Under the Surface

Dive into the mind of strong chess players.

When Under the Surface was published in 2018, it won the ECF Book of the Year prize and was universally acclaimed for its originality and instructive value, with GM Peter Wells calling it “a modern classic” and GM Matthew Sadler praising the author’s “original ideas about all sorts of chess topics and a wonderfully witty and enthusiastic way of bringing them across.”

Seven years later, this new edition adds four new chapters along with various improvements to the original content. Author Jan Markos shows how a grandmaster perceives chess, presenting his concepts as vividly memorable metaphors such as Magnetic Skin, Karpov’s Billiard Balls and many others which will come as revelations to even titled players. Rediscover the original Markos magic while adding The Hannibal Manoeuvre and other new concepts to your chess arsenal.

Jan Markos is a grandmaster and two-time Slovakian Champion, who has represented Slovakia at six Olympiads. His 2021 book The Secret Ingredient (co-authored with super-GM David Navara) also received widespread acclaim.

Reviews

Jan Sybren Zagema (Schaaksite.nl)
“Publishing a revised edition of an award-winning book is no easy feat. However, the author, Jan Markos, fully lives up to the high expectations. Exceptionally well-written, with striking analogies and fitting anecdotes, it results in an extremely interesting and captivating work. It's rare for a book covering so many themes to still feel cohesive. For insight into how a grandmaster views a position, this book is indispensable.”
(full review in Dutch)