The Lasker Method to Improve in Chess

The Lasker Method to Improve in Chess is an English-language paperback chess book for club players and ambitious beginners who want to improve in a structured, practical way. Rather than pushing memorisation of endless variations, it follows Emanuel Lasker’s approach: sound judgement, understanding the principles and applying them at the board.

What this book covers

Instead of treating improvement as a race to learn more theory, the authors show how steady progress can come from mastering the essentials. Lasker, the second World Champion and the longest-reigning champion in history, believed that most amateurs benefit more from timeless fundamentals than from encyclopaedic opening knowledge.

Gerard Welling and Steve Giddins have put that idea into a compact but complete guide. It covers solid opening play, healthy middlegame positions and the basic technique needed in the endgame, with carefully chosen examples that include games by Emanuel Lasker himself.

Inside the book

The content is organised around the areas that matter most when you are trying to improve your results:

• Openings that help you enter the game safely
• Strategy and positional play
• Tactics with a practical focus
• Defence in more difficult positions
• Endgame basics

This makes the book a useful study companion for everyday training: it keeps the focus on ideas that matter in amateur games, rather than on details that are mainly relevant at grandmaster level.

Who it is for

This is a strong choice for players who already know the basics and want a single, well-organised book to guide their study. It suits readers with limited training time who still want to work on their chess in a sensible, methodical way.

Edition details

• Language: English
• Format: Paperback
• Page count: 224 pages

The Lasker Method to Improve in Chess combines practical instruction with a clear explanation of the game’s core principles. It is for readers who want to play better through understanding, not just by memorising variations.

Key details

• Product type: chess book
• Language: English
• Format: paperback
• Page count: 224 pages
• Authors: Gerard Welling and Steve Giddins
• Approach: practical improvement based on principles rather than memorising large numbers of variations
• Content focus: openings, strategy, tactics, defence and endgame basics