Many players are serious about their chess but become stuck at a certain playing strength. It’s rarely a lack of talent or practice or opening knowledge that holds them back. Usually they get left behind because they don’t know how to make best use of the time they have available to study chess.
This book addresses this problem and is your self-improvement plan. It shows you how to work on your own games to root out mistakes. It will sharpen your calculation of variations. You will be challenged to find the best middlegame strategy. Endgame technique is also covered in detail. All topics are discussed with numerous examples and puzzles from the games of modern players such as Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Viswanathan Anand. If you want your chess to leap forward it’s time to Coach Yourself!
- A complete self-improvement programme.
- All aspects of the game included.
- Utilizes a structured approach, making the most of your study time.
Neil McDonald became a grandmaster in 1996 and a FIDE trainer in 2017. He is a regular coach of the England Junior team at international events. Neil has written numerous books on openings, endgames, tactics and strategy as well as biographies of famous players. He lives in Gravesend in Kent, England.
Contents:
About the Author 3
Introduction 5
1 Immunizing Yourself Against Blunders 6
2 Training Your Tactical Imagination 20
3 Teaching Yourself to Calculate 40
4 Judging the Right Moment to Use a Combination 61
5 Supercharging Your Feel for the Initiative 89
6 Know Yourself: Diagnosing Positional Mistakes 130
7 Learn How to Shut a Piece out of the Game 159
8 Getting Full Value from Your King 173
9 Wearing Down the Opponent’s Pawn Structure 184
10 Practice Planning on a Grand Scale 215
11 Mastering Pawn Breakthroughs in Endgames 246
12 Understanding the Essentials of the Endgame 262
13 Making Good Opening Choices 287
