Mastering Chess Defence: Study brings wisdom. Practice brings perfection - Softcover

Johan Hellsten

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9083483363 ISBN 13: 9789083483368

Publisher: New In Chess, 2025

Synopsis

All chess players know that they need to study tactics, calculation, endgames, and openings, but when it comes to defense, far too many wait until they're under pressure. The truth is that more games are lost because of defensive mistakes than strategic ones.

By improving your defense, you could do more for your win rate than perhaps any other area of chess study. Mastering Chess Defence by GM Johan Hellsten is the training program you need to be prepared and defend against attacks, both in the short and long term.

Inside are 31 chapters that form a compendium of all the defensive skills you need to learn.

Specifically, you'll learn to:

• Deflect successfully with material
• Create counterthreats - the best defense is a good offense
• Exploit the back rank as a defensive measure
• Learn the risks of materialism - to grab material or not to grab?
• Find safety on flight squares
• Find "lifelines" that allow you to escape from the seemingly inescapable

This is the most comprehensive modern book on defensive techniques, with hundreds of instructive examples and dozens of exercises. Strategic mastermind Johan Hellsten teaches you to defend at a master level.

About this title

About the Author

Johan Hellsten is a Grandmaster, a former Swedish Champion and a European Team Championship individual gold medalist. He's a renowned chess teacher and award-winning author with his trilogy: Mastering Chess Strategy, Mastering Opening Strategy and Mastering Endgame Strategy.

From the Back Cover

All chess players know that they need to study tactics, calculation, endgames, and openings, but when it comes to defense, far too many wait until they're under pressure. The truth is that more games are lost because of defensive mistakes than strategic ones.

By improving your defense, you could do more for your win rate than perhaps any other area of chess study. Mastering Chess Defense by GM Johan Hellsten is the training program you need to be prepared and defend against attacks, both in the short and long term

Inside are 31 chapters that form a compendium of all the defensive skills you need to learn.

Specifically, you'll learn to

- Deflect successfully with material
- Create counterthreats - the best defense is a good offense
- Exploit the back rank as a defensive measure
- Learn the risks of materialism - to grab material or not to grab?
- Find safety on flight squares
- Find "lifelines" that allow you to escape from the seemingly inescapable

This is the most comprehensive modern book on defensive techniques, with hundreds of instructive examples and dozens of exercises. Strategic mastermind Johan Hellsten teaches you to defend at a master level.

Johan Hellsten is a Grandmaster, a former Swedish Champion and a European Team Championship individual gold medalist. He's a renowned chess teacher and award-winning author with his trilogy: Mastering Chess Strategy, Mastering Opening Strategy and Mastering Endgame Strategy.

Edition details

• Publisher: New In Chess
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9083483363
• ISBN 13: 9789083483368
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 440