How to Swindle in Chess

A book by stalwart chess writer Andrew Soltis explores an aspect of chess that is quite common yet seldom addressed: swindling in chess. In chess, a swindle is a cunning ruse where a player in a losing position tricks their opponent, achieving a win or draw instead of the expected loss. Renowned chess writers Horowitz and Reinfeld note that swindles, "though ignored in virtually all chess books", "play an enormously important role in over-the-board chess, and decide the fate of countless games".

Andrew Soltis, an American chess journalist, asserts that swindles are neither accidental nor a matter of luck. Swindling is a skill. Despite this, there has been nearly nothing written about how to practice it, or how to make oneself 'lucky' in chess. Swindling involves setting traps that take advantage of an opponent's over-confidence. It means choosing the move that has the greatest potential to win, rather than the one that has the least chance of losing.

How to Swindle in Chess offers a new proposal from Soltis, explaining to players of all levels how to master this skill, with plenty of examples provided along the way.