The Middle Game

2 volumes: Book I, Static Features; x+293 pages with diagrams and index; Book II, Dynamic and Subjective Features; xii+346 pages with diagrams and index. Octavo (8 3/4" x 5 1/2") bound in original publisher's reddish brown cloth with gilt lettering to spines in original pictorial jacket. Originally published in Dutch as parts 1-12 of Het middenspiel (1952-64). Translated by W H Cozens. (Betts: 18-17; 18-21) Later mixed editions.

.The first volume "static features" is to identify those features of a given position which have more or less lasting properties and from them to assess it potentialities. After considering the relative value of pieces, the authors examine center formations, closed, open and half-open formations, the struggle for open lines, and weak pawns - illustrating their theme with many examples from master play. In the companion volume they examine the initiative, the different types of attack on the king, the arts of defense, maneuver and liquidation and the common failings over the chess board to which even great players are occasionally subject. There theme is illustrated by master games. The final part of the book is devoted to a survey of the personal styles of thirty-eight grandmasters and World Champions - from Anderssen to Petrosian, from Morphy to Tal and Fischer.

Condition: Light edge wear with gently bumped corners. Jacket with edge wear, book one spine head sunned else better than very good in like jackets.