The Road to Chess Improvement (Practical Chess)

A US Champion provides solutions to real-life chess problemsUser-friendly ebook feature: Every diagram in the book is also a link to an interactive lichess analysis board of that position!“a magnificent achievement, by far the finest book I’ve ever seen on the subject of practical play” - GM Matthew Sadler, New in Chess“How can I improve my game?” is a perennial question facing chess-players. While there are no easy answers, Alex Yermolinsky is better qualified than most to offer advice. Having found the famed ‘Soviet School of Chess’ wanting, he trained himself, slowly but surely raising his game to top-class grandmaster standard.In this book he passes on many of the insights he has gained over the years. He steers the reader away from ‘quick-fix’ approaches, and focuses on the critical areas of chess understanding and over-the-board decision-making.This entertainingly-written book breaks new ground in many areas of chess understanding. Topics covered include:Trend-Breaking ToolsThe Burden of Small AdvantagesWhat Exchanges are ForClassics RevisitedComputer ChessA large part of the book discusses a variety of important opening set-ups, including methods foropposing offbeat but dangerous lines, such as the Grand Prix Attack.Grandmaster Alex Yermolinsky is one of the strongest players in the United States. He was US Champion in 1996, and won the US Open Championship in 1995 and 1997. He has represented the USA in four Olympiads, and played board two for the team that won the World Team Championship in 1993. His credentials as a teacher are no less impressive. He assisted Irina Levitina in her bid for the Women’s World Championship in 1982-4, while his former pupils include top-class grandmasters such as Alexander Khalifman and Vladimir Epishin. After his arrival in the United States in 1989, he has continued coaching, with one of his pupils, Boris Kreiman, winning the US Junior Championship in 1993. He also teaches chess via his online ‘Yermo Chess Academy’. Through his magazine articles, he has also earned a reputation as an excellent writer. This is his first book.“In my years of reviewing, I have never been tempted to make a dramatic ‘book of the year’ pronouncement, but I can’t imagine anyone else topping this effort in the near future. ... For anyone looking to improve and to understand the modern game in a fresh way, I believe that this is one of the most exciting and provocative works to appear in years.” - IM John Watson, The Week in Chess“Occasionally a book appears which stands out like a beacon ... a fascinating and revealing insight into the hard work that a top class player has to invest in his game.” - Alan Sutton, En Passant“This is chess warfare explained from the trenches and Yermo does such an exceptional job of conveying his insights” - Mark Donlan, Chess Horizons“an excellent book I would heartily recommend” - GM Jon Speelman, The Independent“It is hard to see how readers can fail to improve from applying Yermolinsky’s advice and techniques to their own games.” - Richard Palliser, Hull Chess Club Magazine“It’s an engaging book and well worth getting ... Yermolinsky has a great deal to say and says it in some style” - GM Jonathan Levitt, Kasparov Chess Read more