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Today's openings are reruns of an old sitcom that we have all seen a hundred times before, while for players in the past, life on the chess board was wild, unexplored territory. Learning the details of that gigantic entity, the Ruy Lopez (from either side), is on par with the time that hateful 7th-grade teacher made us memorize the capital cities of every country in the world – in alphabetical order!

The Origins series is an attempt at a "big picture" view that displays the interlocking parts of a much larger mechanism in time.

In this volume, the authors cover lines where Black does not meet 3.Bb5 with 3...a7-a6, and vast portions of this volume, are devoted to Berlin Defense Closed lines and the Berlin Wall Ending.

Grandmaster Repertoire - 1.e4 vs The Sicilian III

This volume completes Parimarjan Negi’s coverage of the Sicilian within his landmark Grandmaster Repertoire — 1.e4 series. Having dealt with the Najdorf and the other ...d6 Sicilians earlier, here he tackles the flexible "small centre" systems and tidies up everything that remains.

The core of the book is a world-class White repertoire against the Taimanov, the Kan, and the Scheveningen — three of the most resilient and fashionable Sicilians, favoured precisely because they keep Black’s structure flexible and hard to attack. Negi meets them with ambitious, deeply worked-out lines, including a "New Main Line" against the Taimanov and the sharp Keres Attack against the Scheveningen.

A final section covers the remaining Sicilian sidelines — the various 2...d6, 2...Nc6 and 2...e6 move orders and second-move alternatives — so that, together with the earlier volumes, White has a complete answer to 1...c5.

Like the rest of the series, this is demanding, theory-intensive material aimed at strong, ambitious players who play 1.e4 and want to fight for the advantage against every Sicilian rather than sidestepping the main battle.

The English Defence (1 d4 e6 2 c4 b6) is a dynamic, counter-attacking line, initially investigated by English grandmasters. Black aims to set White difficult problems to solve at the very earliest stage of the game. Black’s play is provocative – aiming to lure White into establishing a big pawn centre. This is a risky strategy as White falls behind in development and Black switfly becomes very active. However, if White’s response is more circumspect then Black can often manoeuvre into favourable structures reminiscent of positions arising from the Nimzo-Indian Defence, the Queen’s Indian Defence or even the Dutch.

José González provides an excellent analysis of this complex opening and carves out a powerful repertoire for Black covering all lines after 1 d4. It is possible for White to avoid the "English battle" by playing either 2 Nf3 or even 2 e4 (a rare move for 1 d4 players but seen occasionally). Gonzalez champions an aggressive variant of the Dutch against 2 Nf3 and outlines a simple but effective French Defence repertoire to counter 2 e4.

– A complete repertoire for Black to counter 1 d4.

– The question and answer approach provides an excellent study method.  

José Raúl Capablanca (1888-1942, World Champion 1921-1927) had a way of posting his pieces on exactly the perfect squares at the perfect time. For his opponents, it almost felt as if Capa’s pieces had a gift for condescension, since they had no need to look for opportunity. Opportunity instead came to them. The position’s optimal plan would magically and instantaneously arrange itself into coherent order within Capa’s chess mind.

Capablanca raised the bar on strategic understanding by at least one full generation. Only a handful of players in chess history were a generation ahead in strategic understanding: Morphy, Steinitz, Capablanca, Fischer, Karpov and Carlsen. The subject of this book and series is the third player on the list. While Capablanca was a player of his time, so advanced were his strategic ideas that he was simultaneously a person of our time as well.

There has never been a chess player who played blemish-free chess, yet some came close. At its best, Capa’s play appears free from obstacles of any kind. To players of that engine-free era, it sometimes felt as if Capablanca played perfect chess. The first time Emanuel Lasker met Capablanca and played blitz against him, he remarked that to his eyes, Capa never appeared to make a mistake.

Beginners often believe that quiet positions and endings are dead, lifeless realms. Play through Capablanca’s games and we see that they teem with life and possibility, since Capa saw hidden meanings in positions where his rivals were blind. He was especially deadly in quiet positions, since he had the unique ability to kill without seeming to strike a blow. By the time his opponents realized the danger, it was often too late to save themselves.

Few of us associate Capablanca with tactics, but maybe we should. He was one of the most tactically aware players of his era, rivaling both Lasker and Alekhine in this metric. Capa’s specialty was short-range combinations, which he almost never missed.

This series will be in three volumes covering the early years, Capa’s prime, and finally the later years. In this book, you will be presented with exercises which you can choose to do or not do. They include: combinations, calculation/visualization, planning and decision-making.

The present volume, number I, contains 156 freshly annotated games and fragments incorporating 168 exercises.

The Leningrad Dutch

Of all the ways to meet 1.d4, the Leningrad Dutch is among the most combative: Black plays ...f5 and fianchettoes the king’s bishop, aiming for a King’s-Indian-style kingside attack but on his own original terms. And no one has done more for the variation than Vladimir Malaniuk, who has championed it at the highest level for decades.

This is Malaniuk’s own repertoire, the distilled product of a lifetime with the opening. He presents the Leningrad as an active, genuinely dangerous weapon rather than a dubious sideline, full of the original plans and counterattacking resources he has pioneered over thousands of games.

The coverage is complete from move one: the main Leningrad lines after 1.d4 f5 2.g3, the full range of Anti-Dutch tries (2.e3, 2.Bg5, 2.Nc3, 2.g4, 2.e4 and the rest), and the move orders via the Réti (1.Nf3 f5) and the Anglo-Dutch (1.c4 f5). The Chess Stars format pairs explanatory sections with complete annotated games.

A fighting, ambitious repertoire for club players and above who want to play for the win with Black against 1.d4 — straight from the opening’s leading authority.

Dear readers, the book in your hands is primarily intended for all who are entering the magical world of chess, beginners, children and their parents and of course - adult ambitious improvers. This chess textbook will enable readers to strengthen their knowledge of the chess basics and fundamentals and will help trainers and chess teachers in working with their students.

* The Rules of Chess

* Basic Checkmates and Winning Material

* Essential Endgame Skills

* Tactics and Combinations

* How to play the Opening?

The author has 35 years of experience working with the most promising junior players, many of them becoming chess professionals, Grandmasters and International Masters. As a senior trainer he has gathered a deep knowledge and understanding of *what a diligent improver* should devote his attention to, and is able to guide a prudent reader with a steady hand.

This book is the first one in the series that should bring you great enjoyment and satisfaction in accumulating chess skills and winning many games along the way!

The Réti is a popular opening at all levels of chess. The great advantage it possesses over other openings is that it's a thematic system which can be adopted against many different defences, and because of this it's a firm favourite amongst those who prefer the understanding of ideas over dry memorization of moves.

In this book, Grandmaster Neil McDonald examines the Réti by going back to basics, introducing the key moves and ideas, and taking care to explain the reasoning behind them - something that has often been neglected or taken for granted in other works.

The Starting Out series has firmly established itself as the leading guide to studying openings for up-and-coming chess players. These books are ideal for enthusiasts who don't necessarily have extensive knowledge of the openings in question and who wish to appreciate the essential principles behind them.

The Queen’s Gambit is one of the oldest and most reliable opening which is mainly based on positional and structural understanding. The author gives a perfect guide about it and if somebody masters it, he will be able to use it in his entire chess career. This opening will never run out of fashion, its strategical and positional ideas will not be refuted by the strong computers.

Are you searching for a new weapon against 1 e4? Look no further - choose the Killer Sicilian! In this book, opening expert Tony Rotella presents a Sicilian repertoire for Black, the backbone of which consists of the Kalashnikov Variation. The Kalashnikov is an ideal choice for those looking to take up the Sicilian. Black follows an easy-to-learn system of development, with clear strategic aims. What's more, in many lines Black can choose between aggressive and positional options. It's no coincidence that the Kalashnikov has attracted such attacking talents as World Championship candidate Teimour Radjabov and multi-time US Champion Alexander Shabalov. Rotella critically examines the main lines and lucidly explains the key positional and tactical ideas for both sides. He also shows what Black should do against White's various Anti-Sicilian options. Read this book and unleash the Killer Sicilian!

The brainchild of 19th century Welsh seafarer and inventor, Captain William Davies Evans, The Evans Gambit has long enjoyed a reputation for daring and adventurous play. Arising after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4!, the Evans Gambit forces Black to navigate stormy seas from the outset.

IM Andrew Martin takes you on a journey through the ages, showing how the Evans Gambit was used by the leading players of the Victorian era, before being moulded into a deadly weapon by Garry Kasparov, and subsequently by modern-day grandmasters who have proved its validity in the computer era.

With additional chapters providing similarly active and aggressive ideas against Black's main alternative tries after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3, this book is the ultimate guide for 1.e4 players looking to take the fight to their opponents.

Andrew Martin is a FIDE Senior Trainer and International Master. He is a popular chess writer, presenter and commentator, renowned for his ability to clearly communicate vital ideas to club and online players.

This second and final volume of my Anti-Sicilian series covers our approach for all alternatives to 2...Nc6. The choice against 2...d6 was obvious. The Moscow variation is the only critical alternative to 3.d4 that has caused any concerns for Black – by developing with a tempo, we force Black to make an immediate decision on move 3 and wait for the right moment to open the position. 

Whilst in the Rossolimo book I tried to achieve an objective advantage against every line, my choices in the Moscow were mainly selected by their ability to create practical difficulties for the opponent. Naturally, it is not possible to find an advantage in every variation but I have ensured to add many detailed explanations to guide plans and aid understanding in the various positions we’ll encounter.

Against 3...Nd7, I analyse two distinct options – either castling immediately with the aim of breaking in the centre with c2-c3 and d2-d4, or first playing 4.a4 and denying Black their typical counterplay on the queenside. Against the solid 3...Bd7, I offer two choices of achieving central control. 5.c4 aims for a more positional Maroczy structure, whereas the alternative 5.0-0 transforms the position into a French advanced-type structure, where we develop interesting chances on the kingside. We already discussed 3...Nc6 in the first volume from the move order 2...Nc6 3.Bb5 d6, but I’ve analysed a second option – 6.h3 instead of 6.c3. The point is to limit Black’s piece activity by suppressing the scope of the c8-bishop. 

It was a bit harder to choose between 3.c3 or 3.g3 against 2...e6 – so I analysed both! The former transposes to an Alapin where my recommendations generally revolve around generating an attack against Black’s king – this is even attempted in the more ‘positional’ lines after 3...d5 4.exd5 Qxd5. The latter aims for a slower build-up before striking in the centre with d2-d4. Particular attention is given to Black’s attempts to generate immediate activity with a ...d7-d5 push, and I think my analysis here makes Black’s path to equality extremely narrow. 

Finally, I thought it was important to also consider the less popular second moves (2...g6, 2...a6, and 2...Nf6). In particular, I examined both 3.c3 and 3.c4 against 2...g6. The latter transposes to an Accelerated Dragon, which I can justify including in an Anti-Sicilian book as I believe it’s correct to enter an ‘Open-Sicilian’ type position if it benefits us. This approach has been emphasised across both volumes and it is made especially clear in the chapter against 2...g6.