Quality Chess Blog

We are continuing our free-fourth-book offer – if you buy three books or more and live in the normal European Union zone (as defined by UPS – for example, they exclude some islands and remote areas) we will send you an extra book free.

Please note that if you buy a Special Offer and are in the EU zone, we will add one free book. For example, if a European buys the Special Offer on our award-winning Grandmaster Preparation series, then we would send the 6 hardcovers, plus one free extra book.

The previous default option on the free book was GRANDMASTER VERSUS AMATEUR (HARDCOVER).

For September and October, we will switch the default option to CARLSEN’S ASSAULT ON THE THRONE. But if you already have that book, or would prefer a different free book, then send us an email to salesgroup@qualitychess.co.uk with your order number, asking to have it replaced with one of the following titles:

ATTACKING THE SPANISH
CHAMPIONS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM
CUTTING EDGE 1: THE OPEN SICILIAN
CUTTING EDGE 2: SICILIAN NAJDORF 6.Be3
GRANDMASTER BATTLE MANUAL
GRANDMASTER VERSUS AMATEUR (HARDCOVER)
REGGIO EMILIA 2007/2008
TACTIMANIA
THE ALTERMAN GAMBIT GUIDE – BLACK GAMBITS VOLUME 1
THE ALTERMAN GAMBIT GUIDE – BLACK GAMBITS VOLUME 2

Two pieces of news about How I Became a Chess Grandmaster by GM Vinay Bhat. Firstly, a hardcover version of this title will be published on August 30th – the same day as Playing the English will appear.

Secondly, the book won a prize from the Chess Journalists of America in the category Best Chess Book – Instruction. Congratulations to Vinay!

There is now an excerpt of Nikos’s excellent Playing the English repertoire. The book is a solid 440 pages, so we made it a generous 20-page excerpt. We don’t have a set-in-stone publication date yet, but either end of August or start of September will be right.

And at the same time will be Endgame Labyrinths, though an excerpt on that book will have to wait a few days.

All 10 books of Yusupov’s award-winning series are now available on Chesstempo. In fact, The Complete Yusupov series is also available as a Special Offer from Chesstempo. Of course we at Quality Chess have our own Special Offer of the Yusupov Series in Hardcover.

So whether you like e-books or hardcovers, if you are interested in Yusupov’s series, then you have options!

We are continuing our free-fourth-book offer – if you buy three books or more and live in the normal European Union zone (as defined by UPS – for example, they exclude some islands and remote areas) we will send you an extra book free.

Please note that if you buy a Special Offer and are in the EU zone, we will add one free book. For example, if a European buys the Special Offer on our award-winning Grandmaster Preparation series, then we would send the 6 hardcovers, plus one free extra book.

The previous default option on the free book was GRANDMASTER BATTLE MANUAL.
For July and August, we will switch the default option to GRANDMASTER VERSUS AMATEUR (HARDCOVER) edited by Jacob Aagaard and John Shaw. But if you already have that book, or would prefer a different free book, then send us an email to salesgroup@qualitychess.co.uk with your order number, asking to have it replaced with one of the following titles:

ATTACKING THE SPANISH
CARLSEN’S ASSAULT ON THE THRONE
CHAMPIONS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM
CUTTING EDGE 1: THE OPEN SICILIAN
CUTTING EDGE 2: SICILIAN NAJDORF 6.Be3
GRANDMASTER BATTLE MANUAL
REGGIO EMILIA 2007/2008
SAN LUIS 2005
TACTIMANIA
THE ALTERMAN GAMBIT GUIDE – BLACK GAMBITS VOLUME 1
THE ALTERMAN GAMBIT GUIDE – BLACK GAMBITS VOLUME 2

Today, the final day of November, is also the final day at work of our friend and colleague Colin McNab, who has decided to take early retirement to enjoy a well-deserved life of leisure. Colin has worked with us for 12 years and 1 day, mainly as an editor and proofreader. His contribution will be much missed at QC and we wish him well.

Colin is a FIDE Grandmaster, Scottish Champion on 5 occasions, 1992 Commonwealth Champion, and was part of the British team that won the World Championship of Problem Solving. These skills were not stretched on Colin’s very first day of proofreading files for QC, when he spotted an overlooked mate-in-one.

The photo above shows Colin receiving a small memento from QC. To save you zooming in, the plaque on the trophy says “Quality Chess – Employee of the Month – December 2022”.

For shops or customers, best not to email Colin in future.

Currently there are 7 of Yusupov’s award-winning series available on Chesstempo. With the rest of the series to follow soon.

I mention this now because it’s a frequent question I receive from readers in email: “Is Yusupov’s series available as some sort of e-book?” Well, yes it is, at Chesstempo. Of course there are various other titles also available there, so feel free to click through and have a look.

Congratulations to Jan Markos and David Navara for winning the FIDE Award for the best book published in 2021! The Secret Ingredient impressed the jury of three respected Grandmasters: Antoaneta Stefanova, Thomas Luther, and Boris Gelfand. You can read the full announcement on the FIDE website here, along with details of the runners-up and other special mentions.

To briefly quote the judges “The search for ‘The Secret Ingredient’ to success, both in life and chess, is what this great book tries to answer. Following the advice given in this book will make each player stronger and each coach more focused on the tasks and challenges we face in life.”

We are proud that one of our favourite instructive books has also been voted as FIDE’s favourite book. Jan Markos of course has a winning history – his previous book Under the Surface was the English Chess Federation’s Book of the Year. But enough of my boasting – for now.