Following on from his successful book Chess Recipes from the Grandmaster's Kitchen, Valeri Beim serves up a further series of lessons on important general chess topics. His helpful advice will help you to handle a whole range of typical situations with greater confidence and understanding. These include: geometry of the chessboard; symmetrical pawn-structures; space advantage; central passed pawn in the middlegame; static and dynamic features. In each chapter there are exercises for the reader, with full solutions given.

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 third chess book; see also Understanding the Leningrad Dutch, How to Play Dynamic Chess, and How to Calculate Chess Tactics.

"I was especially impressed with Mr. Beim's selection of positions to discuss. They very clearly illustrate the corresponding themes, and will repay close study. GM Beim is an experienced trainer, and also, he is obviously an excellent teacher. I look forward to reading his other books." - Bill Kelleher, ChessCafe.com

"After reading these books [this and How to Play Dynamic Chess] 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. Having said that, I suppose I could end the review here, but I feel constrained to explain why this is so. A good, truly good book on strategy must do a couple of things. First and foremost, it must explain ideas in a clear way that we haven't seen before. Second, the examples used must be clear, concise and memorable. Third, we look for that something 'extra', call it the wow factor. Beim delivers on all counts. ...Some classic, oft seen examples, but Beim always brings his own twist to the table that presents them in a new light. Lessons is an extremely well written book, exploring concepts and ideas the reader probably hasn't seen before and does so in an extraordinarily accessible way. It is hard to imagine a player who wouldn't benefit from it." - Don Aldrich, Chess Today

"Verdict: a serious examination of some complex positional topics, treated seriously yet with enthusiastic appreciation of the play of his chosen models." - Phil Adams, 3Cs website

"What makes this book especially valuable are the 124 exercises given to test the reader's understanding. These exercises come with full and detailed solutions." - IM John Donaldson, on Silman's website

"This is a beautiful chess book - full of interesting, instructive examples of strategic chess-play and containing over a hundred exercises, with very detailed solutions at the end of the book. " - Norman Stephenson, Cleveland Chess

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.