Chess Tips for the Improving Player gives practical advice for club players who want to take the next step towards chess mastery. Amatzia Avni looks at life from an unusual angle. His approach is far more creative than merely offering the usual tips such as "develop your pieces" and "control the centre".

Instead of repeating clichés seen before in countless books, the author scrutinized a huge number of chess positions, asking himself, "What can be learned from them?" The reader can now benefit from Avni’s painstaking efforts as he presents these key positions in a wide ranging book covering such aspects of chess as strategy and planning, tactics, ideas, rules of thumb, learning and decision making. He also includes a chapter of training exercises.

Amatzia Avni is an Israeli psychologist who is a FIDE Master both over-the-board and of composition. He has written several original and critically acclaimed books.
Pub. 2008, softback, 233 pages. 


Price:   £15.99
(£15.99 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!

This updated edition of 101 Brilliant Chess Miniatures includes a new easy-to-follow layout, 24 additional games (played between 1999 and 2007) and corrections and improvements to the original analysis. The games have been chosen for their instructional and entertainment value, are all relatively recent (post 1970), and almost all played between Grandmaster strength opponents. John Nunn's annotations emphasise the causes of common errors and how best to exploit them. As may be expected with a collection of short games, sharp opening lines are well represented. John Nunn is one of England's most successful Grandmasters and author of numerous acclaimed chess books.
Pub. 2007, softback, 255 pages. 
View sample pages

Price:   £15.99
(£15.99 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!

In this follow up to his "50 Essential Chess Lessons" Steve Giddins presents 50 games which each illustrate an important method of winning. These are grouped into seven themed chapters: Attack and Defence, Opening Play, Structures, Thematic Endings, Other Aspects of Strategy, Endgame Themes and Psychology in Action. The book offers a highly instructive collection of positional chess with extensive verbal explanations aimed at club players. Steve Giddins is an English FIDE Master and contributor to the British Chess Magazine with a no-nonsense style of writing.
Pub. 2007, softback, 175 pages. 
View sample pages

Price:   £14.99
(£14.99 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!

In the spring of 1895, reigning world chess champion Emanuel Lasker gave a series of lectures in London. These were geared to the level of the club players or intermediate level. Later that year Lasker gathered his lecture material together and wrote it up in manuscript form to be published, retaining the informal, conversational tone of the lectures.

The result was Common Sense in Chess, long regarded as a classic both during Lasker's lifetime and for generations afterwards. It is a masterpiece of compression and exposition, and in the whole of chess literature, there is nothing that quite compares with it. The first six chapters deal with various openings whilst the remaining chapters are on attack, defence and the endgame.

Respected chess author Bruce Alberston has taken Lasker’s classic and created a 21st century edition. The text has been converted to modern algebraic notation and more diagrams have been added (there are now more than 330 diagrams!). Splendidly complementing Lasker's original masterpiece, Alberston has added seven games annotated by Lasker that were played in the famous Hastings Tournament of 1895.
Pub. 2007, softback, 127 pages. 


Price:   £12.50
(£12.50 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!

In this book Grandmaster John Emms offers practical advice on maximising your chances in competitive play with tips on clock control, defending difficult positions, winning won positions, building an opening repertoire, using computers and much more. Using examples from both his own games and those of other Grandmasters Emms shows how a little bit of chess psychology can be just as important in earning points as good endgame technique. A practical and entertaining read aimed at club and tournament players.
Pub. 2007, softback, 160 pages. 


Price:   £14.99
(£14.99 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!

Chess Stars Publishing presents a series of test games, "How Well Do I Play Chess?" grouped into different volumes according to the openings covered in each series. Whilst playing through the ten games in the book you have to figure out certain key moves. Points are scored for correct answers. The author explains the thinking behind the moves and the typical tactics of the opening system. The books Open Games, Semi-Open Games, and Gambits, have been printed in more than 50,000 copies in Russia. The author, Vsevolod Kostrov from St. Petersburg, has been coaching young talents for 20 years. Whole generations of Russian players have grown up on his books. The point of Kostrov's books is that he teaches by involving the element of competition. A chess set, a pen and sheet of paper - that's all the reader needs to measure his chess strength against Russian standards, and learn basic opening theory at the same time.
Pub. 2007, softback, 87 pages. 


Price:   £7.99
(£7.99 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!

Chess Stars Publishing presents a series of test games, "How Well Do I Play Chess?" grouped into different volumes according to the openings covered in each series. Whilst playing through the ten games in the book you have to figure out certain key moves. Points are scored for correct answers. The author explains the thinking behind the moves and the typical tactics of the opening system. The books Open Games, Semi-Open Games, and Gambits, have been printed in more than 50,000 copies in Russia. The author, Vsevolod Kostrov from St. Petersburg, has been coaching young talents for 20 years. Whole generations of Russian players have grown up on his books. The point of Kostrov's books is that he teaches by involving the element of competition. A chess set, a pen and sheet of paper - that's all the reader needs to measure his chess strength against Russian standards, and learn basic opening theory at the same time.
Pub. 2007, softback, 88 pages. 


Price:   £7.99
(£7.99 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!

Chess Stars Publishing presents a series of test games, "How Well Do I Play Chess?" grouped into different volumes according to the openings covered in each series. Whilst playing through the ten games in the book you have to figure out certain key moves. Points are scored for correct answers. The author explains the thinking behind the moves and the typical tactics of the opening system. The books Open Games, Semi-Open Games, and Gambits, have been printed in more than 50,000 copies in Russia. The author, Vsevolod Kostrov from St. Petersburg, has been coaching young talents for 20 years. Whole generations of Russian players have grown up on his books. The point of Kostrov's books is that he teaches by involving the element of competition. A chess set, a pen and sheet of paper - that's all the reader needs to measure his chess strength against Russian standards, and learn basic opening theory at the same time.
Pub. 2007, softback, 86 pages. 
View sample pages

Price:   £7.99
(£7.99 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!

No time to study but want to win more chess games? Improve Your Chess in 7 Days is packed with practical tips, hints on how to improve, learn from the champions and find out how to beat them - in just a week. With one short chapter for each day of the week, the book is ideal for social chess players and includes a sprinkling of chess cartoons to keep you smiling as you read:
Day 1 - So You Want to be Good?
Day 2 - Understanding the Openings
Day 3 - Strategy versus Tactics
Day 4 - Creating the Attack
Day 5 - Avoiding Blunders
Day 6 - Mastering the Ending
Day 7 - The Art of Swindling.

With comments and advice after each move, this is as clear a guide to improving your chess as you will ever need. Australian chess champion and Player of the Year for 2004, Gary Lane is a prolific and popular chess author.
pub. 2007, softback, 218 pages. 


Price:   £12.99
(£12.99 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!

David Levens is a strong club player who was once ranked in the top 50 players in England and who has competed in the British Championships three times. These days he earns a living as a professional coach to junior players, including Nottinghamshire's under 11 team and pupils at Nottingham Boys Junior High School.

This book aims to provide the beginnings of an opening repertoire for young players by concentrating on two openings that every chess player needs to know and will play at some time; the Giuoco Piano and Two Knights Defence. By using example games and adding his own commentary, the author illustrates the key tactical and positional ideas in these two openings so that they can become part of the reader's armory. The book is easy to read with tips throughout and not too much theory to remember!
Pub. 2007, softback, stapled booklet, 38 pages. 


Price:   £3.75
(£3.75 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!

60 diagrams & 120 total questions of varying difficulty.

Comprehensive answers includes diagrams for easy reading away from the chessboard.

Distributions of answers, percentiles and other statistical reports by rating group from unrated to 2400+. Match yourself against players of all levels, up to grandmaster and see how you stock up.

Results evaluated and Rating assigned overall & by 29 distinct categories: Motive: Misplaced Piece, Advanced Pawn, Lack of Protection, Back Rank Mate, Mating Net, Simplification. Theme: In-Between Move, Decoy, Interference, Clearance, Deflection, Discovered Attack, Double Attack, Removal of the Guard, Pin, Skewer, Trap. Objective: Checkmate, Force a Draw, Win Material, Pawn Promotion, Reaching Standard Endgame. Stage: Opening vs. Middlegame vs. Endgame Situation: Attack vs. Defense Result: Win vs. Draw

Comprehensive reports on each of the categories with examples, training recommendations and book/materials suggestions.
Pub. 2007, softback, 206 pages. 


Price:   £11.99
(£11.99 Including VAT at 0%)

This product is included in our 10% discount offer for orders of 2 or more qualifying books & CD or DVD products!