No Time for Chess? Is that What's Troubling You, Bunky? Well, have a seat... How does one cope with devoting sufficient time to family and career while occasionally trying to fit in the odd game of chess? Is your schedule getting more crowded and accomplishments less satisfying? Then take a journey with Jim Magner, physician, husband and ... chessplayer. Dr. Jim went through college and medical school, married and raised a family, and still was able to get in some serious chessplaying. It was not always easy or convenient, but he persevered and fulfilled most of his life's goals, all the while maintaining his sanity and perspective. He is an average (Class C) player who developed a curious, yet often effective way of dealing with opponents who outranked him, sometime by hundreds of rating points. He shares with the reader his methods and madness, with 31 annotated games dotting his autobiographical narrative. These games are entertaining and instructive, and often somewhat unusual as they illustrate how one may prey upon human weaknesses. If you enjoy rooting for the underdog, then this is the little chess book for you! Over the years Dr. Magner also has provided advice about life and career to countless medical students and trainees, and in this heartwarming book, he also shares his tips for success in family, finances and life itself.

Miniatures in the Ruy Lopez – Main Line Another Great Book in the "Miniatures in the..." Series! The lines covered in this book, the Ruy Lopez – Main Lines, arise (with a few exceptions for move order and such) after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0. The Ruy Lopez, or Spanish Opening if you like, is one of the oldest openings, named after a Spanish priest who first played it back in the 16th century. Needless to say, it has been played a few times since and remains a popular opening at all levels of play. Some of the lines are incredibly theoretical, but rather than burden you with a ton of theory in lines you will have limited chance of using in your own games, the emphasis is on the lines that are more likely to occur in your games. Those lines will be in chapters 3 and 4, the two longest chapters of the book. This book is by no means an all-encompassing theory work, which means that there is a lot of theory that is not discussed in the notes. This is of course intentional. The book is written to entertain and inspire. If you find some lines that you like, you are encouraged to dive deeper into those lines before using them in your own games. As for the games, they are typically between players with a rating of at least 2350 and often well more than that; you will find games between players rated above 2700 in this book. However, I have made some exceptions when a lower rated player beats a player rated above the magical 2350 number. To show the relative strength of the players, I have included the ELO rating of the players involved in the miniatures. A few games are of older date, but are otherwise as recent as 2015.

Magnus Carlsen Becomes World Champion! It was the match that the chess world had been anticipating for several years. Norway’s wunderkind, Magnus Carlsen had qualified as the official challenger for the world chess championship. He was facing the reigning world champion, Viswanathan Anand from India. Would Anand’s enormous match experience and years at the top be enough to stop the young Norwegian grandmaster? Magnus was heavily favored, and he did not disappoint. With the help of German grandmaster Karsten Müller, you can follow as the drama of the match played out in Chennai, India. He has annotated every game, providing insight into the battle for the title. To complement the author’s presentation, grandmaster Susan Polgar – the oldest of the famous Polgar sisters – shares her thoughts about the match in her foreword. She was there for the entire struggle providing coverage for the Indian organizers and media. Also included is a short history of the world chess championship, as well as color photos taken during the match. All in all, this is another fine book on the world chess championship by Karsten Müller.

Confront the Sicilian on Your Own Terms! In 1982, the late Ken Smith’s publishing house Chess Digest published the first edition of Andy Soltis’ small monograph Beating the Sicilian, The Chameleon Variation. It was well received and a second edition came out in 1990. It proposed a very flexible way for White to handle the Sicilian Defense using the move order 1.e4, 2.Nc3 and 3.Nge2. It kept most of White’s options open and allowed White to lure Black into unfamiliar territory. The Sicilian jungle is vast. Unless you have a massive amount of time on your hands, it is an exhausting task to keep a sharp opening repertoire together against Black’s numerous possibilities. It does not mean that it is impossible, nor does it mean that you shouldn’t do it. But for the average player with an average amount of time available for chess studies, it is important to pick the right battles. This is where our weapon, the Chameleon Sicilian, comes in handy. Would you be interested in possibly tricking Black into playing something he would otherwise not be inclined to play? That’s where the Chameleon is useful! Aside from its flexibility, the greatest strength of this opening is that it is so relatively unexplored. For some of the sub-variations, the author has used most of the master games that could find; for other lines, only the most relevant games. In any case, there are plenty of opportunities to explore further and find ideas of your own. This is fertile ground and your seeds could well sprout to become new branches of theory. The journey of the Chameleon continues in this thorough, comprehensive update by well-known author Carsten Hansen.

“Know Thy Enemy” Sun Tsu, The Art of War Understanding what your opponent is planning to do or trying to accomplish is one of the core skills required to take your game to the next level. Viktor Kortchnoi once wrote, Well, if you do not check what your opponent is doing, you will end up complaining about bad luck after every game. This book consists of four chapters, all associated with the ability to think not only for yourself, but also for your opponent, to put yourself in his place. In this book, renowned author and chess trainer Mark Dvoretsky supplies the reader with high-quality material for independent training. Each chapter starts with a short theoretical section. Then dozens of exercises are given, from easy, even elementary, to difficult. Training your skills in searching for a move and calculating variations will help you at all stages of the game – which is why among the almost 500 exercises, there are opening, middlegame and endgame positions. Finally, the comments in the Solutions are quite detailed. Throughout the book, the author has tried to set forth the logic of the search for a solution, to show how a player can come to the right conclusions at the board. Recognizing Your Opponent’s Resources is virtually unique in chess literature. And Sun Tsu would surely have approved...

The Luck of the Draw!? We have all seen games – and perhaps even played them – in which a difficult or lost game is salvaged by a brilliant drawing combination. In the early 1970s, Soviet International Master Leonid Verkhovsky collected some of the most fantastic draws ever played. You will be captivated by combinations and threats, as inexhaustible imagination in defense and attack counterbalance each other. The chess prowess of one player is basically in equilibrium with the mastery of his opponent. Both are playing for a win, both send their chess armies into close combat, and peace sets in on the chessboard when it practically becomes empty after a long and fierce battle. You will also delight at the spectacular “saving draws,” when, although in a difficult position, a player finds all possible (and impossible!) resources to make a draw. Example are drawn from the praxis of world champions and outstanding grandmasters, as well as from the games of lesser-known players. Of special interest is the research made by the author regarding stalemate, that special exception in the rules. The book is crowned with an interesting chapter in which the author addresses the drawn games of the world’s top players. “I am sure that all those who love and cherish our ancient game will appreciate this wonderful book.” – Mikhail Tal

Computers, Chess, and Cognition presents an excellent up-to-date description of developments in computer chess, a rapidly advancing area in artificial intelligence research. This book is intended for an upper undergraduate and above level audience in the computer science (artificial intelligence) community. The chapters have been edited to present a uniform terminology and balanced writing style, to make the material understandable to a wider, less specialized audience. The book's primary strengths are the description of the workings of some major chess programs, an excellent review of tree searching methods, discussion of exciting new research ideas, a philosophical discussion of the relationship of computer game playing to artificial intelligence, and the treatment of computer Go as an important new research area. A complete index and extensive bibliography makes the book a valuable reference work. The book includes a special foreword by Ken Thompson, author of the UNIX operating system.

A True Professional From his childhood, Vladimir Tukmakov realized that there was something special about his ability to play chess. He had it all - talent, skill and motivation. After winning many junior and student tournaments, he went on to play in fourteen Soviet championships at a time when these were considered some of the most powerful competitions in the world. You are now invited to join the author in a very personal autobiographical journey, as he traces his development from one of many gifted chessplaying children to a powerful international grandmaster, a member of the world's chess elite. For Tukmakov, chess was more than just a hobby or passion - it was his profession. From talented boy and strong grandmaster to twice leading the Ukrainian team to gold medals in the 2004 and 2010 Olympiads, Tukmakov's story is a fascinating glimpse into the "golden era” of the Soviet School of Chess, and the trials and tribulations of individual will and genius. Included are dozens of photographs and over 40 deeply annotated games against some of the strongest chessplayers in the world.