Winner of the year 2000 Chess Journalists of America Cramer Award for Best Chess Book.

"How can I improve my game?" is a perennial question facing chess-players. While there are no easy answers, Grandmaster Alex Yermolinsky is better qualified than most to offer advice. Having found the famed 'Soviet School of Chess' wanting, he trained himself, slowly but surely raising his game to top-class grandmaster standard. In this book he passes on many of the insights he has gained over the years, steering the reader away from 'quick-fix' approaches and focusing on the critical areas of chess understanding and over-the-board decision-making.

Topics covered include: trend-breaking tools; the burden of small advantages; what exchanges are for; classics revisited; and computer chess. A large part of the book discusses a variety of important opening set-ups, including methods for opposing offbeat but dangerous lines, such as the Grand Prix Attack.

Alex Yermolinsky is one of the strongest players in the United States. He was US Champion in 1996, and won the US Open Championship in 1995 and 1997. He has represented the USA in four Olympiads, and played board 2 for the team that won the World Team Championship in 1993. See also: Chess Explained: The Classical Sicilian.

"In my years of reviewing, I have never been tempted to make a dramatic 'book of the year' pronouncement, but I can't imagine anyone else topping this effort in the near future. ... For anyone looking to improve and to understand the modern game in a fresh way, I believe that this is one of the most exciting and provocative works to appear in years." John Watson, TWIC

"Occasionally a book appears which stands out like a beacon... a fascinating and revealing insight into the hard work that a top class player has to invest in his game. We can view this book as a companion to last year's Book of the Year, and it would not surprise me at all if it matched the award this year" - Alan Sutton, EN PASSANT

"This is chess warfare explained from the trenches and Yermo does such an exceptional job of conveying his insights that it makes this title very recommendable" - Mark Donlan, CHESS HORIZONS

"Yermolinsky's masterpiece also really gets to grips with numerous crucial elements such as decision-making, emotions, tactical mastery, strategic skills, deep knowledge and understanding of all phases of the Royal Game...so vital for the practical player wanting to progress far along the road of improvement." - GM Paul Motwani, THE SCOTSMAN

"During the European Team Championship in Batumi it proved of practical value in suggesting an idea that Stuart Conquest used in a game he won against the Benko Gambit... an excellent book I would heartily recommend" - GM Jon Speelman, THE INDEPENDENT

"...a magnificent achievement, by far the finest book I've ever seen on the subject of practical play" - GM Matthew Sadler, NEW IN CHESS

"It is hard to see how readers can fail to improve from applying Yermolinsky's advice and techniques to their own games. This book is also an enjoyable read, whilst one bonus is that Yermolinsky does expand a couple of points from Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy. This work would certainly be a worthy successor to it as another Gambit BCF Book of the Year" - Richard Palliser, HULL CHESS CLUB MAGAZINE

"Applying Yermolinsky's techniques to your own games will highlight your worst areas without the need to employ a coach!" - Richard Palliser, HULL DAILY MAIL

"Very informative and thought-provoking" - Alan Borwell, SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENCE CHESS

"Here you have one of today's most active Grandmasters giving away trade secrets..." - Tim Harding, CHESS MAIL

"It's an engaging book and well worth getting ...Yermolinsky has a great deal to say and says it in some style" - GM Jonathan Levitt, KASPAROV CHESS

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.