Markos: Under the Surface

Autor: Markos, Jan
Verlag / Hersteller: Quality Chess
Erscheinungsjahr: 2018
Sprache: Englisch
Buchumschlag: hardcover
Seiten: 288

Under the Surface – How Grandmasters Truly See Chess

The biggest difference between a grandmaster and a club player isn’t just more accurate calculation — it’s deeper vision.
In Under the Surface, GM Ján Markoš invites you to look beneath the obvious, revealing how strong players perceive positions, what hidden features they focus on, and how they actually think at the board.

Markoš shares original insights: exploring the “character” of a knight by examining a position without it, or understanding why weaknesses tend to create further weaknesses. Through carefully chosen examples, he guides you into the deeper layers of chess understanding — and shares his belief that understanding chess brings pure happiness.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• How a strong player interprets a position and decides what truly matters.

• Why deeper understanding, not just calculation, drives grandmaster strength.

• Fresh conceptual tools, such as analyzing positions with a key piece removed.

• How structural weaknesses evolve — and why one weakness often triggers the next.

• Dozens of examples that illustrate how to “see beneath the surface” during your own games.

🎯 Recommended Skill Levels

• Club players seeking to think more like strong players.

• Ambitious amateurs who want to understand the hidden logic of positions.

• Serious students & coaches looking for a highly readable yet profound teaching resource.

• Even grandmasters, according to GM David Navara, will find it interesting and useful.

“The book is highly readable and belongs among the best chess books I have read in recent years…
If you want to learn more about chess and don’t mind thinking independently, this is the book for you.”
— GM David Navara

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