What, really, is a chess combination? It is a maneuver generally employing surprise and a sacrifice, in which pieces work together to bring about a sudden advantage. It is perhaps the most aesthetically satisfying and successful technique in the game. Some players believe that the combination is a spontaneous creation with no guiding laws; the possibility springs up in the mind like a flash of genius. In this classic work, however, Znosko-Borovsky proves that combinations can be studied. He demonstrates conclusively that they need not be a haphazard occurrence, but may be prepared for as an...

The middle game is the least understood part of chess. Unlike the specific moves and responses of the opening, or the end game's indicated strategies for given pieces, the middle game tests the player's abilities to the utmost. Beginning and intermediate players will find a trustworthy guide in this classic reference that presents the basic concepts of middle game play systematically and logically. 80 illustrations.

Quand le maitre Eugene Znosko-Borovsky, champion de Saint-Petersbourg, blesse de la Grande Guerre, deposa ses valises en France en 1920, il emportait dans celles-ci quelques-uns des secrets echiqueens les mieux gardes de la Grande Russie d'avant la revolution d'Octobre que lui avaient transmis les maitres Emanuel Schiffers, Stepan Levitsky et autres Mikhail Tchigorine. Dote de nombreux talents et d'une vaste culture, E. Znosko-Borovsky fut a la fois joueur d'echecs de tres haut niveau, professeur, ecrivain, ainsi que critique musical et theatral. Il revela les secrets echiqueens russes dont...