Chess for Match Players (Dover Books on Chess and Checkers) (T1363)

viii, 9-328, [19] pp. 1965 unabridged and corrected republication of the 1951 revised edition. Chess players who participate in club or other organized matches and tournaments have to cope with special circumstances players-for-fun do not ordinarily encounter. For one thing, the pressure of the clock is an important factor in organized play, and this time pressure and the often intense competition can make it an extremely nerve-wracking business. This book, written by a former British champion and chess scholar, is designed especially to serve the needs of the average match player, and it offers a fund of sensible guidelines and principles to competitors and chess enthusiasts of every caliber and level. Winter presents an extensive catalog of openings and defences, dividing them into Opens, Semi-open, and Close, as a convenience for positional and combination players. Dozens of openings and variations, from the popular Queen's Gambit to the now rarely used Philidor's Defence, are described, and the aims, advantages and disadvantages, and techniques of each are examined. He also provides general advice for middle game maneuvers, covering combination play, how to create weak spots in your opponent's position, sacrifices, play with the rooks, isolated pawns, and similar matters. Endgame strategy is then taken up, with ideas from actual and hypothetical games involving various configurations and divisions of material. A final section analyzes 12 selected master games in which the tactics of Alekhine, Botvinnik, Bronstein, Smyslov, Keres, Eure, Capablanca, and other international aces can be studied.