When second-grader Richard and three other members of the Sumac School Chess Club compete in their first tournament, they each learn something about luck, concentration, and teamwork.

Sharpen your chess skills with winning tactics and strategies The skill and strategy required to win at chess can feel intimidating, but Chess for Beginners breaks it down into manageable lessons to help new players up their game. Start with a rundown of the basic game mechanics, then explore clear and concise guidance for the strategies and tactics that will help you achieve consistent success. Learn to position your pieces and coordinate your attack with: A comprehensive overview—Find clear illustrations and directions that show you all the components of a chessboard, how each piece moves, and how to read chess notation. 10 Powerful short-term tactics—Practice shorter sequences of chess moves—like deflections, sacrifices, and forks—that help you put your strategy in play and take control of the board. 10 Essential long-game strategies—Learn how to activate your pieces, keep track of the whole board, think several moves ahead, go for a quick checkmate, and more. From your first move to your last, Chess for Beginners shows you how to play a better game.

In a world awash in educational chess content, knowing how to study the game most effectively can be challenging. As the Perpetual Chess Podcast host, USCF Master Ben Johnson has spent hundreds of hours talking chess with many of the world's top players and most accomplished trainers. In the popular Adult Improver Series, he has spoken with dozens of passionate amateurs who have elevated their games significantly while pursuing chess as a hobby. Guests like former World Champion Viswanathan Anand and YouTube Stars IM Levy Rozman and GM Hikaru Nakamura have shared insights and told memorable stories. And Ben has learned just as much from the many dedicated amateurs who applied their considerable professional (non-chess) experience to their chess learning. In Perpetual Chess Improvement, Ben looks for common ground and shared principles in all chess advice given on the podcast. Chess players do not always agree on the best improvement methods, so he even adjudicates a few disagreements! The book will show you the following: •How to approach and study different aspects of the game, including openings, endgames, tactics, tournament games, and speed chess. •How to find a chess coach and a like-minded chess community. •How to properly utilize all the powerful chess study tools available. •Instructive chess positions illustrate the topics discussed. The guests shared a wealth of beautiful stories, and chess study advice on the Perpetual Chess Podcast. This book compiles the highlights and will help you make a holistic plan for your chess studies.

The Ideal Chess Journalist During his active chess career, Hans Ree battled with almost all the great chessplayers, including eight world champions, from Max Euwe to Anatoly Karpov. My Chess is not only about them, but also about other players and writers from the past who are admired by Ree This book gives a personal view of Ree’s own world of chess, and therefore less prominent players also appear, such as a schoolmate with whom he played an endless series of matches, or the anonymous “A6648,” who played more than a half-million games on the Internet Chess Club. In addition, the question is finally answered why the great Dutch author W.F. Hermans designed a chess set made of cigarette lighters, but did not want to play chess. Though the game of chess and its practitioners are certainly not idealized, this book is in the first place, a loving description of a world brimming with striking personalities, and an inexhaustible source of stories. About the Author Grandmaster Hans Ree (1944) is a four-time Dutch champion, and represented his country from 1966 through 1994 in every chess Olympiad. From 2001-2007, he was the wearer of the “Euwe Ring,” an award for outstanding service to Dutch chess. He writes about chess in NRC Handelsblad, New in Chess magazine, and on the American website Russell-Enterprises.com. Internationally he is considered to be one of the best chess writers of his era. “A grandmaster, excellent writer and careful researcher who doesn't seek out controversy, but is equally unafraid to plumb the sometimes murky depths of chess politics, Ree is an ideal chess journalist.” – Jon Speelman, The Observer

'Funny and brutal. A big-hearted book, I enjoyed it.' Stuart Conquest, Grandmaster'Carl is gifted as both a natural entertainer and storyteller. Although this memoir is primarily about chess, the tales in it are filled with a frank and refreshing honesty that will literally have your heart racing with adventure.'Jovanka Houska, International Master'Chess Crusader' is an absolutely fascinating memoir, and most emphatically not only a book for chess players. It reveals how chess is a metaphor for life, and how skills honed at the chess board can be applied in many real-life situations. This compelling chronicle takes you from Birmingham to Moscow, and plunges you into the life of an author with a remarkable original mind, while also highlighting the hazards of stealing a half-cooked sausage from a deranged German.It's a lively, enthralling account of a colourful life dominated by the black and white squares of the chessboard, and their relation to the wider issues of a troubled childhood and the challenges of work, women, love and loss. It's a tale of adversity, but also of achievement and new friendships and experiences.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Learn chess from International Master and YouTube’s top chess teacher Levy Rozman (aka GothamChess) in this refreshing and fun guide for beginner and intermediate players. Clever and informative, How to Win at Chess teaches you everything you need to know about the game, including all the important moves and strategies to start off strong and keep you thinking several steps ahead. Full of Levy Rozman's signature charm and humor that have made him beloved by millions of fans, the first half of this unique guide introduces rising players (0-800 Elo rating) to the four key areas to consider when playing chess—openings, endings, tactics, and strategy—and the second half builds upon these core skills for more experienced players (800-1300 Elo rating). Brimming with practical and easy-to-follow tips for improving your game, How to Win at Chess includes over 500 instructional gameplay illustrations to help you better visualize the board, as well as chapter-specific QR codes for exclusive bonus content on Chessly, Rozman’s teaching platform. Whether you want to become a recreational chess player or are training to be a Grandmaster, How to Win at Chess is the perfect interactive introduction to the world of chess!

'Like The Queen's Gambit, this isn't really about chess, but power' Sunday Times What does it take to make it to the top of your game? As a chess champion, Jennifer Shahade has travelled the world playing major tournaments. At the top, she finds rivalry and friendship; sexism and feminism; ecstatic highs and excruciating losses. Chess Queens invites us behind the scenes of this ultra male-dominated sport. We meet today's elite, as well as the pioneering female players in history who fought against the odds to get to the top. An essential guide for all aspiring chess queens, Jennifer's story reveals what it takes to break through the glass ceiling. 'Jennifer Shahade is a brilliant, insightful thinker who never fails to entertain and engage' Maria Konnikova 'An astoundingly intimate, thoughtful and inspirational book by a person who has seen it all from the inside' Angela Saini