Everyman chess

Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov: Part III is the final volume in a major three-volume series made unique by the fact that it records the greatest chess battles played by the greatest chessplayer of all-time. The first two volumes in this series saw Kasparov emerging as a huge talent, toppling his great rival Anatoly Karpov and then defending the World Championship title on three occasions. This third volume focuses on the final 12 years of Kasparov's career up until his retirement from full-time chess in 2005. This period witnessed three further World Championship matches: wins against Short (London 1993) and Anand (New York 1995) before the loss against Kramnik (London 2000) which finally ended Kasparov's 15-year tenure as world champion. This period also saw Kasparov achieve a colossal 2851 rating (1999), a record which stood until 2013. Despite loss of the World Championship, Kasparov continued to be ranked as the world number one and dominated the elite tournament circuit. He won the Linares super-tournament for four consecutive years (1999-2002) with the fourth of these victories in 2002 concluding an unprecedented run of ten straight wins in the world's elite events (Linares 4, Wijk aan Zee 3, Sarajevo 2 and Astana 1). The games in this volume feature many masterpieces of controlled aggression played against the world's absolute best.

Few would disagree that the opening is one of the most daunting phases of the game for newcomers to chess. There are literally hundreds of different lines, many with bizarre-sounding names, and some of these include twenty or so moves of theory. What is an aspiring chess player supposed to do: memorize countless variations from mammoth encyclopedias? Don't panic! In Discovering Chess Openings, John Emms argues that studying openings doesn't have to be hard work at all; indeed it can be both enjoyable and enlightening. The key to successful opening play is not simply learning lines off by heart; it's the understanding of the basic principles. In this book you are guided through the vital themes: swift development, central control and king safety. An appreciation of these principles and their many offshoots will actually allow you to recreate and discover opening theory, giving you the opportunity to choose the most suitable lines to play in your games. This book is a complete introduction to opening play, written by an opening expert, ideal for improving players. - Back cover.