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Battling the Slow Italian Game dives deep into one of modern chess’s most fascinating battlefields. As the Italian Game has evolved from a quiet classical opening into a rich strategic arena, players are increasingly confronted with a critical choice: strike with sharp precision or maneuver with a refined positional touch.

This book explores that crossroads in detail. From dynamic pawn breaks and tactical ideas to subtle maneuvering plans and long-term structural considerations, it reveals how both approaches shape the struggle in the “slow” Italian. Each chapter contrasts concrete, forcing lines with more flexible setups, helping you understand not just what to play, but why different styles succeed in different positions.

Packed with modern theory, instructive model games, and practical recommendations, Battling the Slow Italian Game equips ambitious players with the tools to confidently face one of today’s most popular openings. Whether you thrive on calculation or prefer deep strategic planning, this book will sharpen your understanding and elevate your results in the Italian Game.

The Modernized Slav Defense presents a fresh and forward-looking approach to one of chess’s most reliable and respected openings. Long valued for its solid structure and positional resilience, the Slav Defense has evolved significantly in recent years—embracing dynamic ideas, sharper continuations, and modern move-order subtleties.

This book captures that evolution. Zaven explores contemporary interpretations of the Slav, highlighting flexible setups, timely pawn breaks, and energetic piece play that challenge the outdated notion of the Slav as merely “solid.” Through carefully selected theoretical lines, model games, and clear explanations, readers learn how today’s top players inject ambition and precision into this classical defense.

Designed for practical use at the board, The Modernized Slav Defense equips players with a complete, up-to-date repertoire against 1.d4. Whether you seek dependable foundations or modern counter-attacking chances, this book shows how the Slav Defense can meet the demands of modern chess with confidence and clarity.

‘Albin Planinc was born in the middle of the Second World War, on 18th April 1944, in the little village of Briše, near the small town of Zagorje ob Savi, approximately 30 kilometers from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. He spent his childhood with his mother Ljudmila (unofficially Milka), a simple, uneducated woman who earned money from various unskilled jobs’.

This fascinating biography of over eighty-five annotated games and stories are being presented by grandmasters Georg Mohr and Adrian Mikhalchishin. It covers Planinc’ entire life and chess career, including his most fascinating games. This fitting tribute of a forgotten chess genius should be found in anyone’s chess library. Thanks to this colorful book Albin Planinc will continue to inspire us all and will keep his spirit alive.

Each chapter includes a selection of highlighted ideas & concepts from White’s and Black’s perspectives.

After that follows a theoretical discussion, where, unsurprisingly, many of the concepts make a second, concrete, appearance.

Most newly analyzed games are much more modern, and most annotations there were typically made from scratch for this book.

If we count the endless online rapid and blitz tournaments, which are becoming increasingly popular, the new games presented in this book, even the fast ones, are of exceptionally high quality and incredibly important if you wish to surprise your opponent.

On top this book cuts through the dense theory that surrounds this opening and establishes a total new repertoire based around consistent strategies, concepts and novelties.

I decided to divide the book into four parts. In the first and the most difficult and time-consuming part of the book you will find my memorable games. I emphasize that these are my most memorable games, not my best games so out of 25 games given here there are a few draws and one loss. If I had decided to collect my best games the selection would have been quite different. It should therefore come as no surprise that as many as seven games with world champions found their way into the book.

The second part consists of my 50 most memorable fragments. There you will see both instructive and curious examples. Here too the selection process was quite strict. While the memorable games cover the period of 1991-2010, the fragments cover the span from 1982 till 2016. And since they cover my early years as well, you will find some of them that did not find their way into databases.

The third part of the book contains my 75 studies, in 50 of which White must draw and in 25 must win. I have many more but except for a couple of examples I decided not to include the most difficult and interesting rook studies in the book. I have to say that composing studies is much more difficult than problems; it’s just a hell of a job.

And finally, the fourth, my favorite part of the book, featuring my 150 best chess problems. I should talk about this in greater detail: I was 12 when I composed my first problem. It was later published in the article by the famous composer and study-maker Alexander Sarychev, whom I had had the great fortune to meet. Yet, despite this positive experience at a young age, it was only much later that I composed a significant number of problems.

And so, I hope that in each of the 300 snippets presented in the book, be it games, fragments, studies or problems, the reader will find something worthwhile. At least, the author really strove for that.

In this book I would like to tell the story of my chess journey where I rose to become the Orlando Chess Champion and later its president. I will detail the creation of the Central Florida Chess Club and how as its president it became the most successful club in Florida. I will detail the wars waged to become Central Florida Chess Club champion and the rivalries that were formed. I will also share stories from the U.S. Amateur tournaments which my team won five times. I will detail the struggle to become a USCF original Life Master while raising a family and teaching full time. Mostly, I will show some of the wonderful games I played, some with very important opening preparation, and give the reader insight into the battles waged over sixty-four squares. 

I hope you find the games and their stories as stirring as I do.

The fundamental purpose of Black’s aggressive and provocative move with the d-pawn is to create immediate central tension and to exploit the latent power of the queen on her starting square. Remember Lasker’s observation: “Black’s idea is to make use of the great fighting power of the queen in the opening”. Black’s audacious pawn move effectively compels White to lose a tempo by capturing the pawn, creating an imbalance in the center. Black’s strategy seeks the dissolution of the center, as the immediate asymmetry reduces the significance of So, is the Scandinavian, in essence, a ‘refutation’ of 1 e4, as Black has already activated his queen far ahead of his opponent, while weakening White’s kingside pawn structure? Isn’t White essentially punished for aiming for early kingside development with his first move? Structurally, Black has achieved an ideal exchange, and the core of the Scandinavian lies in the control of the d5-square. Black must, under no circumstances, allow White to support a pawn thrust with d4-d5, as this typically means White has effectively countered Black’s pawn structure both technically and psychologically.

All the lines presented in this book are very old, some even dating back to medieval times! Lots of things were known about these systems before chess engines started to become very strong, but now we have completely new ideas from not only a tactical, but also positional, point of view on positions that have simply resurfaced in recent times. The rebirth of these lines has become so popular that during my work on this book I was amazed to see such a level of popularity. To make this book readable I broke some positions into smaller files wherever I could. In all my books I try to present at least the basics of many openings and lines: the problem is that basic knowledge about openings is growing even bigger, and it is not an easy job to comprehend and assimilate all that material. That’s why I have also tried in this book to be as concise as possible. After all, reading a book should not only be an aesthetic/interesting endeavour, but also a practical/useful thing at the same time.

Why Play the Catalan Opening?

If you’re looking for an opening that combines strategic depth with long-term pressure, the Catalan Opening is a top-tier choice. It’s favored by world champions like Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen for good reason: the Catalan blends solid positional play with dynamic potential.

By fianchettoing the king’s bishop and exerting long-range pressure on the center, White builds a solid yet flexible structure. This opening is ideal for players who prefer a quiet buildup that leads to deep middlegame plans, rather than immediate tactical fireworks.

Whether you’re an ambitious club player or a seasoned tournament competitor, the Catalan gives you a strong foundation with plenty of room to outplay your opponent in a positional battle.

Key benefits:

– Reliable opening with a rich strategic backbone

– Proven success at the highest level of play

– Excellent choice against both 1…d5 and 1…Nf6 setups

– Ideal for players who value control, initiative, and clarity

For whom would I recommend playing the exchange variation of the French Defense?

First of all, for those players who strive for a clear and understandable game with good endgame technique. We would also like to surprise our opponent to some extent, throw him off his preparation, and dull his vigilance. With good knowledge, we can not only claim a theoretical advantage, but also exert some psychological pressure, since the opponent will lose his chances of winning. Perhaps they will become bored, and this will contribute to some kind of aggressive action on the part of our rivals; perhaps this will only lead to a weakening, which is what we are trying to provoke.

In the Caro-Kann Defense, I recommend playing 2.с4!?, the so-called English variation!

So-named because the English maestro Elijah Williams played 2.c4 for the first time in 1845. The idea of exploring this option also came about by chance. I always liked to study the opening and look for new, interesting and non-standard ideas. At some point, the old ideas became boring to me, and I wanted to look for something new. My gaze and attention was drawn to how Oleksandr Bortnyk plays against the Caro-Kann defense. I began further study after the moves: 1.е4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 exd5 4.exd5 Nf6. I was surprised by the move: 5.Qа4!? You could say that I immediately fell in love with this move. Later, analyzing this option with engines a lot, I decided to create a file on my computer. The analysis expanded, I found interesting and new ideas, and then I started playing them in online games and the results surprised me.

Beauty in chess manifests itself in different ways!

For chess players who are not sophisticated enough, one of the leading aesthetic criteria is probably the value of the offered piece. An experienced player will primarily value the originality and purity of the idea. It happens that a key to a position is a seemingly discreet move. Situations like these have always impressed me the most.

Firstly, by their mystery: why does one of several apparently equivalent moves turn out to be much stronger than the others? Secondly, a modest move can radically change a well-established position assessment and even change the outcome of the game straight away. Where did the idea for this kind of work come from? 

There are two reasons. 

Firstly, while browsing chess literature, I have not found a publication focusing on quiet moves, as most often, only three to eight examples are given. Secondly, we have always felt sorry for a person who cannot see beauty, for example of mountains (as these are just rocks) or architecture (as the Eiffel Tower is just iron), etc. The same applies to a large group of chess players, who value only the size of the piece they offered or the victory. However, one can lose a game and feel satisfaction because, for example, they found a stunning quiet move in their game.

This is a theoretical book about a chess variation that (it could not be otherwise) I will call the Del Rio Variation. It is one of the most fascinating openings that can be played today, leading almost immediately to highly dynamic and complex positions. Additionally, it can be set up quite easily. For example, after 1.d4 Nf6 (1...d5 is another possible move order to reach the same position) 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 (from 1.d4 all of White’s moves are the most popular). Then 4...dxc4, establishing the Vienna Variation. Here, White can only fight for an advantage with 5.e4. 

Until a few years ago, the main lines continued with 5...Bb4 6.Bg5 c5, or the dangerous gambit 6.Bc4!? Nxe4 7.0-0. All of these led to a well-researched ocean of variations where Black had to struggle to maintain equality and generally had few practical chances to win the game. The scenario changes dramatically with 5...b5!? as Black now sets up a complicated, unbalanced game that is also less studied than the other continuations. This partly explains the excellent results that Black has been achieving in practice. It is no surprise that this move has attracted the interest of today's top players, some of whom have adopted it frequently.

This book is especially focused on Black's perspective and aims to provide you with all the necessary material to successfully employ this variation. You will find theory, exemplary games, deep analyses, conceptual explanations, and many novel ideas that have yet to see the light of day in practice.