Shankland’s Attacking Chess Workbook + PGN Jun 15, 2026

Pull Up a Chair Between a U.S. Chess Champion and
His Legendary Coach — and See How To
Drive Your Attacks Home

You solve the same 337 exercises they did in private lessons. You compare notes and moves — including their misses — until your attacking technique comes out sharper and more precise.

Picture this:

You’re in a closed-door training room, with two of the greatest minds in modern chess.

Beside you sits Grandmaster Sam Shankland. He’s the 2018 U.S. Champion and a 2-time Olympiad gold medalist. At his peak, his rating of 2731 put him at #24 in the world.

In front of you sits Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard. He’s the 2007 British Champion, the 2012 Scottish Champion, and an award-winning FIDE Senior Trainer.

He’s trained Boris Gelfand (6-time World Championship candidate), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2021 World Rapid Champion), and Shankland himself.

At the center of the table is this position with a straightforward task — attack!

Black to move. What would you play?

You know you must take on d5 to open lines. But you can’t find a follow-up once the king runs for cover.

You shuffle the move order. You try a few variations. Then time’s up.

You compare notes with Shankland, and discover you were on the right track . You just had to hold back from cashing in and milk the position for more.

By delaying …Qxd5+, you also delay
the defensive Rd1, while your rook
and knight get into position

An exercise like this can teach you more about move order, open lines, and piece coordination than 1,000 random tactical puzzles.

And that’s just one.

Shankland’s Attacking Chess Workbook…

Brings Shankland, His Coach, and
Their Training Sessions To You

Shankland will be the first to tell you, “I am not a great attacking player.”

That’s why he had to work with Aagaard on his technique.

They plowed through 700+ handpicked positions for 200+ hours. Then they picked their favorites.

The result? 337 MoveTrainer exercises covering 9 must-know themes — all explained through 11 hours of video to hone your attacking technique.

Each theme has its dedicated chapter.

You’ll learn how to:

1. Turn perfect piece placement into momentum. When your pieces are on their best squares and can’t get any better — but your opponent’s still can — that’s your cue to strike with checks, captures, and threats!

2. Bring everyone into the attack. You’ll clear lines with tempo and let the opponent take a piece with check, so you can pull in a distant ally two moves closer. Better yet, you’ll learn which piece to bring in first for maximum pressure.

You turn down one-move threats like
1…Be6 and go for moves like 1…a6,
enabling the rest of your army
to join the action

3. Dominate the color complexes leading to the enemy king. You’ll batter down pawn chains to reach targets behind them. You’ll trade pieces to soften up key squares, while your queen and bishops slip through a crowd of defenders.

First, you displace potential defenders
of the dark squares, then you crash
through and deliver mate

4. Size up the attacking value of your pieces. A pawn controlling the king’s escape square can be worth 4 points. That rook in the corner? Just 1. You’ll sharpen your feel for these dynamic values, and find the exchanges that give you superior firepower.

Once you realize Black’s f4-knight is more
valuable than your d1-rook, 1.Rd7! paving
your way to f7, becomes a no-brainer

5. Attack the weakest square. Not just f7 when the king sits in the center. Not just h7 once he castles. Instead, you’ll track him down wherever he goes. You’ll survey every square around him, and find the one that brings their house of cards down.

6. Attack the strongest square. Yes, the very square where every defender converges. Sac a piece or pawn right in the middle of that intersection, and their coordination goes out of the window!

Your pawn pushes up to a square protected
twice, but taking it either way comes
with devastating consequences

7. Keep the enemy king in the killzone. It’s the part of the board where the king cannot survive. Find the zone, cut off the king’s escape safety, and cash in.

8. Adjust your thinking based on the flow of the attack. You switch between direct moves for immediate gains and slow moves to bring more pieces into the attack, making sure it never fizzles.

9. Brute-force your way to the win with concrete thinking. You calculate move by move, see past the “principled” moves that go nowhere… and find the precise continuation that brings the point home.

After the thematic chapters come the test, Levels 1 to 5.

They mix the themes and give no hints. It’s just like a real game, where you have to spot the right idea before you calculate.