to follow a chesscareer or simply become a better player must refrain from the commonplace andassume a different approach. He must develop a good understanding of middlegameand endgame theory, so as to be able in his games to proceed in a proper wayafter his chosen opening has reached its conclusion. The chess player candifferentiate himself only in the opening; there, each one of us brings forthhis own beliefs and convictions, and in general his own experiences andreferences. Objectively, no opening loses ? but also no opening wins. Theopening is just the beginning of the journey and serves to offer us acomfortable start. But to reach the end of this journey successfully we have tocount on our knowledge and experience, as regards middlegame and endgametheory. Endgame theory teaches us two fundamental issues. First, how to extractthe maximum from a basic theoretical position with little material, where theexperts, from practice comprising thousands of games, have reached definiteconclusions. Second, the way in which we can handle an endgame, depending onthe material remaining on the board, and the ideas and plans we should employ.This second issue is significantly more difficult to master because, apart frommaking full use of the first one (we must be aware of the possible outcomes ofthe endgame in question) it is greatly influenced by our experience andunderstanding, which are basically derived from the images and impressions wehave from related positions. A primary role is played here by the effort wehave invested in studying. In middlegame theory, things are even tougher. Weare obliged to study various types of positions with specific strategic andtactical attributes, so as to understand the underlying ideas and be able toemploy them ourselves in similar situations. While many chess players havestudied these topics and acquired knowledge, it is the application of thisknowledge in practice that helps differentiate between them. Chess is not asimple activity, but it becomes so much more attractive when we acquire thisknowledge.

Welcome to Volume 2 of Cheparinov's 1.d4!.In the second part of the series, I amsharing my knowledge about the Slav Defense. I am confident that the bookcontains many new and interesting ideas and I have tried to provide you with thebest practical options. Objectively speaking Black looks good in many lines butin practice things may look different. While I cannot promise you a bigadvantage in each line, I do believe you will have the best practical chancesduring the game. Writing the second volume was verychallenging for me. The Slav encompasses a wide but solid body of theory. Blackhas plenty of options and finding advantages and practical chances was not easyat all. In any case I believe that chess players from amateurs to very strongplayers will appreciate this book. While the Covid pandemic gave me a lot offree time to concentrate on the book, I am very happy to see that manytournaments are back. This means that my book can be useful, and you mayactually be able to apply some of the ideas in your games.  The best way to use this book is to first examinethe lines on an actual board and then check them with an engine. I hope thismethod of study increases your understanding of the positions that arise fromthe Slav. This book can be a very important starting point for building your1.d4 repertoire.Ivan CheparinovMarch 2022