Mastering Chess Middlegames

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Grandmaster Alexander Panchenko (1953-2009) was one of the most successful chess trainers in the Soviet Union, and later in Russia. His legendary chess school specialised in turning promising players into masters.

The secrets of Panchenko’s success were his dedication and enthusiasm as a teacher combined with his outstanding training materials.

Now, his classic Mastering Chess Middlegames is for the first time available in translation, giving club-players around the world access to his unique training method.

The book contains a collection of inspiring lessons on the most important middlegame topics.

In each chapter, Panchenko clearly identifies the fundamentals, formulates easy-to-grasp rules, presents a large number (more than 250) of well-chosen examples and ends with more than 150 practical tests.

The brilliance of Alexander Panchenko’s didactic method shines through in this book.

It is hard to give better advice to ambitious chess players than to follow this tried-and-tested and highly instructive road towards mastering the chess middlegame.

Sean March, CHESS Magazine (UK):
"The deeper I went into the book, the more fresh and fascinating material I found (..) There is a lot of highy instructive material crammed into this book, which can be used for self-improvement and by trainers and coaches also."

Chris Wainscott, ChessIQ:
"After the positions to solve are given, a selection of positions to play out is given as well. This is something that Panchenko was renowned for: having students play out positions against one another during training sessions (..) It’s certainly one of the best training manuals I have cracked open in quite some time (..) Not only should those seeking to improve their own game purchase this book, but coaches should as well."

GM Daniel King, creator of the Power Play DVD Series:
"I really enjoyed this book. It provides you with a very systematic way of looking at chess middlegames (..) Extremely instructive, with many fresh examples."


GM Artyom Timofeev:
“The best theoretical work and practical advice on the subject of the middlegame.”

John Hartmann, Chess Life:
"A practical guide to navigating standard middlegame situations and themes with an emphasis on active learning (..) After working through these pages and honing your skills in solving typical middlegame problems, you might fulfill Spielmann's dream and find yourself in the types of positions from which combinations flow."

Uwe Bekemann, German Correspondence Chess Association:
"A very practical book for players that have reached club level."

Elburg Chess Reviews:
"Wonderful (..) highly instructive."

B.H.Wilders, Nederlands Dagblad:
"An instant classic."

IM Gary Lane, Chess Moves Magazine:
"The author uses examples where there is no obvious way to think of the right move. A glorious queen sacrifice followed by checkmate in two is not available but a sly pawn or king move is often the answer which make you think (..) I can happily endorse Panchenko."