La finale est le stade le plus technique de la partie d'échecs. Alors que l'ouverture ne cesse d'évoluer, que le milieu de jeu fait une grande part à l'imagination, la finale est basée sur des règles précises pratiquement immuables qu'il importe autant de connaître que les premiers coups du début ou les schémas classiques de mat. Après avoir survécu au milieu de jeu, la partie atteint cette dernière phase bien souvent avec l'avantage matériel pour l'un des champs. Un pion de plus doit généralement représenter le gain, mais encore faut-il savoir s'y prendre, tout comme la défense ne doit pas ignorer et pèchent sans cesse contre les règles les plus élémentaires. Après les classiques manoeuvres de mat contre le Roi seul, l'auteur, l'un des meilleurs écrivains et pédagogues échiquéens actuels, examine tous les types de finales ; de pièces seules, de pions, de pièces contre pions, de Dames, de Tours, de Fous, de Cavaliers, etc.

With the remarkable increase in the number of tournaments and weekend congresses over the last decade, the understanding of the Laws of Chess, and the way they work in practice, is of paramount importance to all chess players. To date, organisers and participants have had no authority to which they could refer but this gap has now been gilled bu Bozidar Kazic, the Chief Arbiter of FIDE, with contributions from Dragutin Djaja, Arpad Elo and Martin Morrison. The book also inclusdes a detailed explanation of the FIDE Rating System and the method bu which International Titles are awarded and all controllers will benefit from the thorough coverage afforded to the various forms of the Swiss System and other tournament systems.

The middle game presents the chess writer as well as player with the most formidable problems. Its theory is particulary difficulte to formulate, with the result that, as Dr Euwe explains, it has received less than adequate treatment in chess literature. The Middle Game was first conceived thiry years ago and required many years of intensive study by the former world champion and his collaborator, the Dutch international master Hans Kramer. Book One is devoted to what the authors call the "static features" of the middle game. The character of a position alters with every move ; it is the authors' purpose to identify those features of a given position which have more or less lasting properties and from them to assess its potentialities. The relative value of pieces, centre formations, closed, open and half-open formations, the struggle for open lines, weak pawns -- all are exhaustively studied, the illustrations coming entirely from master play.

The book of a strong tournament is more that just a games collection. When its participants are the world's strongest players ... the tournament as a whole represents a step forward in the development of chess creativity. We may take as examples of such tournaments the events at Hastings 1895, St. Petersburg 1914, New York 1924, Moscow 1935, and Gronhingen 1946. Beyond double, Zurich-Neuhausen 1953 deserves a place among them.

Rock v. Minor Piece Endings is the sixth volume to appear of Averbak's greats classic series on the endgame. The original Russian edition quickly established a world-wide reputation - these are the endgame books that Fischer had sent to him during his world championship match. The English translation has been updated and is by far the most complete work on rook v. minor piece endgames ever published. Every one of the 312 examples has its own diagram. In both matches and tournaments, games are often adjourned at the moment that the ending is reached. It is then that any player without the most authoritative work to refer puts himseld at a great disadvantage and is in danger of throwing away both half and whole points.

Queen and Pawn Endings is the second volume to appear of Averbakh's great classic series on the endgame. The original Russian edition quickly estblished a world-wide reputation. These are the endgame books that Fischer had sent to him for use during his World Championship match. The English translation has been updated and is by far the most complete work on queen and pawn endgames ever published. Every one of the 268 examples has its own diagram. In both matches and tournaments, games are often adjourned at the moment that the ending is reached. It is even then that any player without the most authoritative reference work puts himself at a great disadvantage and is in danger of throwing away both half and whole points. Queen and Pawn Endings can help to solve a player's adjournment problems..

Un des problèmes numéro un du joueur est de survivre à la phase du début de partie pour donner libre cours à son talent personnel. C'est la raison du succès d'innombrables livres sur les ouvertures. Le grand maître soviétique Edouard Goufeld, un des derniers romantiques contemporains, propose à l'amateur, et même au débutant, une solution séduisante pour combattre la fameuse défense sicilienne : le Gambit Morra, du nom d'un joueur niçois dont l'idée a connu un succès international. Dès les premiers coups, les blancs entrent dans le vif du sujet et adoptent une attitude agressive conduisant à des attaques brillantes, où les victoires blanches par KO ne se comptent plus. Pour leur part, les noirs ne peuvent ignorer cette attaque qui peut leur causer bien des soucis. L'étude théorique proprement dite est illustrée d'un soixantaine de parties complètes, véritable école du jeu de combinaison.

Le 13 avril 1984, le champion soviétique a eu vingt et un ans. Le même mois, grâce à sa victoire en match sur l'ancien champion du monde Smyslov, il devenait le challenger officiel de l'actuel champion du monde Anatoly Karpov. Fin 1984 ou début 1985, il a de grandes chances d'être le plus jeune champion du monde de toute l'histoire des échecs. Son nom est sur les lèvres de tous les amateurs et sa notoriété commence à toucher le grand public, comme le fit, il y a une douzaine d'années, l'Américain Bobby Fischer. L'ouvrage du grand maître soviétique Edouard Goufeld retrace la carrière du jeune champion, du jeune écolier gagnant ses premiers tournois au véritable génie de cette fin de siècle. Cette biographie est illustrée d'une cinquantaine de parties étonnantes de qualité dont les commentaires n'ont qu'un but : dégager pour le profit du public le plus large la beauté et l'attrait d'une partie d'echecs. Morphy, Alekhine, Fischer, Karpov ... le nom de Kasparov est dès à présent digne de figurer auprès de ceux de ses illustres prédécesseurs.

Bishop Endings is the fourth volume to appear of Averbak's greats classic series on the endgame. The original Russian edition quickly established a world-wide reputation - these are the endgame books that Fischer had sent to him during his world championship match. The English translation has been updated and is by far the most complete work on rook v. minor piece endgames ever published. Every one of the 370 examples has its own diagram. In both matches and tournaments, games are often adjourned at the moment that the ending is reached. It is then that any player without the most authoritative work to refer puts himseld at a great disadvantage and is in danger of throwing away both half and whole points.