Suggests ways of using martial arts principle and strategies, including attack, follow-through, impenetrable defense, timing, distance, surprise and deception, and artful surrender, to improve chess skills

A handbook which provides a step-by-step guide to the game of chess, and explains ways to improve strategic thinking and using it in business matters in an increasingly complex, rapidly changing world.

The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan presents an accurate portrait of this era in Japanese history. Originally published in Japanese in 1959, this classic novel by Yasushi Inoue takes place during the Japanese Warring Era (1467-1573)--a time when a fractured Japan was ruled by three powerful young warlords: Takeda Shingen, Iwagawa Yoshimoto and Hojo Ujiyasu. The story focuses on Takeda Shingen and his one-eyed, crippled strategist, Yamamoto Kansuke. The brilliant strategies of Kansuke, inspired by his passion for war and his admiration for his enemies' war tactics, are beautifully expressed throughout this book. Takeda Shingen--a proud and confident warlord--wants to expand his territory. When he retains the ambitious and mysterious Yamamoto Kansuke--a masterless, unheralded samurai--as his war strategist, he discovers a bold and cunning collaborator. Kansuke's talents at diplomacy and his prescient understanding of war strategy leads Shingen's clan to great success, a path which leads the pair to Princess Yuu. When Kansuke discovers her among the ruins of a castle he has just captured, she is about to commit ritual suicide, jigaki. Kansuke falls under her spell--and convinces her to live to carry on her family's lineage. The conflicting ambitions of Shingen, Kansuke, and Princess Yuu are at the heart of this complex and intensely dramatic story. Each of the three needs the others in order to attain their goals. In the end, the lines between who is using whom are blurred beyond understanding. Though there's some doubt as to whether Kansuke really existed, the historical narrative and depictions of daily life present a unique and engaging look at the end of the feudal era in Japan.

When the powerful Lord Takeda's soldiers sweep across the countryside, killing and plundering, they spare the boy Taro's life and take him along with them. Taro becomes a servant in the household of the noble Lord Akiyama, where he meets Togan, a cook, who teaches Taro and makes his new life bearable. But when Togan is murdered, Taro's life takes a new direction: He will become a samurai, and redeem the family legacy that has been stolen from him.

A chess match seems about as solitary an endeavor as there is in sports: two minds, on their own, in fierce opposition. But is this the case? Inevitably these two minds are in dialogue, and perhaps might be better understood as partners in play. And surrounding that one-on-one contest is a community life that can be as dramatic and intense as the across-the-board confrontation. Gary Alan Fine has spent years immersed in several communities of amateur and professional chess players--children and adults--and in Players and Pawns he takes readers deep inside these worlds, revealing a complex, brilliant, feisty world of commitment and conflict. Opening with a close look at a routine, yet financially troubled, tournament in Atlantic City, Fine carries us from planning and setup through the climactic final day's match-ups between the weekend's top players, introducing us along the way to countless players and their relationships to the game. At tournaments like that one, as well as in locales as diverse as collegiate matches and cash games in Manhattan's Washington Square Park, players find themselves part of what Fine terms a soft community, an open, welcoming space built on their shared commitment to the game. Within that community, chess players find both support and challenges, all amid a shared interest in and love of the long-standing traditions of the game, traditions that help chess players build a communal identity.

In medieval Japan, an evil warlord is about to execute his secret plan to plunge the nation into violent chaos. Enter young Moonshadow, the newest agent for the Grey Light Order, an elite brotherhood of "shinobi" (ninja spy warriors).

Chess Words of Wisdom is made up of the crucial information mined from over 400 chess books (plus hundreds of magazine articles, vides, DVDs, web sites and various other sources) all condensed into this one remarkably complete and "one-of-a-kind " chess book. Chess Words of Wisdom quotes, paraphrases and summarizes the teachings of hundreds of experts, masters, IMs, GMs and eve a few scientists, scholars and generals. Essentially, all of the wisdom from these important sources is in this one book! Chess Words of Wisdom is a digest of hundreds of years of chess knowledge from the greatest chess minds in history. This is the must-know information for the well-schooled chessplayer at all levels, from beginner to master. Chess Words of Wisdom is unique in that it is all text. There are no diagrams or analysis at all in the book. There is not a single game in the entire book! Instead, the book is jam-packed with essential chess knowledge... in plain English! If you want to learn, if you want to thoroughly understand chess, Chess Words of Wisdom is for you. Chess Words of Wisdom is about "understanding" chess. There are no frills, cartoons or nonsense of any kind in it... just intense, cover-to-cover, concentrated chess instruction in the form of verbal explanation. This is an ideal textbook for chess teachers, coaches, trainers and all serious students of the game. It is for players of all strengths who are enthusiastic about understanding and mastering the game of chess. A 534-page one-of-a-kind chess book, it belongs in every serious chessplayer's library. It contains all of the useful, practical, information from over 400 chess books (plus many other sources). As a result, it contains more helpful information than certainly any other chess book in history. This is one-volume treatise covers nearly all of the essential concepts in chess. "All you need to know about everything that matters!" (New In Chess Magazine) "Kudos! Just glanced through your book which displays an enormous amount of research and chess erudition. Looking forward to some enjoyable reading..." (the late Larry Evans, U.S. grandmaster, author, journalist, and five-time U.S. Chess Champion) "...it's definitely unique in its verbal approach, which is particularly useful especially to adults learning the game." (Jennifer Shahade, author, journalist, two-time U.S. Women's Chess Champion and FIDE Woman Grandmaster)