100 Chess Master Trade Secrets - Soltis, A - 2013.pdf

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Contents
Introduction
Chapter One: Twenty Five Key Priyomes
Chapter Two: Twenty Five Must-Know Endgame Techniques
Chapter Three: Twenty Five Crucial Sacrifices
Chapter Four: Twenty Five Exact Endings
Quiz Answers
Introduction
When my plain, I listen.
plained about what I left out of Studying Chess Made Easy. In that book I
explained that there was a less painful – and more bene
cial – way to learn how to play
the endgame:
There are some basic endings, with few pieces and pawns, that you can learn perfectly.
You can always get the optimum result – a win or a draw – no matter how strong your
opponent, I wrote.
And the good thing is there are only about two dozen of these ‘exact’ endgames that you
must know. Once you master them, you can spend your scarce time on the more important
endgame know-how, techniques.
These are the weapons, such as mismatches and opposition, shoulder blocking and
zugzwang, that you use when there are more pieces and pawns on the board. That is, when
it’s not yet an exact ending.
plaint I got from readers?
“You didn’t tell us which exact endgames.”
“And you didn’t say which techniques.”
I also heard from my readers when I wrote What It Takes to e a Chess Master. They
were surprised – and somewhat pleased – to learn that the most important book knowledge
was the middlegame techniques called strategic priyomes.
I gave some examples. But there are many other priyomes. Some are more important
than others, I wrote.
plaint from readers?
“You didn’t name the most important priyomes.”
This book will answer plaints – and some others. It provides 100 speci
c
examples of master trade secrets. It’s the kind of know-how you need to e a master.
And it will help you set priorities in determining what you really need to study.
That’s di
cult even for great players. Mikhail Botvinnik, for example, decided to study
an obscure exact ending before the tournament that made him