Overview

Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But dont give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw or sometimes even steal the full point! Swindling is a skill that can be trained. In this book, David Smerdon shows how you can use tricks from psychology to marshal hidden resources and exploit your opponents biases. In a lost position, your best practical chance often lies not in what the computer recommends, but in playing your opponent. With an abundance of eye-popping examples and training exercises, Smerdon identifies the four best friends of every chess swindler: your opponents impatience, their hubris, their fear, and their need to stay in control. Youll also learn about such cunning swindling motifs as the Trojan Horse, the decoy trap, the berserk attack, and window-ledging. So, come and join the Swindlers Club, become a great escape artist and dramatically improve your results. In this instructive and wildly entertaining guide, Smerdon shows you how.

Full Product Details

9789056919115

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Reviews

A manual of how to use your chances in a lost position as effectively as possible. --Jeroen Bosch, International Master Schaakmagazine A swindle must be started actively. The most important rule is that you realize in time when you are lost. Smerdon has lots of tips, of which I particularly like: 'give your opponent what he wants'. By faking that you are allowing it to happen by accident, your opponent doesn't see that you have inserted a devilish trick. --Johan Hut Noord-Hollands Dagblad Most of the anecdotes, with wonderful and astonishing climaxes, were new to me. Smerdon's selection of games and fragments is excellent. The book is attractive and entertaining, and absolutely worth reading! --Frank Zeller, International Master Schach-Magazine 64 Smerdon has divided his material neatly into digestible chunks. He explains every element in a clear and effective way. His methodology for finding a swindle is based on three questions: what is my opponent's goal, how does he want to reach it, and what is the positive element in my bad position. Smerdon know how to teach, his style is always fluent and full of humor. Do yourself a favor and buy this book. --Barry Bracken Schaaksite Smerdon is a very good writer; this book is fully accessible to all levels, but never crosses the line into dumbed-down territory. It is thoroughly instructive and extremely entertaining. --Sean Marsh CHESS Magazine Smerdon is the first to treat the subject of swindling in a logical and systematic manner, but it is his choice of examples, well-know and obscure, that make the book shine. --Ian Rogers, Grandmaster The Byron Shire Echo The book shines with terrific examples and explanations. I have to recommend it to every chess friend, because the next lost position could come sooner than expected! --Dirk Schuh, International Master An absorbing read that will provide inspiration for any player who wants to start the great escape when losing. An enjoyable way to discover the secrets of rescuing bad positions. --Gary Lane, International Master Chess Moves Magazine It's not just entertaining, it's highly instructive as well. Well-structured and didactic, the human psychology of swindling is broken down into very clear themes. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It fills a real gap in chess literature. --Dainiel King, Grandmaster, author of Sultan Khan This is quite a chunky book but it reads like a charm. It is both a litany of chess disasters and a guide to how to make them happen in your own games (to your opponent of course!). It's a great book written with humor and compassion and I hope I learned a lot from it. --Matthew Sadler, Grandmaster, author of Game Changer

An absorbing read that will provide inspiration for any player who wants to start the great escape when losing. An enjoyable way to discover the secrets of rescuing bad positions. --Gary Lane, International Master Chess Moves Magazine It's not just entertaining, it's highly instructive as well. Well-structured and didactic, the human psychology of swindling is broken down into very clear themes. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It fills a real gap in chess literature. --Dainiel King, Grandmaster, author of Sultan Khan This is quite a chunky book but it reads like a charm. It is both a litany of chess disasters and a guide to how to make them happen in your own games (to your opponent of course!). It's a great book written with humor and compassion and I hope I learned a lot from it. --Matthew Sadler, Grandmaster, author of Game Changer

Author Information

David Smerdon is an Australian chess grandmaster and behavioural economist. In 2015 he published the highly successful chess opening book Smerdons Scandinavian.

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