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UNDERSTANDING CHESS960 (Johannes Carow)
192 pages (248 mm by 172 mm)
£17.50/$22.95/€22,50

Chess opening theory has changed out of all recognition in the 21st century, yet chess literature has been slow to catch up with this. Martyn Kravtsiv, a grandmaster and trainer of the same generation as Magnus Carlsen, is here to redress the balance.
This huge book fully takes on board new developments. The most space is devoted to lines that are popular today, and that deep computer analysis suggests have the brightest futures. If an opening cannot be recommended, Kravtsiv explains why with the minimum of variations. He identifies openings more suitable for rapid chess, and what type of work is needed from readers who are interested in playing each opening. Nothing in this book is dictated by the paradigms of older opening works. 

PRACTICAL CHESS OPENINGS (Martyn Kravtsiv)
544 pages (248 mm by 172 mm)
£27.50/$34.95/€34,95

Chess opening theory has changed out of all recognition in the 21st century, yet chess literature has been slow to catch up with this. Martyn Kravtsiv, a grandmaster and trainer of the same generation as Magnus Carlsen, is here to redress the balance.
This huge book fully takes on board new developments. The most space is devoted to lines that are popular today, and that deep computer analysis suggests have the brightest futures. If an opening cannot be recommended, Kravtsiv explains why with the minimum of variations. He identifies openings more suitable for rapid chess, and what type of work is needed from readers who are interested in playing each opening. Nothing in this book is dictated by the paradigms of older opening works. 

ROOK ENDGAMES FROM MORPHY TO CARLSEN (Valentin Bogdanov)
304 pages (248 mm by 172 mm)
softback: £22.50/$29.95/€26,95
hardback: £27.50/$35.00/€32,50

We shall see that even the best players make a surprising number of errors in rook endings. By emphasizing the most common themes and areas where players go astray, Bogdanov helps us determine which parts of those technical endgame manuals that are sitting on our shelves are most worth thumbing through. This book can also simply be enjoyed as a stroll through chess history – you will be amazed how many key turning-points occurred in rook endgames!
The players featured in this book include all 17 official world champions, the 3 ‘uncrowned kings’ who preceded them, and a selection of 8 other outstanding players. There are 384 examples in total. The book is completed with a selection of 68 exercise positions, and detailed indexes of themes and players.

400 CHESS STRATEGY PUZZLES (Martyn Kravtsiv)
208 pages (248 mm by 172 mm)
£18.50/$24.95/€22,50

“I noticed that most of the students [at the Lviv chess school] were pretty good at calculating variations and finding tactical ideas. But when I gave them a strategic exercise they became a little confused. ... I realized that few good books of a suitable level with strategic exercises have been published.” – Martyn Kravtsiv
This book aims to fill the gap. After tackling the exercises, you will have a greater understanding of which piece needs to be exchanged, whether to advance a pawn or leave it where it is, along with a variety of other strategic questions involving outposts, open lines, structures and where to attack.

1001 DEADLY CHESS PUZZLES (James Rizzitano)
304 pages (248 mm by 172 mm)
£22.50/$28.50/€26,95

This is a true tactics assault course, where you will learn by solving: the lessons are contained in the puzzles themselves, and taught by your own effort in solving them. The first four chapters include a test section, where the positions are a little simpler, to check what you have learned. They are also designed as revision exercises, to return to periodically after you have finished reading the book.
Rizzitano’s puzzles are not just a case of ‘spot the tactic and move on’. That isn’t good training for practical play, where you have no idea if a tactic works until you have analysed it carefully. In some cases it is better to reject the idea and play a quiet move, while many puzzles require a good defensive move. Decision-making skills are vital in competitive chess. And you will definitely need them right away for the book’s final chapters, ‘Advanced Puzzles’ and ‘Deadly Puzzles’. Full solutions are provided.

SECRETS OF QUEEN ENDGAMES (Ferenc Berkes and Tibor Karolyi)
384 pages (248 mm by 172 mm)
£22.50/$29.95/€26,95

Queen endgames can seem unfathomably complicated. Computers have provided complete information for some of the basic queen and pawn endings, but human understanding has proved elusive.
In this groundbreaking work, two Hungarian authors have gone to extraordinary lengths to explain strategies and methods in queen endgames. Rather than a random series of checks, we can now understand king and queen triangulations that gradually bring the pieces to the squares they need to be to engineer the killer tactic that completes the process. Berkes and Karolyi have devised guidelines that help us judge what we need to aim for, and provided a broad set of tools to help us achieve these goals.

UNDERSTANDING PAWN ENDGAMES (Valentin Bogdanov)
160 pages (248 mm by 172 mm)
£14.99/$19.95/€18,90

Understanding the endgame is fundamental to playing good chess, and at its heart lie positions where just kings and pawns remain on the board. Even when a pawn ending is not actually reached, the players must often assess ones that could arise from an exchange of pieces. Experienced Ukrainian trainer Bogdanov examines a wealth of pawn endings where strong players made significant errors and draws lessons and rules of thumb from them.While we are enjoying the entertaining material in this book, we are painlessly absorbing endgame principles and improving our intuitive decision-making skills. We learn how to calculate and identify key positional elements, and appreciate the beautiful tactics and paradoxical ideas that are unique to the world of pawns.

MODERN CHESS OPENING REPERTOIRE FOR WHITE (James Rizzitano)
176 pages (248 mm by 172 mm)
£15.99/$22.95/€21,45

James Rizzitano’s goal in this book is to provide you with a one-volume, theoretically sound, dynamic opening repertoire beginning with 1 e4. Studying the choices of the current top players, he identifies the secrets of their success and incorporates them in his choice of lines to recommend. The analysis is supported by detailed work with the current top computer engines. While serious work on chess openings confirms the basic truth that White can’t simply force a large advantage from the start position, we can greatly narrow Black’s path to safety, and tilt the practical struggle in our favour. To have a chance of half a point, our opponents will need to solve difficult tactical and strategic problems deep into the middlegame.

MAGNUS CARLSEN’S MOST INSTRUCTIVE GAMES (Martyn Kravtsiv)
176 pages (248 mm by 172 mm)
£16.99/$21.95/€22,75

Magnus Carlsen is the greatest chess player of the 21st century. His tactical wizardry, strategic inventiveness, technical expertise and legendary fighting spirit put him head and shoulders above all other players. They also make his games tremendously instructive. In each game Kravtsiv picks out a key point – the Magnus Moment – where Carlsen demonstrates the special insight that sets him apart from other players. The bulk of the book addresses the fight for advantage and initiative in the middlegame, but there are also chapters focusing on opening ideas, endgame play and human factors.

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