Book excerpt: After you have learned the rules of chess and developed some tactical abilities, how do you go from there? You are now ready to tackle basic issues of strategy, but what is the best way to improve and win more games? Of course, you have to train. But chess training only makes sense if it fits your level of play and if it is structured in an accessible way. Experienced chess trainer Yaroslav Srokovski has developed a practical, well-structured, compact first course in positional understanding. You will learn two fundamental skills: how to assess a position on the board and how to decide which long-term objectives you should aim for in what sort of positions. In 12 chapters Srokovksi teaches you things like: how to handle your pawns, what weak squares and strong squares are, bad pieces and good pieces, why it is important if your king is in the middle or not, why and how to get an open line, the problem of knight against bishop, what piece coordination means and why everyone talks about the bishop pair. This course, which includes many exercises, is tried and tested and ideally suited to bring post-beginners at their next level. ,