Chess is fundamentally a dynamic game. Each move changes the situation and the possibilities for both sides. No piece is ever identically as valuable as any other, and their scope changes from move to move. The current generation of supergrandmasters plays unrelentingly dynamic chess, but a great deal of chess literature still deals with chess as if it were a predominantly static game. Much traditional chess teaching is based around rules of thumb that might work well 'on average' or in 'typical' situations, but these rules may not equip players for the specific and sometimes exceptional situations that they face in their games. In this book, Valeri Beim explains how to factor in dynamic considerations, and weigh initiative and time against material and other static factors. Topics include: dynamics, development, the king as a target, breakthrough, and the initiative.

Valeri Beim is a grandmaster who lives in Austria. He has won numerous tournaments and plays in the Austrian and German leagues. For many years he was the head trainer at the chess school in Odessa, and he was also the trainer of the Israeli Olympiad team. This is his fourth chess book: see also Understanding the Leningrad Dutch, Chess Recipes from the Grandmaster's Kitchen, Lessons in Chess Strategy, and How to Calculate Chess Tactics.

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.

"We may be looking at a book that will be regarded as a classic. Don't let it pass you by..." - Akram Shehata. ChessCafe.com

"...plenty of food for thought. The examples and explanations are first rate." - Michael Mulford, Georgia Chess

"Anyone who takes the time to study this book is sure to benefit. Have you ever had an advantage, continued to play logically but still managed to only draw or even lose? Chances are you missed the dynamic opportunities in the position. This book will help you to find them." - John Pugh, Chess Post

"A good teaching book for chessfriends of all strengths" - Jerzy Konikowski, Fernschach International

"All-in-all this work is a very good chess textbook, that we can recommend to all advanced chessplayers" - Schachmarkt

"All right, at the risk of sounding like my brother wrote this book, I will say that this is a diamond. ... This is a rich and valuable contribution to chess strategy. Buy this book!" - Alex Dunne, ICCF Amici (www.amici.iccf)

"After reading these books [this and Lessons in Chess Strategy] I have but one question - who is Valeri Beim and why has he been hiding so long? These are absolutely two of the finest treatises on chess strategy ever written. ... Dynamic is an incredible work, simply the best I have ever read on this topic. I suspect even some players of the first rank will find something to think about, and the rest of us will have our games adjusted forever. If you buy one chess book this year, this should be it. This book is so good, I have to stray from my usual method of categorizing books, and deem it an Instant Classic." - Don Aldrich, Chess Today

"The ideas in each chapter are illustrated by a series of well-chosen examples, both part and full games, with annotations that explain clearly the motivation behind the moves." - Alan Sutton, En Passant

"It is thoroughly good stuff. The reviewer was tempted to be effusive and propose the inscription of Beim's name in the chess author's hall of fame alongside Dvoretsky and co. It may just be that he is the beneficiary of Gambit's excellent support and a very skilled translator in John Sugden. So many other competent chess authors are let down by their publishers, but not Beim. Whatever the case may be, the end product is an excellent work on the subject and can be warmly recommended." - John Saunders, BCM

"Have you ever had an advantage, continued to play logically but still managed to only draw or even lose? Chances are you missed the dynamic opportunities in the position. This book will help you to find them." - John Pugh, Chess Post

"Want to play dynamic chess? You could work your way through a pile of Alehkine's games, chow down on some self-annotated games by Kasparov, or reflect on one of the classics like Suba's Dynamic Chess Strategy. However, if you choose to work with Beim, your chess will become more dynamic. He does know where to hit with that mallet! On the basis of the strength of How to Play Dynamic Chess, I'd almost be tempted to recommend his Chess Recipes from the Grandmaster's Kitchen and Lessons in Chess Strategy, sight unseen; but that would mean I wouldn't get to enjoy turning those pages as well. I'd much rather read them through first - and then make my recommendations." - Rick Kennedy, Chessville.com