The Art of Defense in Chess (McKay Chess Library)

xxi, [3], 262 pp. Most games are not won -- they are lost. The vast majority of instructional books tell how to improve a position when it is already (or may be) favorable. The Art of Defense in Chess analyzes the practical aspects of not having the advantage: How to obtain counterplay; When to contest open lines; When to accept sacrifices; How to anticipate short- and long-term threats; How to restrain your opponent's pieces; How to create a defense perimeter; How to minimize losses; and much more. The Art of Defense in Chess also discusses the proper psychological attitudes for successful defense -- coolness under fire, the Saving Grace, stonewalling, etc. -- as well as the Principle of Exploitable Weakness and the Principle of Economy, as illustrated in more than one hundred positions taken from competitive play.