The Ultimate Guide to the Bishop Pair & Strong Knights

by Jan Timman, 229pp. (New In Chess 2004)

According to an Indian saying, the game of chess is a sea in which a mosquito can drink and an elephant can bathe. To which many chess players would surely like to add: ‘And in which it’s very easy to drown in the middle game!’

In contrast to the opening or the endgame, the middle game seems to offer little in the way of concrete starting-points for methodical study.

In Power Chess with Pieces former world championship candidate Jan Timman shows the way through the fascinating maze of the middle game. What, after all, is the point of getting an advantage in the opening if you don’t know how to exploit this advantage?

On the basis of countless examples encountered in his rich chess career, Jan Timman deals with themes like ‘strong knight against bishop’ and  the ‘dominant bishop pair’.

How is one to proceed when one emerges from the opening with a strong knight and one’s opponent is stuck with a bad bishop? And is the bishop pair really as strong as they say? And how can one put this asset to maximum use? Or, conversely, how can one contain the damage if the roles are reversed?

Contents
Chapter 1 - The Power of the Knight - Games
Chapter 2 - The Power of the Knight - Endgame
Chapter 3 - Domination of the Pair of Bishops
Chapter 4 - Domination of the Pair of Knights
Chapter 5 - Domination of Bishop and Knight

With his lucid style and practical approach, Jan Timman follows in the footsteps of his teachers Max Euwe and Mikhail Botvinnik. Power Chess with Pieces is a book that will delight and instruct enthusiastic beginner and seasoned club player alike.

Read an excerpt!