The Alterman Gambit Guide – Black Gambits 2 is the third in a series of chessbooks, written by the grandmaster Boris Alterman, that I have designed covers for. It has a photo of jagged white lightning crossing a dark purple-blue sky above the lights of a city at night, while Book 1 features a cloud shot and Book 2 shows sunlight breaking through clouds above a loch. On White Gambits books, the white sword dominates, on Black Gambits books, the black sword is to the front. The swords are a reminder that chess is a war game. All three books deal with the opening phase of the game. The excellent San Francisco lightning shot is by danheller.com.