Positional Decision Making in Chess

Positional Decision Making in Chess offers a rare look into the mind of a top grandmaster, a world championship contender.

Boris Gelfand is a player of near-legendary status in the game. In this unique Quality Chess course, he shares instructive anecdotes of famous players and chess history that explain his positional approach to the game.

In conversation with GM Jacob Aagaard, Grandmaster Gelfand analyses games from his career and those of his hero, Akiba Rubinstein.

Gelfand's genius

In the process, Gelfand makes discoveries that made him re-evaluate some games entirely. His explanations are short, clean, crisp and also illuminating.

Throughout the course, Gelfand examines the reasons he made key decisions and the plans he concocted. But he is also refreshingly honest about the limitations of his thinking.

Gelfand focuses on such topics as the squeeze, space advantage, the transformation of pawn structures and the transformation of advantages.

"Gelfand's book is a revelation" - GM Lubomir Kavalek
"Has masses to teach any strength of player" - GM Matthew Sadler
"Jam-packed full of useful gems" - GM David Smerdon
"The best chess book I have read" - GM Axel Smith
"This is a special book" - IM Sam Collins
"A superlative book" - John Hartmann, Chess Life

Grandmaster Boris Gelfand won the European Junior Championship in 1987 and reached No. 3 in the World in 1990. He has led the Israeli team to numerous medals at both European and Olympiad level.

Gelfand won the 2009 World Cup and has participated in six Candidates cycles, winning it in 2011. He lost the 2012 World Championship match in the play-off.

At 46 he is still winning tournaments ahead of the best players in the world, in many cases men half his own age.

Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard is the only chess author to have won all the major awards for chess writing.