Check Mates

'Funny and heartfelt with a cunning twist. Stewart Foster is a grandmaster.' - ROSS WELFORD 'An inspirational underdog story and a chilling mystery! A winning combination.' - DAVID SOLOMONS Some people think that I’m a problem child, that I’m lazy and never pay attention in lessons. But the thing is, I’m not a problem child at all. I’m just a child with a problem. Felix is struggling at school. His ADHD makes it hard for him to concentrate and his grades are slipping. Everyone keeps telling him to try harder, but no one seems to understand just how hard he finds it. When Mum suggests Felix spends time with his grandfather, Felix can’t think of anything worse. Granddad hasn’t been the same since Grandma died. Plus he’s always trying to teach Felix boring chess. But sometimes the best lessons come in the most unexpected of places, and Granddad soon shows Felix that there’s everything to play for. Praise for ALL THE THINGS THAT COULD GO WRONG 'A moving, humane, funny portrait of two very different boys discovering what connects us all.' Kiran Milwood Hargrave, author ofThe Girl of Ink and Stars ‘It’s amazing!’ Ross Welford, author of Time Travelling with a Hamster 'I loved it.' Lisa Thompson, author of The Goldfish Boy 'A touching, funny, gripping read that tackles important issues in a sensitive and thoroughly enjoyable way. Highly recommended.' Stuart Robinson, author of If Ever I Fall 'A timely story of courage and reminder of what we all share.' Christopher Edge, author ofThe Many Worlds of Albie Bright 'Powerful and warm ... this will linger long in the mind.' Guardian Praise for THE BUBBLE BOY, winner of the Sainsbury's Children's Book Award in 2016 ‘Poignant, hopeful and heartbreaking.’ Fiona Noble – Children’s Editor, The Bookseller 'Deeply moving and utterly gripping . . . Stewart Foster carries off an astonishing feat of storytelling in this exceptional book' Julia Eccleshare, lovereading.co.uk ‘A gripping and deeply moving book.’ Jamila Gavin, author of Coram Boy 'One thing we know about good books is their amazing ability to inspire empathy in the reader; to explore ideas and viewpoints that arise from experiences that are out of our own realm. The Bubble Boy does this with warmth, quirkiness and a light-hearted touch.' Guardian

Chess might seem a complex and mysterious game, but the ultimate goal is simple: checkmate. Checkmate can occur in all stages of the game, from snap mates in the opening, through middlegame attacks to simplified endgames. Learning how to use our pieces together to corner the enemy king is a fundamental skill that all chess-players must constantly practise, sharpen and develop. This book lays out, in systematic and thorough fashion, a wide range of mating patterns and techniques, in particular showing how each piece-pair can combine to deliver mate. A working knowledge of these ideas enables players to move on to mating combinations, where pieces lay down their lives so that the remaining forces can deliver mate. Gude explains an amazing variety of tactical devices, and illustrates them in unforgettable style with some of the most brilliant mating attacks from practice, new and old. There are chapters on how to attack kings in the centre, as well as standard (and other!) attacks against the castled position. This is a true textbook of checkmate; readers will never be short of mating ideas, and will instinctively know when there is a possibility to launch an attack, or when they must parry the opponent's threats. Fundamental Checkmates also features more than 300 exercises with full solutions. Antonio Gude is an extremely experienced chess writer and teacher from Spain. Several of his books on tactics and for beginners are long-standing best-sellers in Spanish language. Gude has also translated a great many books, including some of the classics of chess literature.

This is a great book for beginning players, especially children. These easy one- and two-move checkmates are not only fun but also great training tools. Set up for quick learning, the author presents one hundred basic mating situations in large-sized, easy-to-understand diagrams. You are asked to solve the mate, and then shown how to solve the problem using plain words. Both challenging and fun, this practical guide is great for all beginning players. 144 pages

For all chess-players, from beginners to world champions, from kids to seniors, delivering checkmate is the greatest thrill the game has to offer. The ability to spot checkmates is a vital skill - and this easy-to-use book shows you how it is done. With the help of Grandmaster John Nunn, you will be ready to shock your next opponent with a deadly checkmate, whether in a school match, a club tournament - or even a championship game! By focusing exclusively on positions from real games, ranging from junior events to grandmaster encounters, Nunn ensures that the mates featured are those which arise most often in real life. He also highlights themes and ideas that are often missed in practice. While solving these puzzles, your all-important 'mental library' of patterns will grow, leading to an immediate increase in your playing strength. All 1001 puzzle positions have been carefully checked, and are graded by theme and difficulty. Points are awarded for finding the checkmate, so you can measure your skill. Most of the puzzles are suitable for novice and junior players. The last chapter challenges you with 'extreme checkmates', but don't worry: you'll be ready for them!

Fifteen chess-enhanced lesson plans address National Council for the Social Studies standards for grades 4–8 and help prepare students to succeed in University Interscholastic League (UIL) Chess Puzzle. Implement the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) curriculum standards in your classroom with People, Places, Checkmates: Teaching Social Studies with Chess. In this unique volume, 15 lesson plans teach culture, history, geography, and citizenship through the history of chess and its relationship to art, civics, culture, economics, geography, government, and technology. This book will also help educators and librarians prepare students to succeed in University Interscholastic League (UIL) Chess Puzzle. Each 40-minute lesson plan includes an NCSS theme, materials and sources, procedure, and evaluation. Each lesson is followed by an optional 10-25 minute chess exercise, composed of teacher background, procedure and materials, expected time, and evaluation. A separate chapter teaches the chess basics necessary for your students to actually play chess and successfully complete the optional exercises. Lesson plans complement upper elementary and middle school curricula in world history, U.S. history, geography, and social studies.

A fascinating challenge and great training tool, these two- three- and four-move checkmates are great for beginning, intermediate, and expert players. Mates are in order of difficulty, from simple to very complex positions. Learn the standard patterns for cornering the king, corridor and support mates, attraction and deflection sacrifices, pins and annihilation, the quiet move, and the dreaded zugzwang. Mate challenges are presented from both Blacks and Whites perspective so players learn to see both sides of the board. Examples from old classics to the new millenium illustrate a wide range of ideas. This book is lots of fun and an easy way for a player to improve skills! 192 pages

Deliver the Coup de Grâce! With this instructive manual, players can learn to concentrate on one-, two- and three-move checkmates, focusing on their opponents� last moves and keeping alert to new possibilities, rather than getting blinded by previous calculations. Written by two experienced chess teachers, this volumes first 100 exercises concern checkmates in one move, while the remaining exercises represent game-like positions for checkmates in two and three moves. All are designed to increase a player�s skill and speed analyzing and solving chess problems. This is an updated and expanded version of 202 Surprising Checkmates which was released in 1998.

These one- and two-move checkmate drills help players keep alert to new possibilities. Queen sacrifices, "smothered" mates, "quiet moves," castling, en passant pawn capture, much more. 202 exercises. Solutions included.