A single comprehensive guide to chess and all its extended family of boardgames.

The variants, collected from all over the world, date from ancient times to the present day (about half are post-1970). They include some 60 regional chess games with major up-to-the-minute sections on Burmese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai chess; over 120 commercial variants with sources of supply; space chess; four-handed chess; chess with exotic pieces on boards of all shapes and sizes and ... more. Well-known variants such as Kriegspiel, Losing Chess and Progressive Chess are explored in detail. Many of the annotated games are between leading masters - and almost half of all the variants can be played with a standard chess set ...

Chess is a game of wits that calls for strategy, tactics and intuition. The game has a long history spanning several centuries and has been played the world over for it develops strategic thinking and tactical planning skills. Chess is intellectually stimulating and challenging - and offers limitless possibilities at every stage of play. The very nature of the game makes it amenable to systematic study and mastery over time. There are several variants of Chess which offer a level-playing field for amateurs who can think logically. This book is the outcome of the author's curiosity about new Chess variants which can be played on boards with different geometries, different sets of rules with different objectives. This entirely new look at Chess offers: Chess inspired games that reflect situations and events from daily life. Games inspired by popular sports such as squash, volleyball and cricket. Chess games as a motivational tool in education to help students develop interest and liking for their subjects and achieve better academic performance. Chess inspired puzzles. Chess as an outdoor sport and indoor team-game. A. V. Murali's engrossing book highlights the different perspectives of Chess - showcasing its broader applicability, not just for amusement, but for physical and intellectual development as well.

* The perfect survival guide to the chess openings * All openings covered * Detailed verbal explanations of plans for both sides * Up-to-date and featuring many tips and recommendations * Insights into the 'character' of each opening * Written by one of the world's foremost opening experts The first moves of a chess game define the nature of the whole struggle, as both players stake their claim to the critical squares and start to develop their plans. It is essential to play purposefully and to avoid falling into traps or reaching a position that you don't understand. This is not a book that provides masses of variations to memorize. Paul van der Sterren instead offers a wealth of ideas and explanation, together with the basic variations of each and every opening. This knowledge will equip players to succeed in the opening up to good club level, and provide a superb grounding in opening play on which to build a more sophisticated repertoire. The strategies he explains will, unlike ever-changing chess opening theory, remain valid as long as chess is played, and so the time spent studying this book will be rewarded many times over. Grandmaster Paul van der Sterren has won the Dutch Championship on two occasions, and in 1993 reached the Candidates stage of the World Chess Championship. He is an internationally renowned chess writer and editor: he was one of the founding editors of New in Chess, for whose Yearbooks he has contributed more than 150 opening surveys.