The Modern Gurgenidze

The Modern Gurgenidze

Most openings let White build a big centre before the fighting starts. The Gurgenidze does the opposite: with 1...g6 followed by a quick ...c6 and ...d5, Black challenges White’s centre from the very first moves. It is the brainchild of Georgian grandmaster Bukhuti Gurgenidze, sits somewhere between the Modern Defence and the Caro-Kann, and draws the battle lines immediately.

This is the first book devoted to the system, and it presents it as a complete, combative Black repertoire. The coverage is organised by how ambitiously White meets it — occupying the centre with two pawns, the aggressive three-pawn set-ups with f4, and the closed systems after 1.d4 — so the reader has a clear answer whatever White tries.

A word on the engine age: the author is candid that in some lines the computer will favour White on the screen. That misses the point. The Gurgenidze is a practical, fighting weapon designed to create the kind of unbalanced, double-edged middlegame in which a prepared human outplays an unprepared one — so a small nominal edge for White should not put you off.

A genuine surprise weapon for adventurous club players who want to seize the initiative with Black and steer opponents into unfamiliar territory at once.