The Art of Defence in Chess - Softcover

Polugaevsky, Lev; Damsky, Iakov

Softcover

ISBN 10: 4871875199 ISBN 13: 9784871875196

Publisher: Ishi Press, 2012

Synopsis

Most players prefer to attack, resulting in defensive technique being the weakest part of their game. There are a number of methods of playing against an attacker, which include passive defense, simplification, blockade, stalemate, or a trap. Alternatively a player can defend actively or launch a counterattack. These and many other techniques are described in this thoroughly practical book. This is a beautifully written book that gives over a hundred examples of brilliant defenses by players in seemingly hopelessly lost positions. Here you learn that you should just keep looking and you may find a way to save your otherwise lost position. Using question and answer format, it asks what can the defending player do to save his position, and then gives the answers in the back of the book.

About this title

About the Author

Lev Polugaevsky was one of the world's leading grandmasters for nearly three decades. Iakov Damsky was a chess writer and chess commentator for Soviet TV and radio. Lev Polugaevsky was born on 20 November 1934 in Mogilev in what is now Belarus (White Russia). Polugaevsky defeated Tal and Mecking in matches. He qualified to the candidates matches for the World Championship five times, a record few had equaled, but he lost twice in matches against Korchnoi in the semi-finals for the World Championship. He won two major international grandmaster tournaments. He also won two USSR Championships, in 1967 and 1968. Iakov Damsky was a talented writer on chess, as you will see from reading this book. He was born on Born on April 24 1934 in the city of Vitebsk in Belarus. He studied at the Kazan State University. After graduation, he worked for almost ten years as a correspondent and head of department at the newspaper "Komsomolets Tartary." In 1965 he moved to Moscow and became a correspondent for the newspaper "Moskovsky Komsomolets". From 1967 he worked as a sports commentator Central Television and National Radio. For many years, he was on the radio station "Mayak" and television programs. He wrote more than a dozen chess books in Russian. Only a few have been translated into English. His books have been translated into German, Spanish, Serbian, Dutch and Armenian as well. He was also an international arbiter who officiated at important matches. He wrote a book about Polugaevsky entitled simply “Grandmaster Polugaevsky”. Among his books in Russian with the titles translated into English are "in the fire attack" (co-authored with Mikhail Tal), "Last Chance", "Last century intrigue: Kasparov - Kramnik, London, 2000" (co-authored with Sergei Shipov), "Breakthrough "(co-authored with Vladimir Kramnik)," According to the laws of beauty "," King Boris tenth "," On the altar of Caissa. " He died in Moscow on July 29, 2009 at age 75.

From the Back Cover

Most players would rather attack than defend, with the result that defensive technique is often the weakest part of their game. This book, translated by Ken Neat, explains the basics of defensive play and contains many tests for readers to practice on. Topics covered include building a blockade, simplification, active defense and counter-attack and much more. Before his untimely death in 1995, Lyev Polugayevsky had been one of the world's leading grandmasters for more than 30 years and was a candidate for the world championship on several occasions. His books Grandmaster Achievement and Grandmaster Performance are widely regarded as modern classics. Iakov Damsky is a Russian television and radio commentator and journalist.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ishi Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 4871875199
• ISBN 13: 9784871875196
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 290