Chess Thought

Chris Baker has created a much more profound repertoire than most people appreciate. It is truly "startling" and well thought, yes as others have mentioned it's not always stupendously perfect but that is not its intention! The book has two major goals, one- to impart the wisdom of understanding ideas rather than memorizing the latest issue of whatever. Two- to equip the novice player with a repertoire that is build on development, open lines and good endgames. Baker takes on the "classic" approach of swift development that was forgotten and revives it quite well. After reading this book you may feel that you need to "graduate" Some of the openings that he offers, for instance, as fascinating as it may be the Max-Lange is probably not as sufficient as other tries - however, it is important to master none the less! Not to mention that it's fun!

This book offers a variety of entertaining and thought-provoking exercises in fundamental chess skills. It will help players of all standards to identify strengths and pinpoint areas of their play that need more attention. The first half of the book tests your ability in each part of the game.

A large proportion of chess games are decided in the endgame or in the transition to the endgame, but chess literature has provided relatively little guidance for players seeking to improve their skill in making the vital decisions in these phases of the game. Building on the ideas introduced in his ground-breaking work Foundations of Chess Strategy, Lars Bo Hansen provides a thought-provoking and convincing treatise on how players can maximize the practical problems for their opponents while emphasizing the strengths of their own position. Under his guidance, chess-players will more easily focus on the key elements in the position, and devise plans for exploiting them to the full, and develop a better understanding of which pieces need to be exchanged, and which weaknesses really matter.