Another from Averbakh

I don't know how much "essential knowledge" Chess Middlegames:  Essential Knowledge contains, but anyway, what it is is a lot of well-chosen and instructive positions.  Don't get too caught up in his jargon and you might find this one pretty useful, even though it checks in at barely 100 pages.

As an example, here's a pretty snappy combo:

Fun

Nice Puzzle.

I'm sure this isn't essential but the author of Chess Middlegames Essential Knowledge Yuri Averbakh is currently the oldest living GM - this may be related to his never having worn orange hand puppets, but this is only an educated guess on my part...BTW nice puzzle!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Averbakh

Dammit, I'm full-sized!  Not only that, I'm the mayor of a whole island.  So try that one on for size, JuntaBoy!

What island are you the mayor of? The Island of Dr Moreau?

No, Living Island!  Admittedly I just had to look that up though (sweatyknickers would've known!).