This essential work provides modern explanations of principles, varieties, and techniques of combination maneuvers, plus the ideas behind them. Examples from the games of many great players provide illustrations. 200 diagrams.

Schafroth explores the historical development of the game of chess, and chess pieces as both art forms and reflections of the cultures which produced them. The author includes worldwide collections of chess pieces, with particular focus on the diverse collection of some 300 sets at the Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, Washington. The text is academic, but accessible to the general reader interested in chess, history, and art and culture. Lavishly illustrated with color photographs. The author's credentials are not stated. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Art of the Game of Chess is the first English translation of Fr. Ruy López’s 1561 book about chess, Libro de la invención liberal y arte del juego del ajedrez. López was a priest who served as King Philip II’s confessor and royal advisor. As a connoisseur of chess, King Philip II promoted the game in his court, and it did not take long for López to become known as Spain’s and one of Europe’s greatest chess players. López is widely acclaimed as one of the most influential chess thinkers of all time whose theories of chess are an integral part of how chess is played today. Academics, including historians, linguists, sociologists, and Hispanists, as well as non-academics, especially chess enthusiasts, will appreciate this translation, which opens with a Foreword by Andrew Soltis, who is a Grandmaster and a United States Chess Hall of Fame Inductee, and includes a critical introduction and more than 275 footnotes.

"The beauty of a game of chess is usually appraised, and with good reason, according to the sacrifices it contains. On principle we incline to rate a sacrificial game more highly than a positional game. Instinctively we place the moral value above the scientific. We honor Capablanca, but our hearts beat higher when Morphy’s name is mentioned." — Introduction. Perhaps the strongest Austrian-born grandmaster of the20th century, Rudolf Spielmann (1883–1942) defeated such world-class opponents as Nimzovich, Tartakower, Bogoljubov — and even the great Capablanca. Among the reasons for his success was his mastery of the art of sacrifice. In this ground-breaking classic, distilled from 40 years of tournament play, he outlines the hard-won lessons that enable a player to win games by giving up pieces! Drawing on dozens of his own games against such topflight players as Schlechter, Tartakower, Bogoljubov, Reti, Rubinstein and Tarrasch, Spielmann describes and analysis various type of sacrifices: (positional, for gain, mating) and real sacrifices: (for development, obstructive, preventive, line-clearance, vacating, deflecting and more). The result was the first systematic attempt to explain and exploit the theory of chess sacrifice; it remains an extremely helpful and useful weapon in the arsenal of chess players at every level.

This book provides comprehensive information and guidance for successfully staging a theatrical living chess game for children ages 9–14. It also prepares student to succeed in University Interscholastic League (UIL) Chess Puzzle. Living chess games have been referenced in works from classic authors such as Lewis Carroll and Kurt Vonnegut; this theater art was also mentioned in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. With The Living Chess Game: Fine Arts Activities for Kids 9-14, any parent, librarian, teacher, or after-school instructor can successfully stage an educational and entertaining living chess game. This book will also help educators and librarians prepare students to succeed in University Interscholastic League (UIL) Chess Puzzle. The book's chess instruction enables children to perform, with understanding, as living chess pieces. The activities not only instruct students on how to research chess, but also teach a myriad of fine arts skills such as acting, composing music, choreographing movements, designing scenery, and scriptwriting, and the activities address content standards from the National Standards for Arts Education. The author has also provided a "resources and materials" section that explains the cultural reference of each activity's title and lists opportunities for parental involvement, such as tech support and attending students' performances.

The Art of Human Chess: A Study Guide to Winning is a masterpiece. Its intended purpose is to teach the science of winning, giving the ordinary person on the streets and the person fresh out of college a chance to compete with the ruthless sharks in today's marketplace. This book is for those who choose to win in all walks of life. To buy it is to invest in your future and guarantee yourself an edge on your competitors, making you the ultimate human chess player.