Magnus Carlsen

It is well known that in chess there are many rules of thumb and stereotyped patterns of thinking, but following them blindly is not the path to success. The validity of this statement is confirmed by the style of the world's best player, Magnus Carlsen, who is distinguished, among other things, by his exceptional creativity.

Part of this creativity is that he consistently values not only the general usefulness of a move, but also the effectiveness of a potential surprise element more highly than merely sticking to principles. This phenomenon often becomes apparent already in the opening, when he confronts his opponents with rare or astonishing – sometimes even more or less provocative – moves, and sometimes this highly effective 'strategy' continues throughout all phases of the game.

In each of the ten chapters this approach is examined in detail. At the same time, however, all the relevant rules of thumb are discussed along the way, since a player must first know them in order to develop a sense for the many exceptions that frequently arise.

The topics covered range from opening principles and attacks on the castled king to pawn formations and psychological play. Through a variety of examples, the reader is shown what it means not to shy away from the risk of a positional exchange sacrifice or to turn provocation into an effective trademark.

Each chapter is rounded off with numerous exercises that allow the reader to test and evaluate the learning effect achieved for each topic. All games are equipped with practical QR codes so that they can easily be replayed and analyzed on a smartphone.

So let yourself be inspired by Magnus Carlsen's creativity, and in the future add this highly effective ingredient to your own games as well!