First published in Russian in 2014 and written by Genna Sosonko – widely recognized as the number one writer on the history of Soviet chess – this is a truly unique book about the life and destiny of the great chess player David Bronstein (1924-2006).
Emerging from a challenging background – he narrowly escaped the holocaust in WWII, during which he starved, and his father spent seven years in a gulag – Bronstein faced Botvinnik in the world championship match in 1951 and nearly defeated him. But this ‘nearly’ inflicted a wound on David so deep that it would not heal for the rest of his life.
Sosonko knew Bronstein well. Their conversations – many of which have made it into this book – not only portray the thoughts and character of one of history’s most original grandmasters but also take us back to a time unlike any other in world history. This is not a biography in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, Sosonko’s fascinating book asks eternal questions which don’t have neat and simple answers.
With a foreword to the English edition by Garry Kasparov.
Dragoljub Velimirovic was a former Yugoslav - Serbian, chess grandmaster whose international career was handicapped by political intrigues and his outspoken temperament. During the heyday of the USSR as the greatest national chess power, the former Yugoslavia was capable of running the Soviet Union a good second. Dragoljub Velimirovic posed a real threat to the men from Moscow.
Velimirovic was born in 1942 to a prominent family from Valjevo, in the former Yugoslavia. He was introduced to chess at the age of seven by his mother, Jovanka Velimirovic, one of Yugoslavia's leading female chess players. He died at the age 72, being one of the last players to develop a system or strategy that is so inventive it bears its creator's name. It is a feat that is unlikely to be repeated in the modern era, when computer-based games and databases so thoroughly dominate competition that it is almost impossible to come up with something new. That does not mean that players were more talented or courageous in the decades when Velimirovic was in his prime. Velimirovic, who became a grandmaster in 1973, was never among the 20 top-ranked players in the world. And that was when there were only 200 or so grandmasters; today, there are about 2,400.
Coach Christof has thoroughly revised and updated his 2018 best-selling chess opening manual. It covers everything you need to know when opening with 1.e4. You will get a complete White chess opening repertoire.
Why is this opening repertoire called simple? For the simple reason that the variations are easy to remember and require little or no maintenance.
International Master Christof Sielecki has created a hit series with his reliable opening lines for chess players of almost all levels. He developed this repertoire by working with students looking for something easy to understand and learn. Sielecki always clearly explains the plans and counter plans and keeps you focused on the position's requirements. Ambitious players rated 1500 or higher will benefit from studying this extremely accessible book.
Christof Sielecki is an International Master from Germany. He has taught and trained chess for many years and runs a popular YouTube channel called ChessExplained. He won numerous awards with his course on Chessable and has created three volumes of the Keep it Simple opening manuals.
GM Matthew Sadler (New In Chess magazine)
"There are a few different approaches to drawing up a complete opening course for White like this. At the extremes, you can pick a single setup or pawn structure (something like the King’s Indian Attack for example) and use it against as many Black systems as you can manage, or you take the grandmaster repertoire approach where you pick the best concrete line for each situation. Both have drawbacks of course. Sielecki manages a good blend of both approaches."
IM John Donaldson (Mechanics Institute)
“Keep it Simple 1.e4 – 2.0 is an invaluable tool for those rated 1800 to 2300 who want to play 1.e4 but don’t have the option of quitting their day job. There is plenty of explanatory prose to make this book accessible to the lower end of this rating group. There are also plenty of well-thought-out opening suggestions to make it interesting for master-level players and above. They will benefit from using the lines in this book as a starting point for further investigations.”
WINNER of The Guardian 2009 Chess Book of the Year Award
WINNER of The British Chess Federation 1995 Book of the Year Award
In this modern chess classic David Bronstein, one of the greatest chess artists of all time, shares his insights in his wonderful games – 237 of them played between 1938 and 1996, a career spanning 58 years.
Bronstein was famous for the joy he derived from teaching the game and this spirit permeates his writings. His explanations and analyses are invariably lively and easy to understand for players of all levels who want to improve their chess.
David Bronstein’s achievements and his legendary creativity have ensured him a unique position in chess history. He drew a match for the World Championship, won Soviet Championship twice and took first place in numerous international tournaments.
This revised and expanded edition, published two years after Bronstein passed away, contains a lot of new material and two moving In Memoriams, one by Bronstein’s widow Tatiana Boleslavskaya and one by his co-author and friend Tom Fürstenberg.
Furthermore, 32 pages of unique photographs have been included, as well as extensive new articles by Bronstein himself.
This unconventional book is a fitting homage to one of the eternal chess greats, fascinating and rich in ideas, and written with contagious enthusiasm.
Arne Moll, ChessVibes:
"Bronstein was not only a fantastic chess player, but also a great chess explicator. The book is full of very useful and instructive explications (..) There's lots of cool new stuff compared to the first edition."
Angus Dunnington, CHESS Magazine:
“There are many tips for the non-genius and it is a very useful book for those who want to improve.”
IM Malcolm Pein, The Guardian:
“There are photographs, personal history, anecdotes and advice. Above all it is a wonderful record of Bronstein's great achievements. A splendid addition to any chess library.”
Marshtower Chess Reviews:
"Those who already own the earlier edition should be pleased by the new edition too. I think there is enough new material to justify an upgrade for one's library."
The Judges of the Guardian 2009 Chess Book of the Year Award:
"Our book of the year is an unusual, personal, inspirational and endearing work."
IM John Donaldson:
"This revised and expanded edition (..) contains a lot of new material (..) It belongs in every chessplayer's library"
John Henderson, The Scotsman:
"Deserves a place on every chess player's bookshelf."
CHESS INFORMANT’S 153rd ADVENTURE
GRANDEUR
CONTENTS:
Sokolov – Candidates Tournament Madrid (Tournament Review)
Leitao – Brazilians at the Olympiad (Tournament Review)
Moradiabadi – Chennai Olympiad (Tournament Review)
Foisor – Chennai Olympiad, Women Section (Tournament Review)
Miodrag Perunovic – Chennai Olympiad, Team Serbia (Review)
Shyam Sundar – Instructive Lessons from Chennai
Navara – Prague Chess Masters (Review)
Gormally – British Chess Championship (Tournament Review)
Prusikin – The Fight Against the Fianchetto Bishop (Instructive Lesson)
Davies – The 3...g6 Ruy Lopez (Theoretical Survey)
Petrov – World Championship Game Changers – part 5
Rogers – Buenos Aires Chess Olympiad 1978 (Roger’s Reminiscences)
Griffin – A Tribute to Bora Ivkov (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!
In this book, the authors aim to assist the reader in becoming better at finding combinations, constructing plans, and calculating long, forcing variations. For the purpose of instruction, the material is based on the output of the brilliant endgame composer and player Herman Mattison (1894-1932), using his endgame compositions from various works and publications as well as several of his practical endgames from games entirely too short career.
The Kaufman Repertoire for Black & White
Larry Kaufman — grandmaster, former World Senior Champion, and a pioneer of computer chess — offers something unusual here: a complete, ready-to-play repertoire for both colours, chosen not by the cold standard of what is "objectively best" but by what actually works for amateurs who lack the time to memorise endless theory.
That guiding principle shapes every recommendation. Kaufman deliberately favours sound, durable lines that are easy to understand and remember over the sharpest computer-approved main lines that change every few months. The White repertoire is built around 1.d4/1.Nf3 with answers to everything Black can throw back; the Black repertoire leans on the resilient defences favoured by Magnus Carlsen, including the Grünfeld and the Breyer.
Because Kaufman is a computer-chess authority, the analysis is rigorously engine-checked, and his discussion of material values and how to use engines sensibly is a bonus rarely found in repertoire books. A "repertoire in practice" section shows the systems working in real games.
Ideal for club players who want one trustworthy book to supply their entire opening repertoire — practical, honest, and built to last.
¿Cada vez te juegan más la Defensa Holandesa cuando juegas peón de dama? ¿Juegas distintos esquemas contra esta defensa y ninguno termina de convencerte?
Si tu respuesta es SI a alguna de estas dos preguntas, este libro es para ti.
En el último año, han salido distintas publicaciones recomendando esta variante para jugadores aficionados. ¿La razón? Es una variante universal contra 1.d4, 1.c4 y 1.Cf3 por parte de las blancas.
Sin embargo, considero que la Defensa Holandesa no es una variante buena y, en caso de que las blancas sepan como jugar, pueden conseguir una gran ventaja.
En este libro ofrezco una forma de jugar innovadora que te permitirá hacerte con ventaja contra jugadores de todos los niveles.
Las variantes han sido revisadas con Stockfish. La apertura está analizada de manera sistemática y organizada de manera que sea cómoda para el lector.
Además, no solamente se analiza la apertura, sino que también me adentro en el medio juego, analizando partidas modelo que nos servirán de guía en el momento que se termine la apertura.
Para terminar, como no podría ser de otra manera, ofrezco ejercicios típicos del medio juego de la Defensa Holandesa, la mejor forma para estar preparados para la partida.
Al terminar este libro, estarás preparado contra esta apertura para toda tu vida y estoy convencido de que podrás conseguir muchas victorias gracias a mis ideas.
The Richter-Veresov Attack is characterized by the moves 1.d4, 2.Nc3 and 3.Bg5. It is a great system for players who want to take their opponents away from well-known theory, force them into unfamiliar situations and make them fight on their own resources. There are various modern interpretations of the Richter-Veresov Attack which usual involve White playing f3 at some point. However, in this book, the highly experienced chess author and coach Cyrus Lakdawala focuses on the traditional treatment which generally eschews f3 in favour of more classical development with moves such as Nf3, e3 or even Qf3.
In Opening Repertoire: Richter-Veresov Attack, Lakdawala guides the reader through the complexities and carves out a repertoire for White. He examines all aspects of this highly complex opening and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans.
You can hardly find a more unconventional idea than pushing your g-pawn 2 squares down the board.
Some may say it belongs to a backroom chess game in a café, some may say it belongs to olden times - back when the King's Gambit was the main line after 1.e4 e5. But we are seeing more and more occurrences at the top-level.
Is it a coincidence ??
It's safe to say that g2-g4 (or ...g7-g5) is one of the most weakening moves available. As a matter of fact, the objectively worst first-move happens to be 1.g4, accompanied by an evaluation of -1.30 when running Stockfish 15 on low-depth (we did not see the point on letting it run in this position, it will probably get lower, that's not good advertising).
Now, there are quite a few positions where g2-g4 (or ...g7-g5) makes more sense and brings an interesting fight. The player has to be willing to take some considerable amount of risk, and that may be too much for some of us. The resulting positions often get messy and veer very much away from traditional paths, which means the expected number of mistakes gets higher, thus decreasing the drawing percentage.
Still, it's important to remain somewhat objective and not to get too excited by the thrill of an upcoming attack. Yes, g-pawn pushes are aggressive, but can also very quickly turn out to have disastrous consequences. "I wish I could play g4-g2", is usually a sign the experiment has gone wrong. The book is aimed at covering a wide range of chess openings. We decided to showcase the different categories of g4 (...g5) one may meet in the early stage of the opening, no matter if the idea is strong, interesting or quite unadvisable (bad, you may also say).
Most of the time, g4 (...g5) won't be the best move, but we will try to show that the value of surprise and the tendency of players to react solidly to aggression can matter as well. Also, we have decided not to include any Sicilians, as the g2-g4 push has become so frequent there, and in many variations deeply analyzed already.
Over the 50 games that we picked, the 3 main reasons why the g-pawn is being launched are: 1) Attacking a short-castled king with a hook created by h2-h3 (or ...h7-h6) 2) Challenging the stable position of a Nf3 (or ...Nf6). It becomes stronger when the knight doesn't have a good square to hop to. 3) Seizing space on the kingside.
The more you dive into the examples, the more you'll see that it's a mix of the 3, with one reason prevailing. We wish you happy reading and hope that you'll implement some of these lines into your play!
CHESS INFORMANT’S 149th ADVENTURE
United Colours of Autumn
FIDE WORLD CUP 2021 GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, IM Miodrag Perunović, GM Velimir Ivić
SOUTH AMERICANS IN THE WORLD CUP GM Rafael Leitão
QUEEN'S GAMBIT ACCEPTED – Vienna Variation GM Miloš Perunović
VENI, VIDI, VICI GM Sabina-Francesca Foişor
SINQUEFIELD CUP 2021 GM Elshan Moradiabadi
DANNY'S CHESS DIARY GM Daniel Gormally
GOLDMONEY ASIAN RAPID GM Priyadharshan Kannappan
THE SEMI-TARRASCH – PART I GM Nigel Davies
THE RUY LÓPEZ – Anti-Marshall GM Krisztián Szabó
A STORY ABOUT HORSES AND ELEPHANTS GM Michael Prusikin
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES GM Marian Petrov
ROGERS’ REMINISCENCES – Reggio Emilia 1984/85 GM Ian Rogers
FROM THE CHESS INFORMANT ARCHIVES Douglas Griffin
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