Carlsen V Caruana

In late 2018, for the first time in nearly two decades, the World Chess Championship was contested between the two players who are clearly number one and two in the world. The champion, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen was defending his title against Fabiano Caruana, the first American to challenge for the World Championship since the legendary Bobby Fischer. This book, co-authored by two leading chess journalists, features extensive and detailed analysis of all game sin the match, biographies and interviews with both players and a history of the world chess championship.

Learn from the Games of the Best Two Chess Players in the World In every sport, there is that one match-up that electrifies the fans. In soccer, you have Ronaldo vs. Messi. In tennis, Federer vs. Nadal. And in chess, there is Carlsen vs. Caruana. The rivalry of reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana began 2010 in the Dutch village Wijk aan Zee and culminated in the World Chess Championship 2018. Over the past years, they have crossed swords 71 times: In classical, rapid and blitz chess. All their games against each other - including the thrilling World Championship match - are thoroughly annotated in this book. GM Niclas Huschenbeth gives detailed move-to-move explanations and decodes the complexities of the game, with the aim to improve the reader's chess understanding. After all, what could be better suited to enhance one's understanding than to study the games of the two best chess players on the planet? From the introduction: What You Will Learn From This Book Have you ever played through a top level chess game and asked yourself "Why in the world did he play that move?" or "This move does not make any sense, what's the idea behind it?" If so, I can completely sympathize. "Learn from the best. Analyze their games. Understand what they are doing and how they are doing it." These were the words of my coach when I was in my youth, aspiring to become a good player myself. And I did. Or rather, I tried. All too often, though, I found myself scratching my head when playing through the games of Kasparov, Kramnik & Co. What was the idea behind this move? Why didn't he play that move instead? Back then, the computers were too weak to be of any help. These days, they are a bit more useful. They tell you the best move and the correct evaluation. But they still do not tell you why. It's like trying to work out a difficult math problem and then just being shown the final solution. No learning happens. I was lucky to have my coach guide me through the jungle that chess often is. But not everybody is so fortunate to have a great coach. This is why I wrote this book. In this book, I decode the sometimes mysterious moves and explain the ideas behind them. To me, chess boils down to two basic skills: understanding and calculation. Finding the right plans and finding ways to execute them - the two go hand in hand. But in training, we often compartmentalize, focusing on one specific topic, let's say "how to play with the bishop pair" or "good knight vs. bad bishop." But chess does not work like that. After all, the beautiful thing about chess games is that you usually have some elements of everything. This is why I always found game analyses to be the most rewarding. You learn about chess as a whole and not about one specific detail. It is not without reason that about every coach recommends the study of one's own games as well as the games of the very best.

Mikhail Tal, the 'magician from Riga,' was the greatest attacking World Champion of them all, and this enchanting autobiography chronicles his extraordinary career with charm and humor. Dazzling games are interspersed throughout with anecdotes and witty self-interviews, and in typically objective fashion he related both the downs and ups of his encounters. An inveterate smoker and drinker, Tal's life on the circuit was punctuated by bouts in the hospital with kidney problems, but nothing could dull his love for chess and his sheer genius on the chessboard. His illustrious tournament record, up to his death in 1992, is included here in full, along with 100 complete games and nearly as many positions. Tal's annotations in this book are a world apart from ordinary games collections. No reader could fail to be swept along by his passion and vitality as he sets the scene for an encounter and then recounts every psychological twist and turn.

The secrets of Magnus Carlsen’s endgame technique Magnus Carlsen’s brilliant endgame play has been one of the key reasons for his success. At the age of 13 the Norwegian became the youngest grandmaster in the world, at 19 the youngest number one in the FIDE world rankings, and at 22 the second youngest World Champion in history. With his fine technique, great inventiveness and iron determination Magnus has won countless endgame positions in which almost everyone else would have settled for a draw. He also has saved endgames that seemed impossible to hold. International Master Tibor Karolyi has studied Carlsen’s career and has selected more than 90 of his best endgames for this book. He reviews them in chronological order to show how Magnus developed his skills. His technique and his choices are explained in a manner that is easy to understand for club players. Endgame Virtuoso Magnus Carlsen is a highly instructive, inspiring and entertaining book. It will help you to appreciate Magnus’ endgame magic and shows you how to become a better endgame player yourself.

Masterclasses by Kasparov, Carlsen, Tal, Anand, Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Smyslov, Larsen, Karpov and many others For more than three decades, every issue of New In Chess magazine has been full of detailed and highly enlightening annotations by the world’s best players of their own best games. Because studying well-annotated master games is the best way to learn the skills that really matter, acclaimed chess author Steve Giddins has revisited the New In Chess vault and assembled the clearest and most didactic examples. Giddins’ selection includes masterclasses by no fewer than eight World Champions: Kasparov, Tal, Smyslov, Karpov, Kramnik, Topalov, Anand and Carlsen. But also chess legends such as Larsen, Kortchnoi, Timman, Ivanchuk, Short, Aronian and Shirov have contributed. The New In Chess Book of Chess Improvement is a treasure trove of study material and has chapters on attack and defence, sacrifices, material imbalances, pawn structures, endgames and various positional themes. It provides the high standard of instructional material that today’s club player, much stronger than his equivalent 25 or more years ago, needs.

The Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defence provides a battleground for one of the key conflicts in chess: structure versus activity. Black voluntarily accepts a weak pawn formation but in return obtains easy development and excellent piece activity. This is a line that finds favour with aggressive, attacking players who are confident in their tactical ability. The idea of playing ...e5 in the Sicilian is an old one but the modern Sveshnikov treatment was developed in the 1970s, since when it has featured in the repertoires of numerous elite players. It is currently experiencing great popularity due to the fact that it was Magnus Carlsen’s choice in his World Championship Match against Fabiano Caruana in London 2018. Carlsen’s success with the line was a significant factor in his eventual victory in the match. Since then he has continued to use the Sveshnikov with great success. In Opening Repertoire: The Sveshnikov leading chess author Cyrus Lakdawala guides the reader through the complexities of this dynamic variation and carves out a repertoire for Black. He examines all aspects of this highly complex opening and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans. * A complete repertoire for Black in the Sicilian Sveshnikov. * A question and answer approach provides an excellent study method.

“A bravura performance…An entertaining book” (Kirkus Reviews) about the dramatic 2016 World Chess Championship between Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and Russia’s Sergey Karjakin, which mirrored the world’s geopolitical unrest and rekindled a global fascination with the sport. The first week of November 2016, hundreds of people descended on New York City’s South Street Seaport to watch the World Chess Championship between Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and Russia’s Sergey Karjakin. By the time it was over would be front-page news and thought by many the greatest finish in chess history. With both Carlsen and Karjakin just twenty-five years old, it was the first time the championship had been waged among those who grew up playing chess against computers. Originally from Crimea, Karjakin had recently repatriated to Russia under the direct assistance of Putin. Carlsen, meanwhile, had expressed admiration for Donald Trump, and the first move of the tournament he played was called a Trompowsky Attack. Then there was the Russian leader of the World Chess Federation being barred from attending due to US sanctions, and chess fanatic and Trump adviser Peter Thiel being called on to make the honorary first move in sudden death. That the tournament even required sudden death was a shock. Oddsmakers had given Carlsen, the defending champion, an eighty percent chance of winning. It would take everything he had to retain his title. Author Brin-Jonathan Butler was granted unique access to the two-and-half-week tournament and watched every move. The Grandmaster “is not the usual chronicle of a world-championship chess match….Butler offers insight into what it takes to become the best chess player on the planet...A vibrant and provocative look at chess and its metaphorical battle for territory and power” (Booklist).