Georg Mohr Bücher

This book delves into the complex concept of the exchange sacrifice in chess, where traditional piece values can seem counterintuitive. It explores the psychological barriers that make this strategic move difficult to grasp, as highlighted by Tigran Petrosian, the ninth World Champion. Beginners learn piece values through a simplified measurement system, typically using pawns as the unit. They are taught that a rook is worth five pawns, while knights and bishops are valued at three each. This foundational understanding leads players to instinctively avoid unfavorable exchanges, such as trading a queen for a knight or a bishop for a pawn. The ingrained belief that having more material is inherently better complicates the decision to sacrifice pieces, even when it may lead to a stronger position. The book illustrates that a material advantage isn't always a cause for celebration, as strategic sacrifices can lead to greater benefits in the game. By examining various games and coaching perspectives, it challenges readers to reconsider their approach to exchanges and the value of material in chess, ultimately revealing the deeper strategic layers of the game.

Dragoljub Velimirovic was a former Yugoslav - Serbian, chess grandmaster whose international career was handicapped by political intrigues and his outspoken temperament. During the heyday of the USSR as the greatest national chess power, the former Yugoslavia was capable of running the Soviet Union a good second. Dragoljub Velimirovic posed a real threat to the men from Moscow. Velimirovic was born in 1942 to a prominent family from Valjevo, in the former Yugoslavia. He was introduced to chess at the age of seven by his mother, Jovanka Velimirovic, one of Yugoslavia's leading female chess players. He died at the age 72, being one of the last players to develop a system or strategy that is so inventive it bears its creator's name. It is a feat that is unlikely to be repeated in the modern era, when computer-based games and databases so thoroughly dominate competition that it is almost impossible to come up with something new. That does not mean that players were more talented or courageous in the decades when Velimirovic was in his prime. Velimirovic, who became a grandmaster in 1973, was never among the 20 top-ranked players in the world. And that was when there were only 200 or so grandmasters; today, there are about 2,400.