Chess Strategy for Club Players
The Road to Positional Advantage
by Herman Grooten
New In Chess
ISBN: 978-1-927179-13-0
US $16.99
Winner of the 2009 ChessCafe Book of the Year Award.
Every club player knows the problem: the opening has ended, and now what?
With this book, IM Herman Grooten presents to amateur players a complete and structured course on:
How to recognise key characteristics in all types of positions;
How to make use of those characteristics to choose the right plan.
His teachings are based on the famous 'Elements' of Wilhelm Steinitz, but Grooten has significantly expanded and updated the work of the first World Champion. He supplies many modern examples, tested in his own practice as a coach of talented youngsters.
In this book you will learn the basic elements of positional understanding: pawn structure, piece placement, lead in development, open files, weaknesses, space advantage and king safety. You will master the art of converting a temporary plus into other, more permanent advantages.
The author also explains what to do when, in a given position, the basic principles seem to point in different directions. Most chapters of this primer end with a set of highly instructive exercises.
IM Herman Grooten is an International Master and a chess coach with over 25 years of experience. Quite a few of his pupils have gone on to become grandmasters, among them Loek van Wely and Jan Werle.
From the foreword by Jan Timman:
"A highly instructive book for readers who want to improve their chess skills."
Jan van de Mortel, Chess Education Partners, Chicago IL:
“One of my three favorite chess teaching books. Grooten supplies nice examples and great explanation in a very structured way.”
About the book
This book was previously published as Chess Strategy for Club Players by New In Chess, ISBN 978-90-5691-268-0. The original paperback has 412 pages. In the e+Books edition, you can play through all the material on the live board. Puzzle solutions are hidden until you tap the Solution button. Quiz games are presented in a similar way - tap on the Solution button to move beyond each question. Navigate the Contents by chapter. Games are indexed by player (White or Black) and by opening.
