The youngest first–grader in the USSR, the world champion among young men, a participant in the candidates tournament at the age of 19 - Boris Spassky's rise was rapid. And then fate gave the brilliant chess player a test of strength: he stumbled twice at the decisive moment and remained beyond the threshold of interzonal tournaments ... Only ten years after his first great success, Spassky managed to pass all the qualifying tests and earn the right to a match for the crown, but he failed to defeat the Iron Tigran Petrosian the first time. It took three more years of super–efforts: by Sisyphus he rose again to the foot of Olympus and did not miss a second chance - in 1969 he became the Tenth king of chess! An essay about the life of Boris Vasilyevich and his sporting path full of ups and downs was written by Dmitry Oleynikov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, curator of the Chess Museum of the Chess Federation of Russia. 70 beautiful and instructive games of Spassky were commented on by the champion of Russia in 1993, the famous author and theorist grandmaster Alexey Bezgodov, as well as grandmaster Dmitry Kryakvin and FIDE master Steve Giddins. The preface was written by the 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik. For a wide range of chess fans.

«The idea of continuing the autobiographical book “Steps” has been in the air almost since the moment it was written. Despite the bullet point at the end of the book in the form of a victory over Magnus Carlsen, my chess career continued for another full 14 years, and the subsequent stormy socio-political career is only gaining momentum.” (V. Bologan).  The book contains 75 games commented in detail and a number of fragments. A frank story about the life and professional path, about cooperation with the leading grandmasters and coaches of the world (among them - A. Karpov, G. Kasparov, Yu. Polgar, Zhu Chen, R. Ponomarev, A. Shirov, A. Morozevich, A. Onischuk, A. Ryazantsev, E. Inarkiev, M. Al-Mudakhka, M. Dvoretsky, M. Podgaets, V. Chebanenko, Z. Lanka and others), about political activities in the Parliament of Moldova and about work in FIDE are complemented by numerous photographs.   For a wide range of chess lovers.

Igor Yanvarev "Tactical Mastery of a Chess Player. Volume 2. Basics of Calculation Techniques". Andrey Elkov Publishing House, Moscow, 2025 - 392 p. Before you is the second book from the three-volume work by International Master I.K. Yanvarev, a famous trainer, author of the fundamental work "The Old Indian Played by Tigran Petrosian" (2010), which received recognition from readers and was republished abroad. The three-volume work is united by a common idea - tactics and combinations in chess. In fact, this is a turnkey textbook, it explains everything from scratch to an advanced level. The second volume is devoted to the basics of calculation techniques, such topics as the tactical "spectrum" of a position, concentration of attention, inclusion of imagination are considered, the "tree of variations" is interpreted in a new way, the practical component is emphasized - the economy of calculation. A separate chapter allows the reader to assess their ability to calculate variations and outline ways to eliminate weaknesses. Each chapter ends with a large number of carefully selected examples for independent solution. Unlike other similar publications, the author examines chess tactics as a single whole, in combination with strategy and elements of psychology. It is based on the original author's methodology, which has proven itself well when working with chess players of various qualifications. Excellently selected examples, a clear logical structure and consistency in the presentation simplify the understanding of the material. For a wide range of chess fans.

International Master Tibor Karolyi and FIDE Master Tigran Gozalyan have prepared a major work (in two volumes) about the life and work of the 9th world chess champion Tigran Petrosyan (he held the title from 1963 to 1969).  Volume II (1963-1984) tells about Petrosyan's victory in the 1963 world title match over Mikhail Botvinnik, about the grandiose two-match confrontation with Boris Spassky in 1966 and 1969, about all his candidates' matches after losing the title – against Bobby Fischer, Viktor Korchnoi and other world-class opponents. All tournaments and matches of the second half of Petrosian's chess career are presented, up to his last performances in 1983. The authors subjected 175 complete games and fragments to an in-depth analysis (using modern computers). Not all of them have been deeply studied and commented on before, but even then the book provides a significantly improved analysis. Among Petrosyan’s opponents – world champions and contenders Kasparov, Karpov, Fischer, Spassky, Tal, Smyslov, Botvinnik, Korchnoi and Bronstein, as well as Timman, Larsen, Reshevsky, Belyavsky, Polugaevsky, Portisch, Romanishin and many others. Special attention is paid to his coaches – Alexey Suetin and Igor Zaitsev. 

The answer book of an international grandmaster and an experienced coach (among whose students is A. Grischuk) Bloch's Maxim contains over 1200 combinations from practical games and specially compiled examples. All tasks are characterized by intense struggle, in which the goal is achieved by single moves. The book is intended for both young and adult amateurs, and for masters. The arrangement of examples by topic allows you to use the book not only as a task book, but also as a textbook. Of particular interest are over two hundred specially compiled by the author overstressed positions in which white wins the only way during the course of white, and black wins during the course of black. These examples, as well as over 50 fragments from the parties of the author and his students, are published for the first time.

This tutorial is addressed to those who want to learn to play chess on their own and improve further. The lesson-based method of presentation, as well as numerous exercises, contribute to the consistent assimilation of the rules and laws that form the basis of the chess game. The book contains extensive educational material, which is presented to the reader in accordance with modern pedagogical principles. The purpose of this manual is to train chess players of the III category (rating up to 1800). The textbook can also be used for classes in groups - it covers the material of existing programs of the first year of study in children's and youth chess schools.

This new book by the many-times world champion Anatoly Karpov and the author of more than fifty books, grandmaster Nikolay Kalinichenko, is devoted to one of the most complicated and strategically deep openings & mdash; the Queen's Gambit Declined. Using games played by the strongest grandmasters, it describes the interesting ideas which have appeared in the main development systems of this opening. Along with games from recent years, the book presents the most important encounters from the chess heritage. And of course, it includes games by Anatoly Karpov himself & mdash; a great expert on the Queen's Gambit, who generously shares with the reading his unique understanding of the concepts involved. The book is aimed at strong players, but it will also be of interest to a wide range of chess enthusiasts.

In the vast ocean of chess literature there are relatively few books about the endgame, and only a few of them can be considered true chess classics. And the most outstanding among the classics — Reuben Fine's book "Basic Chess Endings". Reuben Fine (1914−1993) was for a long time one of the best chess players in the world. As an author, Fine showed himself to be an excellent analyst who understood the full depth and peculiarities of the endgame. Having studied various types of standard positions, Fine established useful rules for practical play and proved himself to be an experienced teacher who, using skillfully chosen examples, was able to teach the reader all the necessary lessons and introduce him to the basic ideas of the endgame. Many generations of chess players in different countries of the world keep copies of “Basic Chess Endings”. For example, Mikhail Botvinnik considered Fine's work the most worthy of all that had ever been written on endgame theory.

The authors continue to study typical opening and middlegame positions. Royal Fortress No. 2 has pawns on squares f7, g6, h7 (or f2, g3, h2), and they are usually joined by another defender – bishop on g7 (g2). This formation is called fianchetto, it is found in many popular openings, such as the Catalan Opening, King's Indian Defense, Grunfeld Defense and a number of others.  The authors analyze in detail the techniques of attack, defense and counterattack. Most examples – from the creativity of modern chess players (for example, a separate chapter is dedicated to the strongest Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi); they are complemented by parts that have become a classical heritage. The book contains about 300 positions for independent solution, so it is not only a textbook, but also a solid problem book. Grandmaster Konstantin Chernyshov, head of the Interregional Grandmaster School in Kostroma, and his daughter International Master Natalya Kareva – experienced coaches, whose students include grandmasters and masters, champions of Russia and Europe among juniors.  The book is addressed to young chess players and their mentors.