7 published by Penguin Books Many chess-players know a large variety of open- ings and understand well the pattern of end games-but what happens in the middle? The difficulty of understanding the principles of middle- game play is perhaps best illustrated by the dearth of good books on the middle game. They can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet the middle game is a real challenge to the player. Here in the full orchestration of the game the player has the chance to use all his pieces to carry out his ideas. All players will be grateful to the grandmasters, Keres and Kotov, for their masterly analysis of attack and defence in the middle game, and to Mr Golombek for his transla- tion and fully authoritative introduction, Of particular importance and interest are Kotov's complete chapter on the attack on the king, Keres's very personal analysis of defence, and Kotov's demonstration of the importance of pawn struc- ture: the good player must know which pawn positions favour which types of attack and defence. Here is an essential addition to the chess-player's library. Cover design by Ann Usborne, based on a game Rejfir-Keres, Moscow, 1956PENGUIN HANDBOOKS PH102 THE ART OF THE MIDDLE GAME PAUL KERES AND ALEXANDER KOTOV TRANSLATED BY H. GOLOMBEK Paul Keres, the great Estonian chess-master, was born at Narva in 1916. He first made his mark in the international field by representing his country very successfully on first board at the Warsaw Chess Olympiad of 1935. Since then his career has been rich in victories, ranging from first prizes at Semmering- Baden in 1937 and Avro in 1938 to numerous suc- cesses in post-war years — three first places in Soviet Championships and first prize at Budapest in 1952 are the most notable. His career as a writer on chess has been equally important and he has become cele- brated for his originality and capacity for thorough- ness, Alexander Kotov, one of the finest attacking players of the century, has achieved major tourna- ment successes. He was equal first with Bronstein in the 1948 Soviet Championship, won first prize at Venice in 1950, and gained first place in the great Interzonal Tournament at Stockholm in 1952. He is also noted for his books on chess, in particular a study of Alekhine. Harry Golombek, one of Britain’s foremost inter- national masters, is Chess Correspondent of The Times and the Observer.