The Magic and Beauty of Quiet Chess Moves

Mastering the Art of Subtlety

Boguslav Boder, Jacek Bielczyk

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English

Thinkers Publishing
08 October 2025

Chess

Beauty in chess manifests itself in different ways!

For chess players who are not sophisticated enough, one of the leading aesthetic criteria is probably the value of the offered piece. An experienced player will primarily value the originality and purity of the idea.

It happens that a key to a position is a seemingly discreet move. Situations like these have always impressed me the most.

Firstly, by their mystery: why does one of several apparently equivalent moves turn out to be much stronger than the others? Secondly, a modest move can radically change a well-established position assessment and even change the outcome of the game straight away.

Where did the idea for this kind of work come from?

There are two reasons.

Firstly, while browsing chess literature, I have not found a publication focusing on quiet moves, as most often, only three to eight examples are given. Secondly, we have always felt sorry for a person who cannot see beauty, for example of mountains (as these are just rocks) or architecture (as the Eiffel Tower is just iron), etc. The same applies to a large group of chess players, who value only the size of the piece they offered or the victory. However, one can lose a game and feel satisfaction because, for example, they found a stunning quiet move in their game.

By: Boguslav Boder, Jacek Bielczyk
Imprint: Thinkers Publishing
Country of Publication: Belgium
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 170mm,
ISBN: 9789083488288
ISBN 10: 9083488284
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 08 October 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

For many years, Bogusław Boder has been teaching chess fundamentals in schools and nurturing young talents in Skierniewice, Poland. Under his guidance, his students have achieved remarkable success, earning over 30 medals in Junior World and European Championships! Among his distinguished pupils is Grzegorz Gajewski, a Grandmaster for more than two decades and the first coach of World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, along with many rising young International Masters. These talented players, along with others, honed their skills by working through the problem sets featured in this book and other original training materials developed by Bogusław. Jacek Bielczyk, an International Master since 1979 (achieving a GM norm in Berlin, 1990), was the Polish Junior Champion in 1971 and 1972. He represented Poland at the Chess Olympiads as a player in 1980 and 1982 and later served as a coach for various national teams—including Senior, Women’s, and Junior teams—at the Olympiads, World, and European Championships. Over the years, he has trained multiple generations of Polish chess players, including medalists at the World and European Championships and those who earned international titles, such as GM Daniel Sadzikowski. In addition to his coaching career, he has co-authored several chess books and published hundreds of chess articles in both Polish and international chess magazines.

Reviews for The Magic and Beauty of Quiet Chess Moves: Mastering the Art of Subtlety

The authors themselves say it: this book is, according to them, the very first one entirely about the quiet move. So once again, Thinkers Publishing has done it! Another unique book presented for the reader's close inspection. I, as an eternal student, am very grateful to this publishing house. One last thing about the exercises in Chapters 3 and 4: the authors recommend using the Woodpecker Method. The 710 exercises should be solved in cycles--first all 710 in four weeks, then in two weeks, then in eight days, four days, two days, and finally all 710 in a single day. This method is said to greatly increase a chess player's strength. It's doable because you always work with the same positions, and many quickly get stored in memory. I haven't tried it myself, but do buy this beautiful book and give it a go! 10/10! Oliver De Hert - Schaaksite May 2025.