Techniques of Positional Play: 45 Practical Methods to Gain the Upper Hand in Chess

This Techniques of Positional Play: 45 Practical Methods to Gain the Upper Hand in Chess is a revised chess book on positional play, focused on the opening and especially the middlegame. Valeri Bronznik and Anatoli Terekhin present 45 practical methods for making better positional decisions and understanding the position more clearly, without burying the reader in heavy analysis.

What this book covers

The authors concentrate on the decisions that matter most in real club games: how to limit an opponent’s piece activity, when to exchange pieces, how to make it harder to open lines, and which rook file to choose in a given position. These are the choices that often decide a game, yet they are rarely explained this clearly.

The book takes a practical approach throughout. Many of the techniques will feel like a discovery for amateur players because they address problems that are often sensed intuitively but not yet named or used consciously over the board. That makes the book useful not only for learning ideas, but for applying them in your own games.

How the material is presented

The content is explained clearly and without overloading the reader. Instead of very deep, multi-variation analysis, you get a large number of well-chosen practical examples that are easy to understand and remember. That makes this a good choice for self-study, as well as a useful training resource for club players and coaches.

At the end, there is a special training section that lets you check whether the ideas have really been absorbed and whether you can recognise them in practice. It is a useful choice for players who want to move beyond reading and put the ideas into their own games.

Authors

Valeri Bronznik and Anatoli Terekhin are the authors of this revised edition. Bronznik is also the author of 1.d4-Beating the Guerillas.

Key details

• Product type: chess book on positional play
• Title: Techniques of Positional Play: 45 Practical Methods to Gain the Upper Hand in Chess
• Edition: revised edition
• Subject: positional play in chess
• Scope: opening and mainly middlegame
• Methods: 45 practical methods
• Authors: Valeri Bronznik and Anatoli Terekhin
• Training feature: special training section included