The Concept:
- Chess engines have become dramatically stronger than human players.
- Modern engines can teach us attacking concepts that challenge traditional human thinking.
- GM Daniel Gormally draws inspiration from his own encountersand occasional humiliationsagainst the AI engine Leela.
- Rather than presenting dry computer analysis, the book transforms Leela's ideas into practical attacking lessons for human players.
- Central question: What can one of the world's strongest chess engines teach us about attacking chess?
What Makes Leela Different?
- Leela often approaches positions differently from traditional chess engines.
- It can deliberately avoid exchanges and maintain pieces on the board.
- Small positional advantages are accumulated until they become powerful attacking opportunities.
- Its play reveals unusual manoeuvres, sacrifices and mating patterns.
- These concepts provide players with a fresh way of understanding initiative, pressure and king attacks.
What Will the Reader Learn?
- Recognize Leela's most destructive mating patterns.
- Improve tactical awareness and attacking intuition.
- Understand when avoiding exchanges can strengthen an attack.
- Accumulate small advantages before launching the decisive blow.
- Identify candidate moves in complicated positions.
- Develop a more imaginative approach to attacking chess.
- Learn from situations where even professional players go wrong.
Opening Repertoire - The Leela Approach
The book also introduces an opening philosophy inspired by Leela's characteristic approach:
- Avoid unnecessary exchanges.
- Keep tension in the position.
- Preserve attacking pieces.
- Accumulate small advantages.
- Create increasingly uncomfortable problems for the opponent.
- Allow positional pressure to evolve naturally into tactical opportunities.
Rather than memorizing endless variations, the emphasis is on understanding why the pieces belong where they do.
Educational + Instructive + Entertaining
This is not simply another collection of computer-generated variations.
Daniel Gormally combines:
- Grandmaster experience
- AI-generated chess insight
- Mating-pattern recognition
- Opening ideas
- Calculation training
- Tournament experience
- Practical exercises
- Humour and entertainment
Excerpt
