The Art of Defense in Chess: a Guide to Improving Bad Positions and Avoiding the Common Mistakes That Lead to Bad Positions

1975. 262 pages. No dust jacket. Red cloth. Pages are lightly tanned and thumbed at the edges, with light foxing. Binding has remained firm. Boards are a little rub worn, slight shelf wear to corners, spine and edges. Corners are a little bumped. Spine ends are mildly crushed. Light tanning to spine and edges.

Most games are not won -- they are lost. The vast majority of instructional books tell how to improve a position when it is already (or may be) favorable. The Art of Defense in Chess analyzes the practical aspects of not having the advantage:
-- How to obtain counterplay
-- When to contest open lines
-- When to accept sacrifices
-- How to anticipate short- and long-term threats
-- How to restrain your opponent's pieces
-- How to create a defense perimeter
-- How to minimize losses
-- And much more

The Art of Defense in Chess also discusses the proper psychological attitudes for successful defense -- coolness under fire, the Saving Grace, stonewalling, etc. -- as well as the Principle of Exploitable Weakness and the Principle of Economy, as illustrated in more than one hundred positions taken from competitive play.