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This is the second volume of my memorable games collection. Here you will find games that I played after my return to chess back in 2004. It had been eight years since my last tournament, and so much had changed for me. I had entered my first marriage and just graduated from Touro Law Center with an eye on my favorite subject, Intellectual Property, and on another new development at the time called cyber law, which dealt with issues related to the internet and international jurisdiction. At the same time it represented an opportunity for me to return to something that I had devoted so much time and energy to, the game of chess. For the first time in my life I was free to pursue directions of my own choosing. The decision was a difficult one, but finally I decided to return to chess, feeling that I could somehow positively influence both FIDE and the chess world in general. They were still split and had different world champions, the FIDE one, and the PCA one, which was the more prestigious of the two. The PCA World Champion was Mr. Kramnik, who had succeeded Mr. Kasparov as World Champion in the long line of world championship matches. Clearly there were some triumphs and failures during this period of my chess career, but ultimately I feel that I have left a certain mark on the generation from which the world’s current top players have emerged. Once again, in the games that follow, I try to share my vision of chess as a great intellectual battlefield where many factors play a role, including psychology and the science of computer home preparation. For me, there still exists the exciting journey to find the great truth of what is happening on the chess board, and the search for an even greater objective, the beauty of the game. With these in mind, I have selected these games, to share with you the knowledge that I have acquired so far.

The Scandinavian (also known as the Centre Counter Defence) occurs when Black meets White’s 1.e4 with 1...d5, immediately countering in the centre. White invariably continues with 2.exd5 when Black can choose between two systems, both of which are covered in this book. Firstly 2...Qxd5, which regains the pawn immediately but exposes the black queen early on – a feature that complicates the play for both players. Secondly 2...Nf6, which invites White to risk attempting to hold onto the d5-pawn. If White goes down this path then a complex tactical struggle can easily develop.

First Steps is a new opening series and is ideal for improving players who want simple and straightforward explanations. First Steps emphasizes:

– the basic principles 

– the basic strategies 

– the key tricks and traps

First Steps books are based around carefully selected instructive games which demonstrate exactly what both sides are trying to achieve. There is enough theory to enable the improving player to get to grips with the opening without feeling overwhelmed. If you want to take up a new opening, First Steps is the ideal place to start.

CHESS INFORMANT’S 159th ADVENTURE

VIGOROUS

CONTENTS:

• Afek - Wijk aan Zee 2024 (Tournament Review)

• Leitao - The Difficult Art of Defence in Chess

• Gormally - My Hastings Nightmare (Danny's Chess Diary

• Kotronias - King's Indian Defence - Gligoric System (Theoretical Survey)

• Perelshteyn - The Alekhine - Exchange Variation (Theoretical Survey)

• Davies - Understanding the Openings (Theoretical Survey)

• Perunovic - The Sicilian Off-Road (Theoretical Survey)

• Marin - Old Wine in New Bottles

• Prusikin - The Caro-Kann Exchange Variation (Instructive Lesson)

• Barak Gonen - World of Correspondence Chess

• Rogers - Europe v Asia Match, Batumi 2001 (Roger’s Reminiscences)

• Griffin - Browne v Hort, Wijk aan Zee 1975 (From Informant Archives)

Traditional sections: games, combinations, endings, Tournament reviews, the best game from the preceding volume and the most important theoretical novelty from the preceding volume.

The periodical that pros use with pleasure is at the same time a must have publication for all serious chess students!

Rook endgames are the most frequently occurring endgames, as well as one of the most exciting and challenging areas of chess. In 2023, Quality Chess published Theoretical Rook Endgames by GM Sam Shankland and its sister volume Conceptual Rook Endgames by GM Jacob Aagaard – a dazzling dyad of domination in endgame literature.

This new book tops off the triumphant trio by presenting 208 instructive exercises of varying difficulty, testing and reinforcing the reader’s skill and understanding. Conceptual Rook Endgames Workbook will skyrocket your endgame abilities, whether used as a standalone workbook or as the last step in the Aagaard-Shankland Rook Endgames trilogy.

Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard is the most talented chess writer of his generation. He won the British Championship in 2007, but is mostly known for his multi-award-winning books and his work with students who have won club, state, national, continental and world championships, as well as Olympiad individual golds and team golds, the World Cup and Candidates tournament.

SERIES INTRODUCTION

There are many various concepts and approaches to creating chess books. Chess strategy books have, more or less, well-known structure and contents. Writers work on “elements, principles, concepts... The chapter titles are more or less known in advance. I suggest an alternative concept. I will try to explain how to use your pieces and how to handle situations with the same pieces in your opponent’s camp!

Not once I heard statements like: “He doesn’t know how to play with minor pieces, or “He always stays with a bad bishop”, or “He is bad in rook endgames” etc. That conclusion motivated me to focus on such peculiar problems and to explain everything related to a concrete chess piece.

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE KING

The first volume is dedicated to the most important piece – the king. Some principles are well known: in the opening we should castle as soon as possible to secure the king and give freedom to other pieces. In the middlegame we should attack the opponent’s king if he is not safe to mate and win, in the endgame we are well-advised to activate our own king in order to have one more piece in action... There are many exceptions or modifications of these principles and there are many other less common principles.

I am sure that you will learn a lot while reading this book that and you will enjoy some interesting games. The material is divided in six chapters. In the first chapter our story will be about the importance of having an active king in the endgame. The next three chapters are about launching and organizing attacks on our opponent’s unsafe king (king in the center, attacks with castling on the same side and on the opposite sides). The fifth chapter is about king evacuation, a concept of great value both in defense and attack! The final chapter focuses on art and beauty in chess and you will see brave kings in action and some risky walks performed across the whole board!

I have no doubt that the mix of well known, unknown and fresh examples will be interesting to you, dear reader.

Every aspiring chess player wants to improve their positional understanding. In this ambitious work, GM Daniel Naroditsky explains clear positional themes in complex settings. Drawing on his own games, those of US colleagues, and top-level grandmasters, the prodigious author navigates chess strategy with the liveliness and clarity he later became famous for.

Mastering Positional Chess was first published when Naroditsky was just 14. This edition has been significantly updated.

Daniel Naroditsky (1995-2025) became the World U12 Champion in 2007 and a Grandmaster at just 17 in 2013. He competed in the US Championship in 2021, defeating World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana. At his death in 2025, Naroditsky ranked 23rd in the world in blitz. Online, he was a respected and much-loved chess educator. 

Informant’s Collection of Instructive Tactics and Studies

* 500 carefully selected puzzles 

* 5 levels of difficulty 

* 42 instructive, prizewinning studies

Study, practice and improve with our selection of tactical jewels!

Ljubomir Ljubojević belongs to a generation of extraordinary chessplayers, whose most outstanding representative is Anatoly Karpov.

Ljubojević reached number 3 in the world rankings and a potential candidate for the world title.

The book consists of forty of his best games, played between 1970 and 2008, annotated in the “Move by Move” format, with questions and exercises, a method which is effective both for training and teaching.

At the start of his career Ljubojević was notable for his dynamic and original style but his play gradually became more rounded and positionally refined.

As usual, Franco is keen to highlight the practical aspects of competitive chess, since we are playing, not against computers, but against human beings like ourselves, who make mistakes, like or dislike the position, get tired etc.

Wojo's Weapons, Volume 2

The late Aleksander Wojtkiewicz was one of the most successful tournament grandmasters of his era — a player who racked up wins year after year with a compact, repeatable White system rather than a sprawling theoretical repertoire. This series preserves and teaches that "Wojo System," and Volume 2 carries it forward into the heart of the Queen’s-Pawn battleground.

The backbone is the Catalan, reached via the flexible 1.Nf3 and g3 move orders Wojo favoured. The book gives a complete, layered treatment of both the Closed Catalan and the Open Catalan — the latter examined in real depth, line by line — and then extends the same fianchetto approach to the Slav, the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, the Tarrasch, and the Chigorin.

What makes the material so practical is its coherence: the same bishop on g2, the same pressure on the long diagonal and the c-file, and the same handful of plans recur across every line, so the repertoire is far easier to learn and maintain than its scope suggests. The authors explain how to assemble the pieces of the system into a working whole.

A sound, grandmaster-tested White repertoire for club players and above who want to win the way Wojo did — quietly building pressure and grinding out the point. It is the second of three volumes in the Wojo’s Weapons: Winning With White series; this book concentrates on the ...d5 and ...e6 defences (the Catalan and the Queen’s-Gambit family), while the companion volumes cover the rest, so the three together form the complete repertoire.

The readers will see 50 incredible tense battles with many beautiful ideas, sacrifices and hidden motifs.

Bored of the same old Spanish and Scotch? Smashing the Spanish! Stunning the Scotch! gives 1...e5 players a bold and practical way to take back the initiative. Face 3.Bb5 with the sharp and surprising Bird’s Defense (3...Nd4) and meet 3.d4 with the nearly forgotten Lolli Variation (3...Nxd4). Both are rare, under-analyzed, and perfect for unsettling White right out of the opening.

Inside, you'll find focused theory, practical guidance, and annotated games – all from Black’s perspective. No overloaded repertoires, just fresh, fighting lines ready for real play.

If you enjoy catching opponents unready and rewriting the script from move three, this book is for you.

Marek Soszynski is a Correspondence Chess Master and a Master of Philosophy. He has authored or co-authored a growing number of chess books including How to Think in Chess, The Great Reshevsky, and Double Trouble Scandinavian Style.