Cyrus Lakdawala

Nuevo título de esta original colección, que aporta una plataforma ideal para estudiar las aperturas de ajedrez. Al plantear continuos retos al lector y responder a sus posibles dudas, el formato jugada a jugada estimula notablemente el aprendizaje y práctica de las cualidades esenciales, junto con la asimilación tradicional de conocimientos teóricos. Se han elegido cuidadosamente preguntas y respuestas que le mantengan activamente implicado y le permitan comprobar su progreso y grado de asimilación. Es una forma excelente de estudiar cualquier apertura de ajedrez y, al mismo tiempo, de mejorar sus cualidades y conocimientos ajedrecísticos. En este libro, Cyrus Lakdawala estudia la universalmente popular Defensa Eslava, que durante muchos años ha sido su principal respuesta contra 1.d4. El autor nos transmite aquí su experiencia y conocimientos sobre su apertura favorita, ofreciéndonos una propuesta de repertorio para las negras, con respuestas a todas las preguntas clave.

A fun & tricky ambush weapon for Black against 1.e4?In this book, the authors cover the exciting 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Nf6!? which players like Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Richard Rapport, and other strong players have used with powerful effect to drag White players out of their comfort zones into Blacks domain.The authors are pulling games from many resources, including their own experiments with the opening to illustrate how it is possible to beat titled players right out of the opening by shocking Whites system and beliefs.

In this book, the authors aim to assist the reader in becoming better at finding combinations, constructing plans, and calculating long, forcing variations. For the purpose of instruction, the material is based on the output of former World Champion Vassily Smyslov (1921-2010), using his endgame compositions from various works and publications as well as several of his practical endgames from games from tournaments and matches throughout his career against players such as Mikhail Botvinnik, Paul Keres, Bent Larsen, Efim Geller, Tigran Petrosian and several other world class players

In this book, the authors aim to assist the reader in becoming better at finding combinations, constructing plans, and calculating long, forcing variations. For the purpose of instruction, the material is based on the output of the brilliant endgame composer and player Herman Mattison (1894-1932), using his endgame compositions from various works and publications as well as several of his practical endgames from games entirely too short career.

In this book, the authors aim to assist the reader in becoming better at finding combinations and creative solutions, constructing plans, and calculating long, forcing variations. For the purpose of instruction, the material is based on the creative output of the Austrian International Master in Chess Composition Alois Wotawa (1896-1970), using his endgame compositions from various works and publications.This is not a book for lower-rated players and newcomers to chess, as the material is seriously complex and challenging. But ambitious players will find an incredible source of interesting material that is carefully annotated.

This new series provides an ideal platform to study chess openings. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, the Move by Move format greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of opening knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general chess skills and knowledge. In this book, Cyrus Lakdawala examines the Caro-Kann, which enjoys a richly deserved reputation as one of Blacks most reliable defences. It provides an ideal blend of soundness and dynamism, which allows Black to create counterplay from a solid platform. Lakdawala shares his experience and knowledge of the Caro-Kann, presents a repertoire for Black and provides answers to all the key questions.

How good are you at bringing in the full point when you hold a clear advantage or are just plain winning? An honest response to this question is likely to evoke some painful memories. Perhaps the single greatest frustration for clublevel chess players is that time and again they see wins turn into draws or even losses.The reasons for messing up a won position are by no means just technical. And the rest is a matter of technique? Not likely, in the real world. Recklessness, collapsing nerves, relaxing instead of preparing yourself for a long and arduous fight, the inability to cope with a small setback or with a busted opponent who has turned into a fearless desperado: based on four decades of teaching chess Cyrus Lakdawala has identified dozens of thoughtprovoking reasons why we are throwing away games that should be ours.Lakdawala teaches how to efficiently exploit a development lead, capitalize on an attack, identify and convert favourable imbalances, accumulate strategic advantages and other tools to increase your conversion rate. His examples are compelling, his explanations are captivating and often funny. A recurring theme in this stimulating, instructive and entertaining book is: dont burden yourself with the toxic task to prove that you are a genius. Just try to win.

In his prime, in the 1970-s and 80-s, legendary Swedish chess grandmaster Ulf Andersson was a Top 10 player with a distinct, immediately recognizable style. He almost never lost a game and kept scoring wins from quiet positions. Quiet positons? Acclaimed chess author Cyrus Lakdawala has played Anderssons lines for decades and explains that those positions only LOOK quiet. Ulf Andersson, who understood the subtleties of strategic chess better than almost anyone else, always detected and exploited hidden opportunities.As Anderssons openings tend to glide into the middlegame and often into the endgame, How Ulf Beats Black is much more than just a chess opening manual. Lakdawalas lucid explanations offer a practical guide to positional technique that will improve your endgame skills as well. On top of that it is also a games collection of a great but often misunderstood chess player.This repertoire is not based on forcing variations but on understanding the underlying principles and techniques. As a result your opponent will not be able to surprise you because you forgot to check recent novelties. The final chapter What did Ulf play? presents exercises to test your understanding.

Rashid Nezhmetdinov (1912-1974) played fearless attacking chess. With his dazzling style, the Soviet master already was a legend during his lifetime, but international fame largely eluded him. Only once did he get permission to show his exceptional talent in a tournament abroad.Five times Nezhmetdinov was chess champion of the Russian Federation. In the 1961 Soviet Championship, he won the Best Game prize for a spectacular win against Mikhail Tal who praised his opponent for his amazing creativity. Other stars that Nezh defeated in grand style included Spassky, Polugaevsky, Bronstein, and Geller.His games, full of tactical pyrotechnics, are his legacy and have reached an ever-growing audience. Nezhmetdinovs shocking strategic queen sacrifice, in 1962 against Chernikov, as shown on Agadmators YouTube channel, has become the best-watched chess video of all time with millions of views.In this book, Cyrus Lakdawala pays tribute to the genius of the enigmatic Nezhmetdinov, a Tatar who grew up as an orphan in the part of the Soviet Union that is now Kazakhstan. In more than one hundred impressive and instructive games and positions, Lakdawala shows how Nezhmetdinov fought for the initiative, how he bluffed and sacrificed, and how he kept his cool to out-calculate his opponents. Lakdawalas lucid writing perfectly matches the power of Nezhs moves. This wonderful collection celebrates Nezhmetdinov as the Greatest Attacker in Chess.

Magnus Carlsen is arguably the strongest player of all time. His dominance is such that every loss comes as a shock. They remind us that even he has his weak moments. In fact, identifying the root causes of his losses holds valuable lessons for all players.Cyrus Lakdawalas search starts with a series of Magnus wins and draws to give the reader a feel for how incredibly difficult it is to beat him. The World Champions arsenal is awesome: a superlative ability to concentrate and calculate, near-perfect intuition, probably the best endgame technique ever, a wide and creative opening repertoire, a willingness to unbalance the position almost anytime, and last but not least: his unparalleled will to win.How to Beat Magnus Carlsen has a thematic structure, which, together with Lakdawalas uniquely accessible style, makes its lessons easy to digest. Sometimes even Magnus gets outplayed, sometimes he over-presses and goes over the cliffs edge, and sometimes he fails to find the correct plan. And yes, even Magnus Carlsen commits straightforward blunders. Lakdawala explains the how and the why.This fascinating collection includes the game that put an end to the longest non-losing streak in classical games in chess history. It lasted more than two years and 125(!) games, and ended when Jan-Krzysztof Duda beat Magnus Carlsen at the Altibox tournament in Stavanger on October 10, 2020. Its wonderful to have a World Champion who is not just incredibly strong but who is also happy to experiment and take risks. Thats what makes Magnus Carlsen such a fascinating chess player. And thats why he is the hero of this book. There is no doubt that Carlsen has examined all his losses under a microscope. If he benefits from this process, then so will we.

This series provides an ideal platform to study chess openings. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, the Move by Move format greatly encourages the learning and practicing of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of opening knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general chess skills and knowledge. 1...b6 is a dynamic defense which allows Black to steer the game into relatively unchartered territory, where White players are unable to relax and rely on their opening book knowledge. A major attraction of 1...b6 is that it can be employed against all of Whites mainline openings, including 1 e4, 1 d4, 1 Nf3 and 1 c4. In this book, International Master Cyrus Lakdawala examines all the important variations after 1...b6. Using illustrative games, he explains the main positional and tactical ideas for both sides, provides answers to all the key questions and tells you everything you need to know about successfully playing 1...b6. ·Essential guidance and training with 1...b6 ·Provides repertoire options for Black ·Utilizes an ideal approach to chess study

How often have you seen a game like this? The hero has no advantage whatsoever but somehow manages to keep setting the opponent problems. Their opponent goes slightly astray and suddenly hero has a tiny advantage. Its not much but now that they have a little something to work with, they are in their element. They play accurately and remorselessly and make life incredibly difficult for their opponent. Suddenly, and almost imperceptibly, their advantage increases. Further tiny inaccuracies follow, hero turns the screw and bags the full point. Their opponent is left shaking their head, wondering where on earth they went wrong. This is the squeeze and the great champions have been capable of squeezing opponents to death. Jose Capablanca, Tigran Petrosian, Anatoly Karpov and, in the current era, Magnus Carlsen are legendary in this respect. How do they do it? How do they set problems in apparently sterile positions? How can they continuously manage to defeat world class opposition from positions that others would simply give up as drawn? In this book, Cyrus Lakdawala explains the mechanisms commonly used in squeeze plays. Using examples from the worlds greatest strategic masters he unpicks the secrets of the squeeze.

In this book, prolific chess author Cyrus Lakdawala recommends a repertoire for White players who like to open 1 e4. The repertoire is based around two main themes: 1. The suggested variations for White are ones that rely far more on a generic understanding of strategic ideas rather than the memorisation of reams of opening theory. This explains the choice of the Bishops Opening (handled Lopez-style) against 1...e5 and the Bb5 variations against the Sicilian Defence. Both these lines are designed to create dynamic and interesting middlegame positions rather than attempting to score a quick knockout victory a generally overambitious aim that often backfires. 2. The variations are chosen so that White can gain space whenever possible. Therefore the Advance Variation is recommended against the French Defence (1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5) and also the Caro-Kann Defence (1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5). The fact that these lines often create similar middlegame structures is helpful for general comprehension of Whites plans. If you want to develop your repertoire with 1 e4 then this is the book for you. * Everything you need to know to open 1 e4 with confidence* Solid, reliable systems that do not require a mass of memorisation* Written by one of the worlds leading chess authors

Bobby Fischer is a legendary chess figure, and many consider him to be the greatest chess player of all time. Fischer was a child prodigy who later developed into a phenomenal force. During his peak years he dominated his nearest rivals in a manner that had previously never been seen. Fischer achieved his goal of becoming World Champion after beating Boris Spassky in their Match of the Century in 1972, an epic contest which did more than anything else to popularize the game throughout the world. In this book, former American Open Champion Cyrus Lakdawala studies his favorite Fischer games. Lakdawala examines Fischers renowned skills in attack, defense, counterattack, exploiting imbalances, dynamic elements, accumulating advantages and endgame play. Move by Move provides an ideal platform to study chess. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, the Move by Move format greatly encourages the learning and practicing of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to improve your chess skills and knowledge.

This series provides an ideal platform to study chess openings. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, the Move by Move formatgreatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of opening knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general chess skills and knowledge. In this book, International Master Cyrus Lakdawala examines the Trompowsky Attack. Originally a favourite among club players, in recent years the Trompowsky has been transformed into a powerful weapon even at grandmaster level. It particularly appeals to bold, ambitious players and leads to positions which are rich in possibilities for both sides. Using illustrative games and drawing on his own experience with the opening, Lakdawala provides a repertoire for White, covers the main positional and tactical ideas for both sides, provides answers to all the key questions and tells you everything you need to know about successfully playing the Trompowsky Attack. *Essential guidance and training in the Trompowsky Attack*Also covers the Pseudo-Trompowsky 1 d4 d5 2 Bg5*Utilizes an ideal approach to chess study

This series provides an ideal platform to study chess openings. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, the Move by Move format greatly encourages the learning and practicing of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of opening knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general chess skills and knowledge. The Petroff Defense is a solid and reliable way to meet 1 e4. It has a strong reputation and has been employed regularly by many grandmasters, most notably former world champions Anatoly Karpov and Vladimir Kramnik. By choosing counterattack instead of defense as early as the second move, Black immediately avoids many favorite weapons for White, including the Ruy Lopez, Italian Game, Scotch Game and a number of daunting gambits. This practical advantage for those playing Black in the Open Games cannot be underestimated. In this book, International Master Cyrus Lakdawala invites you to join him in studying all the important lines in the Petroff. Using illustrative games, he explains the main positional and tactical ideas for both sides, provides answers to all the key questions and tells you everything you need to know about successfully playing the Petroff Defense. *Essential guidance and training with the Petroff *Provides repertoire options for Black *Utilizes an ideal approach to chess study

Rewire Your Chess Brain is not your average chess book. It does not deal with opening theory or middlegame strategy. It focuses purely on problems and studies, all of which are the results of artificial construction rather than scenes from real-life battles. In a chess study, White has to play and win (or draw). In a chess puzzle, White has to force mate in a stipulated number of moves. The starting positions in both forms rarely resemble anything found over the board in real life play. However, the solutions are invariably surprising and often quite beautiful. The best examples of both forms have often been compared to great works of art. However, these are not mere gallery pieces, lacking practical application in real life play. Solving these puzzles can be extremely challenging and will, without question, improve the real world tactical ability of anyone attempting to do so. Prolific chess author and coach Cyrus Lakdawala has been intrigued by studies and problems all his life. When training his students he often sets them studies and problems to solve. Many of them who have adopted this technique have seen extraordinary increases in their chess ratings. In this book Lakdawala assembles the problems and studies that are most effective to improve tactical ability. Work your way through this book and you will undoubtedly see the results in your own games.

This is a new series which provides an ideal platform to study chess openings. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, Move by Move greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of opening knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved, and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general chess skills and knowledge.In this book, Cyrus Lakdawala examines the universally popular Slav Defence which has been his main choice against 1 d4 for many years. Here he shares his experience and knowledge of his favorite opening, presents a repertoire for Black and provides answers to all the key questions.*Essential guidance and training in the Slav*Includes a Slav repertoire for Black*Incorporates an ideal approach to opening study

A winning streak in chess, says Cyrus Lakdawala, is a lot more than just the sum of its games. In this book he examines what it means when everything clicks, when champions become unstoppable and demolish opponents. What does it mean to be in the zone? What causes these sweeps, what sparks them and what keeps them going? And why did they come to an end?Lakdawala takes you on a trip through chess history looking at peak performances of some of the greatest players who ever lived: Morphy, Steinitz, Pillsbury, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Fischer, Tal, Kasparov, Karpov, Caruana and Carlsen. They all had very different playing styles, yet at a certain point in their rich careers they all entered the zone and simply wiped out the best players in the world.In the Zone explains the games of the greatest players during their greatest triumphs. As you study and enjoy these immortal performances you will improve your ability to overpower your opponents. You will understand how great moves originate and you will be inspired to become more productive and creative. In the Zone may bring you closer to that special place yourself: the zone.

This series provides an ideal platform to study chess openings. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, the Move by Move format greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of opening knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general chess skills and knowledge.The Nimzo-Larsen Attack is an ideal opening choice for players keen to avoid mainline theory but still wanting to set their opponents problems from the outset. In the Nimzo-Larsen, White begins 1 b3 and then develops in hypermodern fashion planning to undermine any central structures Black dares to erect. A key attraction of the Nimzo-Larsen is that White can steer the game into either sharp play or elaborate strategic battles. In this book, International Master Cyrus Lakdawala invites you to join him in examining the many different variations of the Nimzo-Larsen. Lakdawala studies the typical plans and tactics for both sides, offers repertoire options for White, provides answers to all the key questions and tells you everything you need to know about playing the Nimzo-Larsen Attack. Essential guidance and training in the Nimzo-Larsen AttackPresents a repertoire for White with 1 b3Utilizes an ideal approach to chess study