Ashley: The Most Valuable Skills in Chess

Autor: Ashley, Maurice
Verlag: gambit
Erscheinungsjahr: 2009
Sprache: English

Assuming no knowledge of chess beyond the rules, Maurice Ashley guides you on an inspirational journey through the world of chess tactics. He brings the pieces to life by examining their fundamental characteristics, and shows how their powers can be put to use to win pieces or give checkmates – the building blocks upon which all chess skills are based.

Ashley writes: "the approach is unique because it is basically me: the way I teach, the way I talk about chess, the way I think. You'll find my love for martial arts in these pages, as well as my ridiculous love for sports, story-telling and teaching." But his approach is not just entertaining: teams under Ashley's guidance have won six national junior championships. His charismatic teaching methods are the stuff of legend – and are to be the subject of a movie. This book makes his ideas and material available to all: teachers and students alike.

He has been called the Tiger Woods of chess. In 1999, Maurice Ashley became the first African-American to qualify for the elite Grandmaster title, an achievement that was widely reported in the international media, including Time magazine, USA Today, New York Times, Sports Illustrated and The Times (London). Ashley is one of the highest-profile figures in American chess, and has commentated on the game for ESPN and Channel Four Television (UK). He sees chess as playing a role in helping at-risk youth, and has coached a number of junior teams to victory in national championships, most famously the Raging Rooks of Harlem, whose achievement is planned to be the subject of a feature film. In 2003 he was named Grandmaster of the Year by the US Chess Federation.

Contents

Symbols 5

Introduction 6

Part 1: The Basic Skills

1 The Hunters 7
Long Range Pieces 7
The Queen 7
The Rook 10
The Bishop 14
Short Range Pieces 16
The Knight 16
The King 22
The Pawn 26
Exercise 29

2 Crowd Control 31
Liberty or Death 31
A Tale of Two Positions 36
Exercise 38

3 Float Like a Butterfly 40
The Landmine Exercise 41
Giveaway Chess 47
Exercise 48

4 Dollars and Sense 50
Up or Down 50
Table of Values ​​51
Cinderella 53
The Officers 57
Exercise 60

5 Wall Street 62
Fair Trade 62
Bad Trades 66
Proper Sequencing 67
Exercise 71

6 Homeland Security 73
The TRIP Method of Defence 73
Take 73
Run74
Interpose 77
Protect 79
Exercise 91

7 Regicide 92
The Bear Hug 92
Quad Mates 95
Back Rank Mate 97
Exercise 101

Part 2: The Fabulous Five: The Skills in Action

Paul Morphy – Duke of Brunswick / Count Isouard, Paris 1858 104
Wilhelm Steinitz – Curt von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895 112
Mikhail Botvinnik – Milan Vidmar, Nottingham 1936 121
Donald Byrne – Robert Fischer, New York 1956 126
Bent Larsen – Boris Spassky, Belgrade 1970 133
Solutions to Exercises 138

Glossary 154

Dedication 157

Acknowledgements 157

Index of Games 158

Figurine Notation, 160 pages, 1st edition 2009, paperback, English.