Clinch it: Convert an Advantage to win at chess by Lakdawala

Paperback, 256 pages, New in Chess

How good are you at bringing in the full point when you hold a clear advantage or are just plain winning?

An honest response to this question is likely to evoke some painful memories. Perhaps the single greatest frustration for club-level chess players is that time and again they see wins turn into draws or even losses.

The reasons for messing up a won position are by no means just technical. And the rest is a matter of technique? Not likely, in the real world. Recklessness, collapsing nerves, relaxing instead of preparing yourself for a long and arduous fight, the inability to cope with a small setback or with a busted opponent who has turned into a fearless desperado: based on four decades of teaching chess Cyrus Lakdawala has identified dozens of thought-provoking reasons why we are throwing away games that should be ours.

Lakdawala teaches how to efficiently exploit a development lead, capitalize on an attack, identify and convert favourable imbalances, accumulate strategic advantages and other tools to increase your conversion rate. His examples are compelling, his explanations are captivating and often funny. A recurring theme in this stimulating, instructive and entertaining book is: don’t burden yourself with the toxic task to prove that you are a genius. Just try to win.

Cyrus Lakdawala is an International Master and a former American Open Champion. He has been teaching chess for four decades, and coaches some of the top junior players in the US. Lakdawala is a prolific and widely read author. Chess for Hawks, his previous book with New In Chess, won the 2017 Best Instructional Book Award of the Chess Journalists of America (CJA).