Winning Chess Middlegames: Volume 1: An Essential Guide to 1.e4 Pawn Structures

Have you ever wondered how grandmasters can see what’s really going on in a chess position in just seconds? It's all about structures, as grandmaster and top coach Ivan Sokolov explains in his groundbreaking book, Winning Chess Middlegames. This classic chess manual has been updated with more than half of the games replaced by modern examples. Sokolov addresses the often-ignored yet extremely important topic of pawn structures. There are four main types: doubled pawns, isolated pawns, hanging pawns, and pawn majorities. With its highly accessible explanations and in-depth analyses of top-level games, this book helps you solve basic middlegame problems involving space, tension, and initiative. Club players who study this book will greatly enhance their middlegame skills, develop an accurate sense of which positions suit their style, and acquire new strategic and practical opening knowledge. Sokolov explains matters profoundly, honestly, and objectively, including lots of inside stories from top-level chess.

Ivan Sokolov is a top grandmaster who was born in Bosnia and lives in the Netherlands. He is a former Yugoslav and Dutch Champion and has beaten World Champions Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand. As a coach, he led Uzbekistan to victory at the 2022 Chennai Olympiad. Sokolov has written a dozen highly acclaimed books.