The Role of the Center in a Chess Game

A book by Boris Davydovich Persits, Honored Coach of the USSR, from the "Chess Player's Little Library" series. This is the third edition, revised and expanded; the first came out in 1961, the second as the booklet "The Center" in 1965.

It covers one of the central questions of chess strategy — the fight for the center. The various types of center are examined through examples from the classics and from tournament play, and giving up the center is not treated as a mistake in itself: the author shows when it costs you and when it is perfectly playable.

The book is addressed to players who study theory on their own, and to coaches, who can pick examples to match the strength of their pupils. While preparing the first edition, the author received suggestions from grandmaster V. V. Ragozin and Honored Master of Sport of the USSR P. A. Romanovsky.