My First Chess Book: "Secrets of Trapping Pieces"

18 April 2023. The birth of my first chess book!

The gestation period was only 5-1/2 months from initial concept to final delivery. That included three months of 50-60 hours a week researching chess games that involved trapped pieces (pawns need not apply). And then using Stockfish and my chess intuition and insights to determine if game positions fit the theme of trapping pieces,...or freeing pieces that only seemed to be trapped. Not to mention positions in which it is unclear if the side with the trapped piece can obtain adequate compensation or is actually winning!

The selection of games range from: Greco to the 19th century Romantics; most of the recognized world champions in the 20th century and those who were considered "coulda/shoulda/woulda"...except for timing or misfortune; and of course the top players of the last three decades. Not to mention some games by my coach, IM Attila Turzo, and some of his students. And plenty of highly rated players I had never heard of until I embarked on this journey.

There was also quite a bit of research into ancillary topics that popped into my head while annotating the games. That's because I wanted the chess pieces to engage in dialogues in some of the 330+ puzzles included. So, I needed to ensure I was up to speed on cultural references that ranged from: the NFL and Wrestlemania; the rock group Queen to classical composers; Edvard Munch's The Scream to Rodin's The Thinker; Monty Python skits to Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein; authors from Shakespeare to Raymond Chandler to Isaac Asimov; comic strips/panels such as Gary Larson's The Far Side and Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes; and much, much more (e.g., the Jetsons made a brief appearance).

There are over 330 puzzles. And over 500 games that receive partial or full analyses since the execution of a trap may give a "decisive advantage", but that still has to be proved on the board!

You can find more details about the book on chessable.com The title is published under my chessable author name of kcsmith169.

Here's a puzzle from the book to whet your appetite. The "obvious" solution is good, but it isn't best!!