Traditionally, chess games have been divided into three stages - opening, middlegame and endgame - and general principles presented for how to handle each stage. All chess-players will be well aware that these principles all too frequently fail to help in their selection of the best move.

In this important work, Lars Bo Hansen, grandmaster and professional educator, presents chess as a game of five phases, and explains the do's and dont's in each:

• the opening
• the transition to the early middlegame
• the middlegame
• strategic endgames
• technical endgames

With a wealth of examples from both his own practice and that of his colleagues, Hansen discusses the typical mistakes and pitfalls, and shows how to handle the subtleties unique to each stage. He also advises on how to work on your chess in each aspect of the game. Of special value is his explanation of how to study typical middlegames, and that middlegame preparation - a neglected area for most players - is both possible and necessary.

Lars Bo Hansen is a well-known grandmaster from Denmark. He has won the Danish Championship on two occasions, and represented his country in four olympiads, winning a bronze medal for his individual performance in 1990. His many tournament victories include first prize in the strong Copenhagen Open in both 1997 and 2000. Away from the board, he teaches and lectures on business studies, with a particular focus on marketing, organization and strategy

Content:
006 Symbols

007 Bibliography

009 Introduction - What is this Book About?

010How to Improve in Chess

011The Structure of this Book: the Five Phases of a Chess Game

013How to Distribute Your Time in Chess Training

014 1 The Opening

015 The Principles of Opening Play

015The Fight for the Centre

021Development

022King Safety

023Preventing or Obstructing the Opponent's Plans

027 The Modern Trend: Breaking the Principles

027Pawn Sacrifice for Initiative

030Knights on the Rim

035The King in the Centre

039Acceptance of Doubled Pawns

044The g4 Revolution

051 Opening Play in Practice

054Where does the Opening End?

057 How to Build an Opening Repertoire

057The Soundness of an Opening Repertoire

058Fitting the Opening Repertoire to Your Style

061Fitting the Opening Repertoire to Your Playing Strength

063The Importance of Move-Order

065Broad or Narrow Opening Repertoire ?

067 How My Opening Repertoire Evolved

073The Early Years

075Rebuilding an Opening Repertoire

084 2 Transition from Opening to Middlegame

087 The Pawn-Structure in the Centre

092 Playing the Exchange Queen's Gambit

093Playing the Exchange Queen's Gambit as White

100Playing the Exchange Queen's Gambit as Black

119 Personal Style in the Transition from Opening to Middlegame

122 3 The Middlegame

122 The Battle for an Advantage

122The Concept of Advantage

124The Transformation of Advantages

127 The Noble Art of Defence

127Steinitz 's Principle of Defence

128Defending Against an Attack

134Positional Defence

136Looking for a Swindle

139 Attacking Mechanisms

139Steinitz's Principle of Attack: Target the Main Weakness!

139Tal's Attacking Ratio

140Attacking in Practice

144 Tactics

146Diversion and Overload

147The Magnet

148Double Threat

149The Pin

151Blocking

152Gain of Tempo, Desperado, and Zwischenzug

153Clearance and Opening of Lines

154The Quiet Move

156 Manoeuvring

160 4 Transition from Middlegame to Endgame

164 The Importance of the Pawn-Structure

172 The Principle of Two Weaknesses

175 The Space Advantage

176 Control of Squares and Files

178 Grip and Suppressing Counterplay

180 Domination

182 Time: Hurry or Not?

184 Making the Right Exchange

185 The Transformation of Advantages

187 The Two Bishops

189 Bishops or Knights?

189When the Knight is Superior to the Bishop

191When the Bishop is Superior to the Knight

192Same-Coloured Bishop Endings

193Opposite-Coloured Bishop Endings

194Knight Endings

196 King Activity

198 Rook Activity

200 Initiative and Attack in the Endgame

202 Mate and Stalemate in the Endgame

204 5 Technical Endgames

204 Pawn Endgames

206 Minor-Piece Endgames

209 Rook Endgames

213From the Side or from the Rear?

215The Advanced Lucena

218 Queen Endgames

220 Unbalanced Material Distributions

227 6 Practical Tips

227 How to Work with Computers in Analysis

227The Horizon Problem

230The Understanding Problem

234 Preparing for Tournaments and Opponents

234Preparing for Specific Opponents

234Step 1: Repertoire Overview

236Step 2: Narrowing Down the Choice

238Step 3: Preparing the Specific Line

241 Time Management

242Time Allocation During the Game

247Playing in Time-Pressure - DAUT, NUPM and KAPP

252 Index of Players

255 Index of Openings