There are just eight weeks before the South African Junior Chess Championships (SAJCC), and we're counting down the weeks by helping you prepare.
This week we're focussing on getting those brains turning and improving your chess vision.
Chess Solitaire: up your skills while having fun
If you're all about having fun while upping your skills, you should try chess solitaire. This Creative Child Magazine's Preferred Choice Award, Parents' Choice Gold Award and Toy of the Year nominee will improve your ability to think ahead and help you anticipate the unexpected to outsmart your opponent.
Learn chess the right way: for beginners
If this is your first SAJCC, get your hands on Grandmaster Susan Polgar's second book in her Learn chess the right way series. Here, she teaches players to win material and find the easiest way to win when you have more pieces on the board than your opponent.
Chess mazes: stop giving away pieces for free
If you're still giving pieces away for free, this book can help. The planning and visualisation skills taught here translate directly to over-the-board chess to help you identify all the attacking pieces and take your chess to the next level.
How to play chess like a champion: get it right from the start
By combining instruction, entertainment, and pure enjoyment, this gem of a book is among the very best introductory chess books ever produced, capturing the essence of good chess.
Power Chess for Kids: learn to think ahead (for U10 to U14 players)
Impress your team with your skills and become a dangerous player. This book will teach you how to avoid making silly moves and to think one-and-a-half moves ahead.
Pump up your rating: for players with a rating of 1600 and more
Any man in the street knows how to increase his physical strength, but among most chess players confusion reigns when it comes to improving their playing strength. Axel Smith's training methods have guided his friends, teammates and pupils to grandmaster norms and titles. Hard work will be required, but Axel Smith knows how you can Pump Up Your Rating.
