Chess Imbalances

Material imbalances are a fundamental part of almost every chess game, yet have not received much attention in chess literature. In this illuminating book, GM Mauricio Flores Rios breaks down this universal topic into categories such as bishop vs knight, opposite-coloured bishops, possessing and playing against the bishop pair, and various scenarios with a queen or rook being traded for a number of pieces. With well-chosen examples, insightful commentary and exercises to test your newfound understanding of all types of material imbalance, this book is an essential tool for chess improvement.

Mauricio Flores Rios is a grandmaster and former member of the Chilean national team, who now lives and works in the USA. His previous book, Chess Structures – A Grandmaster Guide, was acclaimed by readers and reviewers.

Reviews

IM Gary Lane (Australian Chess)
“A powerful and practical way to improve your chess prowess. It is also excellent material for an aspiring chess coach because the collection of game snippets is a great and succinct way to explain complex ideas.”

Stjepan Tomić (chessreads.com)
“Mauricio Flores Rios has created a guide on each important imbalance with perfectly annotated textbook examples, easy-to-follow rules, and general concepts for each, explaining the most important features of each type of position. His previous masterpiece, Chess Structures, was structured similarly, and he has managed to include more of everything good about the first book in Chess Imbalances. Just like Chess Structures, Imbalances will soon become an essential tool for improving players, a book to reference over and over again.”
(full review in English)

GM Matthew Sadler (New In Chess magazine)
“If I ever developed an interest in a type of unbalanced position, this would be the first book I’d dive into to see if any of Rios’s insights could help me make sense of my experience. Really impressive in many ways.”
(full review)

Sean Marsh (CHESS magazine)
“This is a thought-provoking book which will repay deep study. If a book can make the reader think in a different way and the explanations are good enough to enable one to put the ideas into practice over the board, then surely it must be classed a job well done and as a valuable addition to chess literature.”