7 Steps to Better Chess: A Guide to Immediately Making You a Better Player

Players of all levels learn how to improve their chess play by cutting down on tactical and strategic mistakes. Using examples from his own games, Schiller illustrates the types of errors typically found at each stage of chess development, from early scholastic games to professional encounters with grandmasters. In each case, Schiller shows how such errors can be overcome while at the same time showing how professional players can fall prey to the same problems as amateurs. Learn from the author’s mistakes and you won’t suffer the terrible fate that awaits most blunders! Check Catalog

Top of the Order: 25 Writers Pick Their Favorite Baseball Player of All Time

There have been plenty of collections devoted to our national pastime’s greatest players, but here, finally, is an amazing array of original writing dedicated to those whom, for reasons far more personal than stats-based, we call our favorites. The result is an assortment of reflections—by turns uplifting, woeful, and hilarious—on the love of the game and what it means to be beset by the strange, incurable condition known as baseball fandom.Featuring: Roger Kahn on Jackie Robinson, Buzz Bissinger on Albert Pujols, Jonathan Eig on Lou Gehrig, Neal Pollack on Greg Maddux, Laura Lippman on Brooks Robinson, Jeff Pearlman on Garry Templeton, Carrie Rickey on Crash Davis, Jim Bouton on Steve Dembowski, Pat Jordan on Tom Seaver, Steve Almond on Rickey Henderson, and many more.

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Fireman: The Evolution of the Closer in Baseball

Baseball is in a constant state of flux and change. Whether the developments are as obvious as the advent of the designated hitter or as subtle as the time limit between pitches, changes continue to occur that shape and reshape America's Pastime. One of the most discernable changes has been the specialization of the pitching staff. There was a time when the typical relief pitcher was either a washed-up veteran trying to hold on, an underachieving starter sent to bullpen Siberia by the manager, or a pitcher with good stuff but without the mojo to pitch deep into games. How things have changed. Fireman will bridge the gap between those days and today's game by reviewing the history of relief pitching and examining the influence and changes in the game that have brought bullpens to their present state. Using statistics, tend analysis, and interviews with front-office personnel, managers, coaches, and pitchers past and present, author Fran Zimniuch delves into the changing nature of the bullpen in baseball and how the current, specialized role of the closer came into being.

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Harry the K: The Remarkable Life of Harry Kalas

When legendary Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas died in April 2009, the Philadelphia Phillies organization held an allday tribute with his body laid in state at Citizens Bank Park. Tens of thousands of dedicated fans came through to pay their respects and celebrate “Harry the K”—the beloved play-by-play announcer for the Phillies.According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, only Babe Ruth and broadcast great Jack Buck had ever been honored with such magnitude.
Indeed, Harry Kalas was a larger-than-life figure in the world of sports broadcasting. Considered one of the family by Philadelphians, Kalas was also one of the most recognizable voices to all Americans. Called “The Voice of the NFL” by NFL Films President Steve Sabol, Kalas narrated countless NFL Films productions as well as TV’s longest-running NFL highlights show—Inside the NFL—for over 30 years.
But beyond his incredibly successful and diverse career, he also led an extraordinary personal life. From his childhood in Iowa to his early career in Hawaii and Houston, to his ubiquitous voice work in TV and radio, to his masterwork with the Phillies and the NFL—plus all the personal highs and lows he experienced along the way.
Harry Kalas may be “Outta here!”, but he will never be forgotten.

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The Chess Player's Bible: Illustrated Strategies for Staying Ahead of the Game

Master the ancient art of chess, the game of kings. Learn the key techniques and classic moves of the chess masters, including basic and advanced tactics, combinations, sacrifices, and pawn structures.

 This unique visual guide is arranged so that you can quickly identify your problem and locate the appropriate solution. Over 300 examples demonstrate attacking and defensive strategies for the opening, middle, and end phases of the game. Each move is accompanied with annotated 3-D illustrations so you can easily follow the moves, and the spiral-binding allows you to lay the book flat for ease of reference.


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Stan the Man: The Life and Times of Stan Musial

In a biography that draws from never-before-published anecdotes gained through interviews with former classmates, relatives, friends and teammates, the author details not only the personality and accomplishments of the greatest player in Cardinals baseball history, but also casts his life against the backdrop of American history. Check Catalog