In a sequel to the hugely successful "50 Essential Chess Lessons" Steve Giddins now presents 50 games that each illustrate an important winning method. This engaging and highly readable book is a painless way to build your personal arsenal of techniques and ideas.

The games are mostly from the modern era, but with a few classic examples chosen to show key themes in as clear a way as possible. In these cases, the defender may have never seen the critical idea before, and fails to react appropriately. We then move on to more complex examples where the attacker needs to overcome stiffer resistance. Giddins repeatedly shows that despite the tactical complexity of many of these battles, the fundamental concepts can be grasped by all chess-players, and will help them navigate through apparently intimidating terrain.

The many topics include:

• Attacking weak colour complexes
• The principle of two weaknesses
• Choosing the right exchanges
• Devastating opening preparation
• Manoeuvring in 'restraint' structures
• Handling must-win situations

Steve Giddins is a FIDE Master from England who has frequently contributed to the British Chess Magazine . He has gained a reputation as a writer who provides useful, no-nonsense advice on topics of genuine practical importance, drawing especially upon his familiarity with Russian chess literature and training methods. This is his fifth book for Gambit.

Content:
005 Symbols

006 Preface

007 1 Attack and Defence

1 Hodgson - Hebden, London 1986

2 Gheorghiu - W. Watson, London 1980

3 Vasiukov - Van Wely, Moscow 2002

4 Adams - Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 2006

5 Wells - Emms, Southend 2000

6 Topalov - Kasparov, Amsterdam 1995

7 Gelfand - Short, Brüssels Ct. (8) 1991

8 Lilienthal - V. Ragozin, Moscow 1935

035 2 Opening Play

9 Salov - M. Gurevich, Leningrad 1987

10 Aronian -I . Sokolov, Wijk aan Zee 2006

11 Ribli - Pomar, Buenos Aires OL 1978

12 J. Littlewood - Homer, Manchester 1980

048 3 Structures

13 I. Watson - Nunn, British Ch 1980

14 Penrose - Tal, Leipzig 0L 1960

15 G. Kuzmin - T. Georgadze, Odessa 1972

16 Browne - Alburt, USA Ch 1983

17 R. O'Kelly - Penrose, England 1978

18 Summerscale - Snape, Coulsdon 2002

19 Cheparinov - Stellwagen, Amsterdam 2005

20 Timman - Tal, Tallinn 1973

21 Ehlvest - Novik, St Petersburg 1994

22 Pilnik - Geller, Interzonal, Gothenburg 1955

23 Sokolsky - N.P. Andreev, USSR corr. Ch 1960-3

24 Stanec - Beliavsky, Graz 1996

25 I. Sokolov - Khalifman, Pardubice 1994

26 Chernin - Van der Sterren, Amsterdam 1980

27 Andersson - Seirawan, London 1982

28 Nikolic - Paunovic, Yugoslav Ch 1983

097 4 Thematic Endings

29 Ribli - Karpov, Amsterdam 1980

30 Uhlmann - Gligoric, Hastings 1970/1

31 D. Howell - Kramnik, London 2002

32 Kosteniuk - P.H. Nielsen, Hastings 2002/3

33 Sveshnikov - Novikov, USSR Rapid Cup 1988

115 5 Other Aspects of Strategy

34 Fischer - Uhlmann, Buenos Aires 1960

35 Dorfman - Bronstein, USSR Ch 1975

36 Mamedyarov - Brodsky, Russian Clubs Ch 2006

37 T. Bennett - Keene, England 1970

38 Kramnik- Vaganian, Horgen 1995

39 Lilienthal - Botvinnik, USSR Ch 1940

40 P. Johansson - Giddins, Gausdal 1995

41 Petrosian - Gheorghiu, Moscow 1967

42 Carlsen - Vescovi, Wijk aan Zee 2006

43 Stein - Spassky, USSR Ch 1962

146 6 Endgame Themes

44 Miles - Larsen, Tilburg 1978

45 L'Ami - Mamedyarov, World Junior Ch 2005

46 Kramnik - Leko, Dortmund 2006

47 Djurhuus - Sargissian, Turin 0L 2006

48 Bronstein - Alexander, Hastings 1953/4

166 7 Psychology in Action

49 M. Gurevich - Short, Interzonal, Manila 1990

50 Kasparov - Karpov, Seville World Ch (24) 1987

174 Index of Players

175 Index of Openings