| 
234 Depot Rd.
Milford, CT 06460
1-800-388-KING (5464) Issue #107
January 28 - February 3
Welcome to the USCFSales.com weekly newsletter. You can keep up-to-date with new product releases, read reviews of selected products, and follow the latest news from the U.S. Chess Federation. Plus, try your hand at solving our weekly puzzle. Enjoy! Here & There
at ChessCafe.com Planinc’s Path
During the first week of the Corus tournament Hans Ree had the rare opportunity to walk on the beach of Wijk aan Zee, and he returned to the village along the small path that is known to Dutch chessplayers as Planinc’s Path. In this month’s Dutch Treat, he relates how it came to be so named. Facts and Fallacies
Sometimes there’s a wonderful synchronicity in the questions flooding Steve Lopez’s mailbox. This time he was asked how one can determine which chess engine “to trust” when they all seem to have different opinions, and how one should integrate this information into one’s chess study. Ten Best
In modern tournament practice, when the top chess players are extremely well-prepared in the openings, the top ten games of Chess Informant give us new hope that ideas and creativity can still surmount the brute calculation of the machines. Book Notes  In The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps, IM Gary Lane looks back through chess history and at modern times to create a list of his favorite tricks and traps. Selecting from hundreds of contenders, Lane examines a variety of factors in order to decide which ideas are most worthy of inclusion. Fighting the Anti-King’s Indians is a godsend to those players fed up with blindly searching for the right way to play against these systems. IM Yelena Dembo deals with them in no uncertain terms by offering Black a no-nonsense solution that lets you face the future with confidence.
Our January $9.95 Sale is a great way to experience big savings on some great books. We have no less than nine volumes of Chess Informant discounted more than $26.00 and a dozen other best selling titles all available for just $9.95!
Reviews in Brief |  The Chess Instructor 2009
by Jeroen Bosch and Steve Giddins The Chess Instructor 2009, the first volume in a planned annual series, is a winning addition to the cooperative genre. Instead of exploring openings, however, the limelight here is on coaching. Thoughtfully edited by Jeroen Bosch and Steve Giddins, the sixteen chapters comprise various subjects germane to chess education, each by a prominent figure in the field. What does appear is mainly sound and sensible, and it's surely a fine initiation to a series. As a block it constitutes a body of material with which informed and curious chess players, whether teachers, students, devotees, or even non-chess players in the guise of multi-disciplined intellectual interlopers, will generally want to become more conversant. Whoever you are, a good way to start that process is by adding The Chess Instructor 2009 to your personal library. After that I expect you'll want to add the next volume as well. Read the full review by Bruce Pandolfini here. | | |
| | | | The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps
by Gary Lane IM Gary Lane presents a collection of opening traps, many designed to win within the first ten moves. Along the way he offers practical tips, anecdotes, snippets of chess history, and hints on how to improve. The traps are divided by Open Games, Semi-Open Games, Queen’s Pawn Opening, and Flank Opening. He also offers a chapter on “Classic Attacks” that features some of the common tactical motifs and how to apply them. To add to the fun, the traps are rated according to four criteria: surprise value, risk, chance of success, and reward. Lane writes that he “found it important to chose lines that, should the trap be spotted, one can carry on without fear of having a worse position.” He also notes that he made an effort ”to find ancient ideas that still work in modern openings.” The book also serves as a good collection of annotated miniature games, with many full games contained within the notes. | | |
| New Catalog Additions 1/28: ABC of the Anti Dutch (DVD)
1/27: Starting Out: d-Pawn Attacks
1/26: Play the Sicilian Kan
1/25: Dangerous Weapons: Flank Openings
1/24: How to Play against 1 e4
1/23: Fighting the Anti-King’s Indians
1/22: The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps
1/20: Let’s Play Chess
1/19: Mastering the Chess Openings, Vol. 3
1/14: Questions of Modern Chess Theory (restock)
1/8: New York 1924
1/1: January Competition Special
1/1: January Scholastic Special
12/31: January $9.95 Sale
12/24: Kaissiber 33
| Weekly Puzzle | | Quote of the Week | | 
White to Move/Solution Below | | Life imitates art.
Reality imitates chess. Katherine Neville,
The Fire |
Monthly Specials January 2009  | For the January Competition Special, we are pleased to offer How to Get the Edge against the Gruenfeld by Konstantin Sakaev for the incredible USCF member price of $9.95! - a savings of $17.00! The author uses complete games to illustrate contemporary ideas in a system forged by Bronstein and Geller and used with deadly precision by Spassky. Sakaev is a leading theoretician and his analyses offer a unique insight into the theory of the Gruenfeld.
|  | For the January Scholastic Special, we are pleased to offer a great book to improve your tactical skills: Chess School 3: More Advanced Combinations for the incredible USCF member price of $9.95! - a savings of $15.00! From many years of experience in teaching young players and observing the successful work of trainers, it has been found that an essential training exercise for improvement in the calculation of variations is the solving of specially selected positions. These Specials of the Month are good from January 1 - January 31, 2008. Orders may be placed online, by mail or by phone. These Specials of the Month may be withdrawn at any time and are good only while supplies last. |
 New at Chess Life Online IMs Enrico Sevillano and Andranik Matikozyan shared first in the 16th Western Class over the Martin Luther King weekend. Also, Women’s World Champion, Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk has confirmed an appearance at the 2009 SuperNationals in Nashville, Tennessee (April 3-5). Join the USCF Today 
PO Box 3967
Crossville, TN 38557
Adult Dues Sale...
Enjoy the benefits of USCF Membership, including our special Members Only pricing. Learn more. About the USCF...
The USCF is the governing body for chess in America. All purchases from USCFSales.com benefit the USCF and help to promote American chess. Learn more. Chess Life...
The official publication, Chess Life, is the most widely circulated chess magazine in the world. Learn more.
Puzzle Answer: 38.Qxf8+ 1-0 Lane-Lemmers, Belgian Tch 1995 (Source: The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps) |
