Once again the FIDE Trainers Commission has received a truly excellent selection of nominations by leading chess publishers for the FIDE Book Awards 2021.

After long deliberation, the judges have now narrowed their choices to eight books that you will find below:

Leading in number is Quality Chess, with all its three nominations: Decision Making in Major Piece Endings by Boris Gelfand, The Italian Renaissance - I: Move Orders, Tricks and Alternatives & The Italian Renaissance - II: The Main Lines by Martyn Kravtsiv and Think Like a Machine by Noam Manella and Zeev Zohar making the cut. 

New in Chess follows closely with two author titled books: Timman’s Triumphs: My 100 Best Games by Jan Timman and Zlotnik’s Middlegame Manual: Typical Structures and Strategic Manoeuvres by Boris Zlotnik.

The shortlist also includes Elk & Ruby's Masterpieces and Dramas of the Soviet Championships: Volume I (1920-1937) by Sergey Voronkov, Russell Enterprises' The Life & Games of Vasily Smyslov. The Early Years: 1921-1948 by Andrey Terekhov, and Thinkers Publishing's Your Jungle Guide to Chess Tactics: Sharpen Your Tactical Skills by Peter Prohaszka.

In two weeks, the shortlist will be further reduced to just three titles, with the final winner being announced on July 21.