🏆 Winner of the ChessCafe 2009 Book of the Year Award
🏆 Shortlisted for The Guardian 2009 Book of the Year Award
Every club player knows the problem: the opening has ended, and now what? With this new 2019 MoveTrainer™ edition of his award-winning trainer, IM Herman Grooten presents a complete and structured course for the amateur player on how to recognize key characteristics in all types of positions and how to make use of those characteristics to choose the right plan.
Here is a course that's ideal for improving club-level players and examines many crucial concepts that will have an immediate effect on their game - but which many may not have considered yet.Identify the key elements in any given position
Grooten has based his course on the famous "Elements" identified by the first World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz, but has significantly updated and expanded upon them.
All the basic elements of positional understanding are covered, with IM Grooten using modern examples he's tested himself as a coach of talented youngsters to illustrate his points.
In
Chess Strategy for Club Players you will learn:
✔️ Pawn structure;
✔️ Piece placement and harmonization;
✔️ Getting a lead in development;
✔️ Creating and exploiting open files;
✔️ Identifying weaknesses;
✔️ Taking advantage of a space advantage;
✔️ King safety.You will also master the art of converting a temporary edge into other, more permanent advantages.
The author also explains what to do when, in a given position, the basic principles seem to point in different directions. Each chapter of this fundamental primer ends with a set of highly instructive exercises.
This new Chessable edition includes corrections and improvements from previous editions, plus a new introduction and the 3rd edition chapter called 'Total Control'.
This book will certainly improve your middlegame and boost your results.
- Gary Lane, Chess Moves Magazine
You have dipped your toe into tactics, openings and endgames. Now is the time to really dig deep into the positional side of the game with IM Grooten.
Herman Grooten is an International Master and renowned chess coach with over 25 years of experience. Quite a few of his pupils have gone on to become grandmasters.
Other titles available by IM Herman Grooten on Chessable are:
Understanding Before Moving 1: Ruy Lopez and Italian Structures
Understanding Before Moving 2: Queen's Gambit Structures Praise for Chess Strategy for Club Players:
“One of my three favorite chess teaching books. Grooten supplies nice examples and great explanation in a very structured way.”
Jan van de Mortel, Chess Education Partners, Chicago IL"This book will certainly improve your middlegame and boost your results."
Gary Lane, Chess Moves Magazine"The entire presentation is extremely well done (..) A fantastic and challenging book for ambitious and advanced club players."
KARL Chess Magazine"A highly instructive book for readers who want to improve their chess skills."
From the foreword by Jan Timman"Chess coaches will have a quality supply of superb examples and explanations, and self-motivated students will benefit immensely if they are over, say, 1800 in strength."
Pete Tamburro, ChessLife"It is not easy to find a better book on chess strategy!"
Elburg Chess Reviews"Extremely interesting and instructional lectures on the themes: positional elements, positional judgements, and finding the right plan (..) A fantastic book for chess training."
Martin Rieger, Europa Rochade"An excellent teaching tool with over 400 pages of clear instruction."
Joe Petrolito, Australasian Chess Magazine"The depth is very impressive, with lucidity and thoroughness going hand in hand."
Marshtower Chess Reviews“Herman Grooten did a first-class job. In each chapter he clearly explains what he wants to achieve and subsequently gives clear examples. This is outstanding training material for club players (..).”
Richard Vedder, Schakers.info"Excellent (..) Literally hundreds of instructive examples."
Paul Motwani, The Scotsman"A good basis for chess coaches to teach beginners systematically the principles of chess strategy (..) And an expert course for self study, as well."
German Federation for Correspondence Chess"An outstanding positional primer."
Steve Goldberg, ChessCafe
