ChessCentral E-Books
Chess Traps and Stratagems - Tactics Training E-Book
- SKU:
- stratagems-dl
Description
Chess Traps and Stratagems
by E. E. Cunnington
Chess books written by Edward Ernest Cunnington (1852-1942) were extremely popular at the turn of last century, with many of his titles revised and reprinted for decades. This book, Chess Traps and Stratagems, was first published in 1902, and lived on through some 35 editions into World War Two and beyond. Enjoyed by thousands of chess players in times past, the book is today difficult to find - and difficult to read for those not versed in "English Descriptive" notation. A great pity, for this little gem contains many beautiful combinations, delightful terminations, and much chess wisdom.
What was needed amounted to excavating a bit of chess history, a "chess reclamation" project to render a modern translation into algebraic notation - machine readable yet retaining the charm and flavor of the original. This version from ChessCentral aims to meet that need without distracting from Cunnington's work, the 143 "traps and stratagems" that every chess player ought to understand. These examples amount to a manual of chess combinations, and by the time the student has mastered the mechanics presented here he will have learned much about tactics in chess.
The 63 opening traps are the most common snares that club players are likely to face. Over half come from classic 1.e4 e5 games, always a common sight in tournaments everywhere. The 71 stratagems are very instructive positions which are well explained by the author. A few include additional study diagrams, bringing to 143 the total number of cases examined. On the way very few analytical mistakes were discovered, some typos, but Cunnington clearly shows himself an excellent guide through many of the best chess traps ever seen.
In the construction of this book we have let Cunnington speak for himself, in both chess analysis and prose. After more than a hundred years Chess Traps and Stratagems holds up well under the gaze of a modern chess computer - a testament indeed to Cunnington's skill in selecting and commenting on these positions. No wonder this book was so popular for so long!
Chess Traps and Stratagems includes 7 text documents with hyperlinked game citations, diagrams with links, original cover scan, and embedded commentary by the Rev. E. E. Cunnington, MA.
NOTE: This interactive e-book is in ChessBase .cbv format. Requires ChessBase 6.0 or higher, Fritz, (any ChessBase engine software), or the free ChessBase Reader which can be downloaded at no cost.
System requirements: Minimum: Pentium 1 GHz, 512 MB RAM, Windows Vista or Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
