Discover Your Blind Spots and Stop Overlooking Simple Wins
by Yochanan Afek, Emmanuel Neiman, 240pp. (New In Chess, 2011)

Read an excerpt here

Every chess player knows that some moves are harder to see than others. Why is it that, frequently, uncomplicated wins simply do not enter your mind?

Even strong grandmasters suffer from blind spots that obscure some of the best ideas during a game. What is more: often both players fail to see the opportunity that is right in front of their eyes. Neiman and Afek have researched this problem and discovered that there are actually identifiable reasons why your brain discards certain ideas.

In this book they demonstrate different categories of hard-to-see chess moves and clearly explain the psychological, positional and geometric factors which cloud the chess player’s brain. Invisible Chess Moves, with its many unique examples, instructive explanations and illuminative tests, will teach you how to discover your blind spots and see the moves which remain invisible for others.

Your results at the board will improve dramatically because your brain will stop blocking winning ideas.

Emmanuel Neiman is a FIDE master. He teaches chess in his home country France and he has written books on chess tactics and chess training.

 

Yochanan Afek is an Israeli International Master who lives in Holland. He is an organizer, a journalist and a trainer, but probably best known as an endgame study composer. This is his third book on chess.

Lubomir Kavalek, The Huffington Post:
"An outstanding book."

Grandmaster Luc Winants, former Belgian Chess Champion:
“The authors deserve the highest praise for the idea behind this book. Something quite original, and I enjoyed it enormously.”

Uwe Bekemann, German Correspondence Chess Association:
"Exercises in the course of each chapter and an extensive test at the end of the book give the reader the opportunity to engage in an organised way with difficult-to-find moves, so one can get familiar with the instruction material."

B.H.Wilders, Nederlands Dagblad:
"It turns out there are interesting cerebral reasons for overlooking winning moves, like certain geometrical patterns and the aversion to backward moves (..) A unique book."

Europa Rochade Magazine:
"An excellent book that offers rare insights into unknown chess territory."