The Center

The center is the most fundamental concept in chess — and one of the most misunderstood. In this book, two long-term grandmaster trainers tackle the subject from two complementary angles.

The classical approach builds a solid foundation in the essential principles of center control — knowledge that is crucial for understanding chess at any level. The modern dynamic approach examines the center through the eyes of a practical grandmaster, showing how top players think about central tension, pawn breaks, and dynamic imbalances in real games.

This is the opening volume of a planned series covering all major middlegame themes — including planning, pawn structures, move decisions, and more — presented in a way that chess players and trainers rarely explore deeply enough.