Small Steps to Giant Improvement by Sam Shankland (Paperback)

This Small Steps to Giant Improvement by Sam Shankland is an English-language chess book in paperback that focuses on pawn play and pawn structure, turning one of the game’s most practical subjects into clear guidance you can use in your own games.

Sam Shankland starts with simple examples and builds the material step by step, so the book works well for club players, ambitious improvers and anyone who wants to make better pawn decisions, avoid irreversible mistakes and judge positions more accurately in practical play.

What this book covers

In chess, many pieces can return to a previous square, but pawns cannot move backwards. That makes every pawn move a lasting decision, and Small Steps to Giant Improvement is built around making those decisions more carefully: when to change the pawn structure, how to spot weaknesses and how to build a position that still makes sense several moves later.

The book is also very accessible in the way it teaches. Rather than presenting the subject as a dense lecture, it gives structured advice that is easy to connect with your own games. Shankland also shows how these ideas apply at the highest level by examining positions where even grandmasters could have chosen better.

About the author

Sam Shankland is a grandmaster and a regular member of the USA team. He won an individual Olympic gold medal in 2014 and team gold in 2016. He also played on board one for the United States at the World Team Championships in 2015 and 2017, and became US Champion in April 2018. This is his first book.

Edition details

• Language: English
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 336
• ISBN: 978-1-78483-051-9
• Publication year: 2018
• Included item: Book

Key details

• Product type: chess book
• Author: Sam Shankland
• Subject: pawn play and pawn structure
• Language: English
• Format: paperback
• Pages: 336
• ISBN: 978-1-78483-051-9
• Publication year: 2018