ESSENTIAL CHESS SACRIFICES (David LeMoir)
224 pages
(248 mm by 172 mm).
£15.99/$24.95/€24,95
Sacrifices are an essential part of chess. Those who never
consider sacrificing will miss countless opportunities and find that promising
positions repeatedly slip away. Players who do not appreciate their opponents'
sacrificial possibilities will be unable to see danger signs, and find
themselves on the wrong end of too many king-hunts. Rather than merely
cataloguing the various possibilities and providing examples, LeMoir discusses
the possible follow-ups to the sacrifices, the defensive options against them,
and the positional factors that might suggest whether the sacrifice will be
sound or unsound. There are many important types of chess positions that can
only be played well by those who understand the thematic sacrifices that are
possible.
David LeMoir is an experienced chess-player and
writer. He twice won the championship of the West of England and was runner-up
on four occasions. In 2000, he was champion of the English county of Norfolk.
In a successful career as a business strategy consultant, he has made good use
of the strategic and decision-making skills that are developed by playing
chess. He has earned a reputation for writing chess books that discuss
important practical chess topics with great clarity. This is his third chess
book; see also How to be Lucky in Chess and
How to be a Deadly Chess Tactician.
Download a pdf file with a
sample from the book.
"What makes this book brilliant, is that the concepts and
positions examined is part of any top player's fundamental chess knowledge.
However, for the average player, below this aura of invincibility, there is no
way to gain such an understanding without help from a teacher such as Mr.
LeMoir. We cannot sift through games, recognize the themes, make numerous case
studies, and figure out what factors leads to success, and what factors let you
down. David LeMoir has done this for us, and anyone who devotes some time to
this book will emerge a better chess player." - Soren Sogaard, Seagaard's
Reviews
"The blurb on the back calls this book unique. I wouldn't
argue with that. I would add that going through its 224 pages will almost
certainly add a significant number of grading points to anyone below master
level. I wouldn't be surprised if stronger players could also greatly benefit
from reading it. LeMoir has come up with a clever book that may quietly become
a classic." - Tim Spanton, Weekend Chess
"It's a veritable feast of exciting and attractive chess, as
well as being very instructive. ... Verdict: a fantastic book, which I think
readers of all standards will find enjoyable as well as useful." - Phil
Adams, 3Cs website
"Essential Chess Sacrifices is a must-buy for anyone
who ever harboured hopes of being a combinative chessplayer … I would rank
it as the definitive manual of the piece-sacrifice." - Norman Stephenson,
www.clevelandchess.co.uk
"...a modern successor to Vladimir Vukovic's groundbreaking
The Art of Attack in Chess. Mr. LeMoir, who has authored two other books
for Gambit, may not be as well known as some of the other writers for this
publishing house, but he is quickly making a reputation for himself. His newest
book is a methodical look at different sacrifices. The material is set up
schematically with chapters devoted to different themes, like sacrifices on e6,
Nf5 and Nd5 in the Sicilian, Bxh7+, etc. Mr. LeMoir does a good job of
describing the conditions that make these sacrifices work successfully. There
is plenty of prose to explain the ideas, as well as many exercises to test what
the student has learned. The examples are a mixture of classics from the past,
as well as new examples." - John Donaldson
"The definitive and BEST word on this subject. I have
already played through 5 games of systems which can or could concern me, and I
intend to go through another 30 or more. This book should have been written a
long time ago. His historical and database selections are also perfectly
chosen. A true treasure in chess for which I predict a good future." -
Chessco
"The beauty of a book like this for average club players is
that it reinforces what you are already rather vaguely aware of. It provides a
more structured approach to understanding the potential of typical sacrificial
continuations and gives you the confidence to take the plunge where previously
you might have ducked out and taken a more positional approach. What amazes me
is the number of times strong players allow themselves to be victims of such
sacrificial attacks. If they can be caught out, so can your much less able club
opponent. Read the book and arm yourself!" - Alan Sutton, En Passant
"If you've had difficulty understanding the concept behind
supposedly 'thematic' sacrifices, this may be the book for you. While many
books cover sacrifices in general, this book concentrates on a specific set of
minor piece sacrifices that occur with a certain amount of frequency. The book
provides many examples of success and failure, and this allows the reader the
opportunity to develop a systematic understanding of these key sacrificial
tries." Randy Bauer
"LeMoir fulfills my requirements for a great chess book. He
gives us mostly complete games so you can see how the position develops. There
is lots of text, not just for the attacker but for the defender also. Then he
concludes with why the sac worked and what to look for and plenty of diagrams
to follow 'How To Make Sacrifices Work'." - Sigurd, Sig's Chess
"LeMoir has done a tremendous job; for each sacrifice he has
gone through about hundred games and picked out the main themes, and then
presenting these themes through annotated illustrative games (about 16 per
chapter). These themes are well presented, and working hard on this material is
an excellent way to pick up these main topics. In short, this is a good
discussion of the 15 most frequent piece sacrifices. And sacrifices are an
essential part of chess, but it is still only a part of the game." - Kjell
Arne Brekke, Chesscafe.com
"There are just enough variations to help understand why a
particular move was made or where improvements could be made but not so many
that you are bogged down in too much detail. LeMoir's writing style is very
engaging. He sprinkles quite a bit of text instruction throughout the games,
especially pointing out ideas that set-up, execute, and complete the
sacrificial attack and defense. I have to admit that I had a lot of fun playing
through this book. The games were exciting and the subject matter was
appealing." - Chessville.com
"The difference between this book and many others is that
David LeMoir doesn't just catalogue the examples and provide a list of games;
instead he discusses the positional factors that might decide whether a
sacrifice would be sound or unsound, the defensive options against them and the
possible follow-ups. Many openings have their own standard piece sacrifices and
the author's identifying of the various openings within the chapters using
fully annotated games helps the reader fully understand them and use the
openings successfully." - Marvin Carbin, Open File |
