Five Champions' Middlegames

What this book teaches

100 middlegame excerpts from real games — five champions, twenty each.

Not constructed mate problems. You are usually under attack, or just out of it. You practise judgment: defend or counter, and where the danger is.

Ask: what is the threat, and how do I change the position?

What you will get

• Read a middlegame like a real game, not like a mate drill
• Know when to hold tight and when to counter
• See a plan (exchange, sacrifice, open a line) — not only a pretty move

Step 1 — Find the threat

Before you hunt a “nice move”:

① Who is attacking? Which piece is hanging or pinned? ② If you do nothing, what do they play next? ③ Are you down material, or down in the position?

Until you see the threat, don’t calculate a counter.

Step 2 — Defend, then counter

① Is there an immediate save — exchange, retreat, cover? ② Once stable, where can you hit back — their weak point? ③ Don’t sacrifice because the title says so. A sacrifice must remove the threat or change the position.

If you can only recite a pretty move and not say whether you were defending or countering — not done.

What order to study?

You need not study by champion. The same method covers all 100.

You may finish one player’s twenty games to hear a voice, then switch. Hu Ronghua or Liu Dahua are not “harder” — don’t let the name put you off.

Each excerpt: understand one decision. Don’t memorise the whole line.

Three things when you solve

1. Calculate the critical stretch first. Open the notes only when stuck. 2. Say it: what is the threat, and does this move save or counter? 3. 100 games are 100 situations. A few plans you can retell beat watching them all like a film.