An outstanding theorist and successful coach shares his memories of communication and cooperation with Mikhail Tal, Anatoly Karpov, Isaac Boleslavsky, Elena Akhmylovskaya and other outstanding chess players. Separate large chapter – a story about many years of work with Boris Gelfand: over these years (1980-1993) the student went from a 12-year-old candidate for master to the holder of the 3rd rating in the world. Albert Kapengut – winner of 6 gold medals at the World Student Olympics, seven-time champion of Belarus, participant in the individual and team championships of the USSR among men, champion of the USSR as part of the Burevestnik team. The book includes 70 games commented in detail by the author, a careful study of which will help the reader not only better understand popular opening schemes, but also get a taste for serious analytical work. “My story is not so much about a career, although “you can’t erase words from a song,” but about memorable situations, often funny, sometimes absurd, and dotted about people I met along the way, sometimes with touches of biography, prompting readers to become interested in more complete information.” ;" (A. Kapengut). For a wide range of chess lovers.

The book by grandmaster and experienced coach Alexander Galkin is dedicated to the strongest piece on the chessboard – to the queen. Using the example of episodes from games of modern grandmasters (the vast majority of games date back to 2020-2023) and his own grandmaster practice, the author tries to generalize, and in some places even clarify the methodology for understanding and playing queen endings, as well as other types of endgames with the presence of queens ) On the desk. The book presents various ratios of material – “queen against queen”, “queen and minor piece against queen and minor piece”, “queen and rook against queen and rook”, “queen against two rooks”, “queen against rook and pawns”, “ queen against a rook and a minor piece”, “two queens against two queens” – practically the entire spectrum of encountered endgames of this type. The material is structured in such a way that the reader can get maximum benefit from studying the examples of queen endings and its other derivatives offered by the author. The book is aimed at advanced chess players, is useful for coaches and can be recommended to a wide range of chess fans.

In the vast ocean of chess literature there are relatively few books about the endgame, and only a few of them can be considered true chess classics. And the most outstanding among the classics — Reuben Fine's book "Basic Chess Endings". Reuben Fine (1914−1993) was for a long time one of the best chess players in the world. As an author, Fine showed himself to be an excellent analyst who understood the full depth and peculiarities of the endgame. Having studied various types of standard positions, Fine established useful rules for practical play and proved himself to be an experienced teacher who, using skillfully chosen examples, was able to teach the reader all the necessary lessons and introduce him to the basic ideas of the endgame. Many generations of chess players in different countries of the world keep copies of “Basic Chess Endings”. For example, Mikhail Botvinnik considered Fine's work the most worthy of all that had ever been written on endgame theory.

The answer book of an international grandmaster and an experienced coach (among whose students is A. Grischuk) Bloch's Maxim contains over 1200 combinations from practical games and specially compiled examples. All tasks are characterized by intense struggle, in which the goal is achieved by single moves. The book is intended for both young and adult amateurs, and for masters. The arrangement of examples by topic allows you to use the book not only as a task book, but also as a textbook. Of particular interest are over two hundred specially compiled by the author overstressed positions in which white wins the only way during the course of white, and black wins during the course of black. These examples, as well as over 50 fragments from the parties of the author and his students, are published for the first time.

This collection of wonderful combinations is based on the famous magazine “Chess” published in the USSR. The editorial office was located in Riga, its members included strong Latvian chess players, and the editor-in-chief of the publication for many years was the eighth world champion Mikhail Tal, who always took an active part in the development of the magazine. Perhaps the most popular section among readers has always been “Find the best continuation without moving the pieces.” A fresh dozen of the most beautiful and instructive combinations, mainly from current tournaments, were published on the back cover, and the solutions were given in the next issue. The combinations were selected by the editorial team very carefully, because the magazine's circulation was more than 60,000 copies and was distributed in more than 50 countries! This edition includes combinations published in the mentioned section from 1980 to 1990. By solving these combinations, you are sure to improve your tactical skills and significantly strengthen your game.

This tutorial is addressed to those who want to learn to play chess on their own and improve further. The lesson-based method of presentation, as well as numerous exercises, contribute to the consistent assimilation of the rules and laws that form the basis of the chess game. The book contains extensive educational material, which is presented to the reader in accordance with modern pedagogical principles. The purpose of this manual is to train chess players of the III category (rating up to 1800). The textbook can also be used for classes in groups - it covers the material of existing programs of the first year of study in children's and youth chess schools.