Chess students love a Puzzle Rush. And solving tactics puzzles certainly helps you improve your pattern recognition and will help you find good moves in tournament games. But there is a downside to most tactics puzzles — we always know who is supposed to win! Chess in real life is different, not just because no one taps us on the shoulder and tells us to look for a tactic. Sometimes tactics work, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes your opponent has a few tricks up their sleeve, too. This book shows the reality of chess tactics. It explores a chess player's challenges over the board: attack, defense, and counterattack! It exposes the actual give-and-take nature of chess tactics. American grandmaster Joel Benjamin, a three-time U.S. Champion, was inspired by the 20th-century classic Chess Traps, Pitfalls, and Swindles by legendary chess authors Fred Reinfeld and Israel Albert Horowitz. With modern examples, Benjamin arouses the same spirit of fun and enjoyment. With a generous amount of puzzles in quiz form, this manual will help chess students sharpen their tactical skills and be ready to strike - or counterstrike.

Unlock the secrets of martial arts mastery with "The Art of Combat" by Leighton Snow. This comprehensive guide transcends traditional approaches, offering practical insights drawn from a diverse range of disciplines. In this insightful journey, Leighton emphasizes the importance of strategy, mindset, and the unspoken code of honor in combat. Discover the art of staying calm, staying focused, and striking with precision. Learn how to defend yourself effectively and ethically, appreciating the balance between strength and power, speed and strategy. With a unique perspective derived from years of practical experience, Leighton delves into the nuances of combat, covering the intricacies of observation, adaptability, and the fluidity of movement. Whether you're a seasoned martial artist or a newcomer to the world of combat, this book offers practical wisdom, personal anecdotes, and a fresh approach that goes beyond the training mat. "The Art of Combat" is not just a manual-it's an invitation to understand the essence of martial arts, promoting respect, discipline, and a smarter approach to fighting. Leighton Snow invites you to embark on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment through the timeless principles of combat.

Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw – or sometimes even steal the full point! Swindling is a skill that can be trained. In this book, David Smerdon shows how you can use tricks from psychology to marshal hidden resources and exploit your opponent’s biases. In a lost position, your best practical chance often lies not in the computer’s best moves, but in playing your opponent – however bad the evaluation! With an abundance of eye-popping examples and training exercises, Smerdon identifies the four best friends of every chess swindler: your opponent’s impatience, their hubris, their fear, and their need to stay in control. You’ll also learn about such cunning swindling motifs as the Trojan Horse, the decoy trap, the berserk attack, and ‘window-ledging’. So, come and join the Swindlers’ Club, become a great escape artist and dramatically improve your results. In this instructive and wildly entertaining guide, Smerdon shows you how.

Every club player knows the problem: the opening has ended, and now what? With this new edition of his award winning book, International Master Herman Grooten presents to amateur players a complete and structured course on how to recognize key characteristics in all types of positions and how to make use of those characteristics to choose the right plan. His teachings are based on the famous “Elements” of Wilhelm Steinitz, but Grooten has significantly expanded and updated the work of the first World Champion. He supplies many modern examples, tested in his own practice as a coach of talented youngsters. In Chess Strategy for Club Players you will learn the basic elements of positional understanding: pawn structure, piece placement, lead in development, open files, weaknesses, space advantage and king safety. You will master the art of converting a temporary plus into other, more permanent advantages. The author also explains what to do when, in a given position, the basic principles seem to point in different directions. Each chapter of this fundamental primer ends with a set of highly instructive exercises. This new 3rd edition has, besides various corrections and improvements, a new introduction and a brand-new chapter called ‘Total Control’ with new exercises.

Arm yourself with the practical skills and cutting-edge insights necessary to successfully design captivating games across a variety of genres and platforms with the help of this part-color guide Key Features Master the skills, processes, and techniques essential for working in a professional setting Grasp the core principles and processes of level design, world building, and storytelling Design, implement, and refine high-quality features and mechanics for contemporary video games Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book DescriptionIf you’re in search of a cutting-edge actionable guide to game design, your quest ends here! Immerse yourself in the fundamentals of game design with expert guidance from veterans with decades of game design experience across a variety of genres and platforms. The second edition of this book remains dedicated to its original goal of helping you master the fundamentals of game design in a practical manner with the addition of some of the latest trends in game design and a whole lot of fresh, real-world examples from games of the current generation. This update brings a new chapter on games as a service, explaining the evolving role of the game designer and diving deeper into the design of games that are meant to be played forever. From conceptualizing a game idea, you’ll gradually move on to devising a design plan and adapting solutions from existing games, exploring the craft of producing original game mechanics, and eliminating anticipated design risks through testing. You’ll then be introduced to level design, interactive storytelling, user experience and accessibility. By the end of this game design book, you’ll have learned how to wrap up a game ahead of its release date, work through the challenges of designing free-to-play games and games as a service, and significantly improve their quality through iteration, playtesting, and polishing.What you will learn Define the scope and structure of a game project Conceptualize a game idea and present it to others Design gameplay systems and communicate them clearly and thoroughly Build and validate engaging game mechanics Design successful games as a service and prepare them for live operations Improve the quality of a game through playtesting and meticulous polishing Who this book is for Whether you are a student eager to design your very first game or a game designer looking to expand your skill set, this book will help you master the fundamentals of game design across all stages of game development. With a focus on best practices and a pragmatic approach, Practical Game Design offers insights into the art and craft of game design from two senior game designers, with insider knowledge that even veterans will find valuable. While prior experience with game development is not absolutely necessary, having basic knowledge of popular video games will prove helpful.

One of the most challenging tasks in a chess game is to find the correct strategy. It is far easy to attack too randomly, to miss a vital opportunity, or even choose the wrong plan altogether. These are all mistakes frequently seen by even quite strong players. Your Chess Battle Plan focuses on how Magnus Carlsen and other great masters decide on the best strategy in a position and then find the right ways to implement it. Clear advice shows you how to hone in on the most relevant features of a position in order to decide what your general plan needs to be. Factors that are addressed include when to exchange pieces, when to make long-range manoeuvres, when to offer sacrifices and how to identify and focus on key squares. Your Chess Battle Plan will get you thinking along the right strategic lines and using your pieces and pawns in a much more efficient and skilful manner. * A complete self-improvement programme. * Advice to evaluate the current level of planning in your own games. * Utilizes a structured approach, making the most of your study time.

Negotiations and other business maneuvers are like chess: every move generates a plethora of potential next moves. In Chess and the Art of Negotiation, a world-renowned chess master and a CEO of a global company join forces and apply the principles of chess to illuminate the dynamics of competition and negotiation—from angling for a promotion to landing the sale. In a colorful interview format, the authors argue that strategy drives tactics, and understanding the motivations behind your opponent's strategy will help you navigate your way through the labyrinth of possibilities. Drawing from their own experiences in chess and business, as well as many historical and contemporary examples, the authors offer insight into the strategic mindset and how to apply it to any kind of negotation or competitive situation. Not for the faint of heart, Chess and the Art of Negotiation assumes that in business, as in any game, there are winners and losers, and aims to help you prepare for combat and emerge victorious, not vanquished. Chess is like an intellectual labyrinth; whenever you open a door, you find yourself facing ten new doors. Negotiations and other business maneuvers are similar; each decision or action generates new opportunities. And, like chess, it is more important to determine the paths not taken. As Richard Nixon taught us: Always know ahead of time what you don't want. In Chess and the Art of Negotiation, a world-renowned chess master and a CEO of a global company combine forces and apply the principles of chess to illuminate the dynamics of competition, strategy and negotiation, whether angling for a promotion, beating your arch rival to a lucrative contract, or landing the sale. In a colorful interview format, the authors argue that it is not enough to be well prepared or well informed, nor is it sufficient to be trained in only the tactical aspects of engagement. Strategy drives tactics, and understanding the motivations behind your opponent's strategy will help you navigate your way through the labyrinth. Drawing from their own experiences in chess and in business, as well as many historical and contemporary examples, the authors offer insight into the strategic mindset and how to apply it to any kind of negotiation or competitive situation. Not for the faint of heart, Chess and the Art of Negotiation assumes that in business, as in any game, there are winners and losers, and aims to help you prepare for combat and emerge victorious, not vanquished.