Philosophy and Chess

Twelve professional thinkers playfully explore various aspects of chess in the new book Philosophy Looks at Chess:

* Do chess players think in words?
* Does chess explain how a benevolent God might exist in a world permeated by evil?
* Is chess really a game?

This book will definitely give you some food for thought with chapters on technology, ethics, hip-hop and backward analysis. For a list of authors and more information, check our website.

A book with almost the same title but quite a different content is The Philosophy of Chess, a 2007 reprint of an 1857 original by William Cluley. Here you can find a long essay on the mid-19th century thinking on chess and on contemporary chess openings, mainly king’s pawn openings. More information here.

The variation that brought down Kasparov

British IM John Cox has posed himself the daunting task of writing a book on the infamous Berlin Wall.

And he succeeded: this is the Berlin Wall Bible for some time to come, if only for the organization of the contents: 58 pages on typical Berlin endings, followed by 60 pages on positional themes, and only then the theory of the Berlin Wall is considered, in 184 pages. This is the way to tackle a purely strategic variation like the Berlin Wall!

Queens come off quickly in the main variation of the Berlin Wall, but is it a boring variation? Not really, considering that the position remains dynamic and that even an aggressive player like Topalov uses it from time to time. The Berlin Wall can do more than a making a draw with Kasparov.

Play the Berlin Wall and get well acquainted with its nuances with this splendid manual by John Cox.

New & full of opening novelties: Yearbook 88

Yearbook 88 has just arrived, and in this issue of
The Chess Player’s Guide to Opening News you will find,
among much else, answers to urgent questions like:

– What does Carlsen offer White and Black in the Catalan?
– Has Ivanchuk pinpointed White’s weak spot in the Petroff?
– Which novelty revived an ailing Grünfeld line?
– Has Kramnik found the Hedgehog’s Achilles’ Heel?
– What’s the new idea in the King’s Indian Bayonet Attack?
– Is there new hope in the Nimzowitsch Petroff?
– Does the sensational Gajewski Gambit hold up?
– Is Gelfand’s 11.Qb6 still viable in the Najdorf?
– How does Anand fight the fabulous Budapest Gambit in simuls?
– Why does British co-champion Keith Arkell play 1.b4?
– Why does nobody play the right move in the Jaenisch Ruy Lopez?
– And much, much more…

“If you want to become a stronger player…”

“If you want to become a stronger player, you have to join Pinter’s classes”, is what they say in Hungary.

They are referring to a most remarkable publishing project: the very succesfull 1,000 series, written and assembled by GM Jozsef Pinter.

This series consits of big (but affordable) collections of superb chess training material, mostly in endgames.

Recently, a new title was added, outside the endgame terrain: 1,000 Combinations, grouped by theme, in algabraic notation.

The rest of the series is still available as well:
— 1,000 Queen’s Endings
— 1,000 Minor Piece Endings
— 1,000 Pawn Endings
— 1,000 Endgame Studies
— 1,000 Rook Endings

Save 5% on Anand’s “My Career”: 2 DVDs

World Champion Viswanathan Anand has created a
monument of insight into top-level chess, My Career:
two new DVDs which we are offering with a 5% discount.

In the 8 hours(!) of running time of these DVDs, Anand
shows that he fully deserves his reputation as the most
accessible top-level chess analyst in the world.

From 1984 when, at the age of 15, Anand participated in the
World Junior’s, untill September 2007, when he became the
undisputed World Champion: his career was just incredible:

— his match against Kasparov in 1995
— the best rapid player in the world
— winning Linares twice, and Wijk aan Zee five times
— and countless other achievements.

These 2 DVDs contain footage from throughout his career,
memories, reflections, and an abundance of brilliant analysis.

Please have a look at Anand’s superior chess insights here.

Forget puzzles, get better at chess strategy

I don’t know about you, but when we hear the word “puzzle” our mind tends to go slightly hazy.

Aren’t puzzles about relaxing? Isn’t doing puzzles about freewheeling and having a good time?

Perfectly all right occupations of course, unless you are actually trying to achieve something, like getting better at chess.

Believe us: the title of the book we’re recommending to you today is 100% wrong! “The Chess Cafe Puzzle Book 2″ is no kid’s stuff, but is probably the best strategic training course available in chess today.

In 14 short chapters German GM Karsten Müller introduces all major strategic themes, from “Good Bishops” to “Weak Color Complexes”, by explaining a couple of instructive examples, followed by exercises.

This part of the book takes up only 72 pages! It will be hard to find a better short primer on chess strategy, anywhere. The next 200 pages are filled with tests and extremely well explained solutions

So our advice is: ignore the boring title of this book and buy it (for only € 21.95) if you wish to improve your positional understanding rapidly.

New: 222 opening traps after 1.d4

How much book do you need to know?

“The bare minimum is”, said GM Andrew Soltis, “you need to know the traps that come up in your openings.”

222 Opening Traps after 1.d4 is the title of a new book we just received, an up-to-date and thorough piece of work by two German GM’s: Karsten Müller and Rainer Knaak.

Müller and Knaak have expanded the concept of a trap just a bit, and also include typical mistakes that are not the result of a line deliberately chosen by the one who sets the trap.

An important part of their book is devoted to “normal” looking moves which are met by unusual tactical blows.

This is a follow-up of their highly successful 222 Traps after 1.e4.

New In Chess 2008/6: Russian, Indian & Chinese youngsters

In 97 countries all over the world the subscribers of
New In Chess will shortly receive issue 2008/6 on their doormat.

They will find it full of interesting stuff:
— on-the-spot reports from Biel, Mainz, Siberia, Copenhagen, Athens and Philadelphia
— exclusive annotations by Anand, Carlsen, Shirov, Eljanov,
Dominguez, Alekseev, and many others
— the great hopes of Chinese, Indian, and Russian chess speak
out: Wang Hao, Parimarjan Negi and Ian Nepomniatchi
— Genna Sosonko: the Tiger and the Singer
— a brand new SOS: the Lewis Gambit!
— Jan Timman on the dynamism of Ivanchuk
— Victoria Cmilyte on Donner, Akhmatova and Mick Jagger
— and much more …

Is New In Chess really as good as they say? Let me know what
you think of this issue.

Good news & bad news about New In Chess

The bad news about New In Chess magazine
is that this Monday, 1 September 2008, our
subscription rates will go up.

The good news is that, untill then, you can still
subscribe (or renew your subscription) for the old,
cheaper rate.

This is our first price hike in two years — in the meantime
all our suppliers have raised their prices considerably.

Negative currency developments force us to charge
subscribers from outside North America and Europe
in Euro (instead of US$), starting Monday.

But in other geographical areas prices will go up, too.

So if you want to receive New In Chess for the old,
cheaper price, then act fast and click here NOW.

Save 50%: Summer Sale at New In Chess

Our SUMMERSALE is on, which means fabulous savings on a wide range of high quality products!

All these titles, and more, at 50% OFF only until August 28:

Tactics in the Chess Opening 2	Football & Chess	Paul Morphy	Timman: De Kracht van het Paard	Schach ohne Scheuklappen Band 3
Danish Dynamite	Wonderboy Magnus Carlsen	The Chess Combat Simulator	How to Fool Fritz	Yearbook 75
Chess Bitch	SOS - Volume 3	Bobby Fischer: On the Road	This Crazy World of Chess	A Practical Guide to Rook Endgames
Timman: De Macht van het Loperpaar	Yearbook 76	The Complete Studies of Genrikh Kasparyan	Fearsome Four Pawns Attack	Engaging Pieces

These prices are only valid until the 28th of August 2008!

Save 10% on Kasparov-Karpov: offer ends today

Our 10% discount offer on Garry Kasparov’s
upcoming book ends today.
Kasparov vs Karpov 1975 - 1985 not only deals with
the games themselves, but also with the political machinations
that surrounded this epic clash.
So if you want a good price for this groundbraking tale on
the nerve-racking first two world championship-matches
against Karpov, you should act fast.

We expect this new book (a splendid bound edition with
530 pages) to arrive by the end of August.

Please have a look here.

Avoid theoretical landmines: Play 1.b3!

We have just published a new book, called Play 1.b3!,
written by Russian IM Ilya Odessky.

The popularity of the Nimzo-Larsen Attack is largely
based on its surprise value, but 1.b3 is in fact one
of White’s more logical first moves.

By immediatly developing his queen’s bishop, White aims
at undermining Black’s centre, and steers towards an
open battle, right from the start.

This is an up-to-date book about an offbeat opening with
sound and easy-to-learn positional ideas. Odessky writes
with a lot of passion and humour.

So our advice is:
Take your opponent out of his stride at move one, Play 1.b3!

Carlsen, Kamsky, Moro: New In Chess 2008/5

New In Chess 2008/5 is full of interesting stuff:

— Magnus Carlsen on his win in Foros
— Moro on his win in Sarajevo
— Kasparov on his win against Karpov (in 1985, that is)
— Leko on his win in Dortmund
— Bologan’s essay on the return of Gata Kamsky
— Ivanchuk on beating Shirov
— to the memory of Karen Asrian, by Aronian
— for the love of chess books, by Ten Geuzendam
— Jan Timman on Carlsen’s technique
— David Pruess on beating Nakamura in Vegas
— Helmut Pfleger on his greatest fear
— and much more

Is New In Chess really as good as they say? Let me know
what you think of this issue.

New: Rybka 3, strength is not everything

The strongest chess program just got stronger!

You know what that means: Rybka 3 is out.

But the shooting star of computer chess (and reigning
world champion) not only gained elo points.

It also has a new interface, designed by ChessBase,
and introduces many new analysis features:

— Sampled Search
— Monte Carlo Analysis
— Singular Moves
— Look For Win
— Persistent Hash

Rybka 3 is stands for superior playing strength
combined with ground-breaking interactive analysis.

Shipping starts next week, make sure you’re in.

Chess teachers: an interesting new book

We have just published an interesting new
book, called The Chess Instructor 2009.

It is a Compendium for Chess Teachers,
Coaches and Parents, edited by Jeroen Bosch
and Steve Giddins.

The idea of this book is to provide a collection of
articles for all those who are involved in teaching
or training chess, both basic and advanced.

How do you organize your classes, market your course,
motivate your pupils and monitor their progress, but also:
how do you move talented players ahead.

From coaching Magnus Carlsen to teaching local kids,
it raises topics for discussion and provides a mixture of
exercises, interviews and scientific research.

If you are involved in teaching chess, this is for you.

Save 10%: Kasparov on his clash with Karpov

Borg v McEnroe, Ali v Frazier, Prost v Senna: some clashes in sports were more epic than others.

But none of these was as intense as the rivalry between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.

These two great chess players contested, over almost a decade, an astonishing five world championships matches with a total of 144 games.

Garry Kasparov has just finished his book on the first two of these matches, in 1984 and 1985, at the end of which he became the youngest world champion in history.

He analyses the political machinations and the personal repercussions, as well as the games themselves.

We are offering this great new book with a discount of 10% for early orders. This offer expires on August 15.

New: the best chess gadget ever

Never before has there been an internal run on a
new product as we are having in our office right now.

The new DGT foldable electronic chess clock is
such a beauty that everybody wants to have one.

But, so far, nobody at New In Chess has been able to
take one home because the demand from all over the
world has been enormous, and clients come first.

So we have re-stocked big and are now confident we can
fulfill clients’ orders and keep everybody happy over here.

So what about this clock? When folded, it is as small as
a biggish cell phone; quite unbelievable, really. Unfolded, the
display is big enough to read in a dark corner of your favorite cafe.

It is extermely easy to operate, much easier than the usual
electronic devices with their maddening number of useless
functions. Yet, it is smart enough to handle 960/random chess.

And it costs only €29.95! But the most amazing thing is: it is so cute,
I can’t wait to show it to my wife, who doesn’t care about chess at all.

Fed up with stuffy theory? SOS 9 is out!

SOS - Secrets of Opening Surprises 9 is out!

Good news for thousands of chess players all over the
world, who will be eagerly hunting its pages for early
deviations from main stream chess openings.

Because SOS is for chess players who like to get an early
advantage in the game by throwing their opponent off
balance and gaining valuable time on the clock.

All the SOS’s in volume 9 are brand new, never having
appeared before, anywhere.

“No matter what you play, you will find something exciting here”,
said ChessToday about SOS.

Please, have a look at the variations covered in SOS 9.

You can order SOS 9 here.

Save 10% on ChessBase 10!

ChessBase 10 is coming!

We are offering a 10% discount on this new version
of the most popular stand-alone chess database program.

ChessBase 10 comes with a spruced-up navigation and
a host of updates and improvements, while still containing
the Fritz and Crafty engines.

Better display, extra search boosters, new engine functions,
automatic udates and improved window management are
just some of the new features.

There are three different packages, at different prices, and
the 10% dicount goes for all three of them:
— ChessBase 10 Mega Package
— ChessBase 10 Starter Package
— ChessBase 10 Update from CB 9.0

Save on New In Chess 2007, complete

The beginning of July is always an important moment for those of you who don’t subscribe to our flagship publication: New In Chess, the magazine.

Because NOW you can get the complete 2007 year volume
at a very attractive price!

You pay only €49.95 for 8 volumes with over 800 pages of the very best in chess: Garry Kasparov’s exclusive columns, annotations by the world’s greatest players themselves, interviews, portraits, full colour pictures, essays, columns, book reviews, history, endgame studies & opening surprises, and more.

Jeremy Silman called it “the best chess magazine of all time.”

Warning: New In Chess doesn’t have any federation info, scoring tables of sub-regional competitions, kid’s puzzles, address changes of local chairpersons, and the like.

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