Mastering Pawn Structures
Most of our books are written by experienced authors and established names - for example, the recently published new books by Willy Hendriks and Herman Grooten are their third publication for New In Chess. Their experience shows. The Ink War and Chess Endgames for Club Players are highly accessible, entertaining and instructive.
We rarely decide to publish a debutant - when the author has convinced us that he has a story to tell and something new to add to the ever-expanding library of chess books. The Dutch coach and International Master Nick Maatman did convince us, not only with his charm but also with the content of his book proposal.
Nick has beaten grandmasters in tournament games, and he is a sparring partner of super-GM Jorden van Foreest. So he knows all about the level of understanding of titled players. But as a coach of regular club players, he also got to know what amateur players lack in knowledge.
Nick was looking for ways to bridge that gap and invented the Hidden Laws of Chess as an instructional tool to help his students. These Hidden Laws go one level deeper than the basic laws on piece development, king safety, or material balance. They will uncover elements such as space and the quality of a pawn structure.
Nick has the ambition to write a series of books about Hidden Laws and has started with a topic that is probably best for students to improve and deepen their positional understanding quickly. In his first book, he covers pawn structures and will answer questions such as: Are backward pawns the worst in chess? What is the value of a space advantage? Are doubled pawns always a weakness, or could they be an asset? How can I win symmetrical positions?
Using his coaching experience and writing with a touch of science and philosophy, Maatman will guide any ambitious chess player to the next level. His book contains dozens of actionable tips, instructive games and carefully selected exercises.
Please have a look at the work of a promising new chess author who has written a highly original middlegame manual. The product page on our webshop has a link to 27 sample pages.
